Day 30- Doubtlets
Samuel has been God’s faithful
servant since he was a toddler. He has heard God’s
voice and He has always been obedient. He even killed
king Agag when Saul failed to follow God’s command.
Samuel almost seems a little too perfect at times.
In 1 Samuel chapter 16, we see that
even Samuel has little doubtlets and fears. God sends
Samuel out because He has chosen a new king. But Samuel
is a little scared to go anoint another king when
he just told Saul that God regrets him being king.
With Saul’s rash behavior, Samuel was nervous
for his life. But when has God ever let Samuel down?
And Samuel, it seems, has always been obedient to
God. The neat thing here is Samuel doesn’t hide
his feelings. He comes right out and tells God that
he’s scared that Saul will kill him. God doesn’t
laugh or mock Samuel. God listens to Samuel’s
worries and provides a safe way for him to travel
without alerting Saul.
One of my favorite quotes is from a
cowboy you may have heard of, John Wayne, and it goes
like this, “Courage is being scared to death,
but saddling up anyway.” God never points His
almighty finger in our face and says, “You shouldn’t
be scared! You should have it all together all the
time!” As a matter of fact, God says over and
over again in His Word, “fear not” as
a source of comfort, not an accusation. The “fear
not” is often followed by “I will strengthen
you” or “I am with you” or “I
will help you.” 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast
all your worries on Him for He cares for you.”
God doesn’t just give us words to be comforted
by, He says come tell Me about it! God wants to hear
directly from you about everything you’re going
through- especially the scary stuff! That’s
part of a relationship- communicating and being vulnerable.
It’s okay to have some doubtlets
sometimes, even faithful Samuel had them. But Samuel
didn’t let his fear take over and keep him from
God’s calling. He didn’t just run away
when times got tough. Samuel nipped it in the bud,
telling God about it right away, and he trusted God
to help him through it.
Lord,
I know I have doubtlets from time to time. Sometimes
I come to you with them, but sometimes I hold them
in assuming they’re no big deal. When I hold
the little doubtlets in, they tend to grow and fester
and become a big ol’ nasty fear. Lord, help
me to run to you with my big fears and my little doubtlets
because they’re really not all that different.
You want to hear about them and I don’t want
to keep them to myself letting them weigh me down.
Thank You Lord that I can come running to You every
time I need to!
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
