Good afternoon friends.
Here we are 1 Samuel Chapter 31, and it's not the ending you would hope for. I would rather the last chapter be David stepping onto the throne. I wanted a celebration and victory. Instead, it ends with loss.
Saul dies. Jonathan dies. And Israel is in mourning.
Life doesn't always happen the way we think it should. Sometimes chapters end in grief. Sometimes people we love are gone before we are ready. Sometimes dreams die. Sometimes we don't get the ending we hoped for. And sometimes we're left standing in the middle of heartbreak wondering, God, what now?
What hit me this morning is that Saul's story didn't have to end this way. He was chosen, anointed and empowered by God. At one point he was hiding among the baggage because he felt so small in his own eyes. But somewhere along the way, he stopped listening. Little compromises became bigger compromises. Partial obedience became a pattern in his life. Fear of people became louder than the fear of God. It's frustrating to see what he became knowing what he could have been.
But then I had to ask myself, What small things am I excusing today that could become bigger things tomorrow? None of us wake up one morning and decide to drift from God. It happens one compromise at a time. Until we wake up one morning and we're further from God than we ever imagined.
Then the men of Jabesh Gilead risked their lives to recover Saul's body and give him an honorable burial because years earlier Saul had shown them kindness. They remembered.
Even after all Saul became what he had become they remembered the good.
Listen, people are complicated. They can be gifted and broken at the same time. Faithful and fearful. Strong and still struggling. We can be capable of both great good and devastating mistakes.
And we need to understand that only God sees the whole story. Only God judges perfectly.
That's why we need grace.
Because if we're honest, none of us are the hero of every chapter. We all need mercy.
As we finish up the book of 1 Samuel today, I realized something....
The story ends with death.
But God isn't finished.
While one chapter ends in grief, another is about to begin.
David's story isn't over.
God's promises haven't failed. And neither have His plans.
Maybe you're closing a hard chapter right now. Maybe you're grieving what was. Maybe things didn't turn out the way you hoped they would.
But.....Lets not forget today that the final page of one chapter is not the end of the whole book.
God is still writing the story. There is still hope. There is still purpose. There is still another morning coming.
And the same God who carried you through this chapter will walk with you into the next one. Let's remember that in our own lives as we sit in the grief with David and Israel today.
Faith Anchors. Hope Moves. Chains Break.
Love Pastor Mandy
Ark of Hope Ministry
Daily reading 1 Samuel 31
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