Tending the Sheep.

Saul had really messed up this time.  His disobedience and desire to please people rather than God had landed him in the hot seat.  It was with great sorrow, I'm sure, that Samuel had to deliver the news: "...the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel" (1 Samuel 15:26).  He later went on to tell Saul that God was ripping the kingdom of Israel from him and giving it to someone better.  But this left a big question.  If Saul was no longer ordained to be king, which of his neighbors were to obtain the crown?

However, God knew what He was doing and He already had a plan.  He directed Samuel to Jesse, a Bethlehemite.  Among Jesse's sons, God had ordained the next king of Israel.  I'm sure you all know the story.  Samuel went through every son Jesse had offered him, and God hadn't chosen a single one of them.  Even Eliab, who Samuel believed would be fit for the kingdom, was refused by God.  Samuel must have been confused.  God told him that the new king would be Jesse's son.  How was that possible if He had rejected every son Samuel had seen?

I can imagine Samuel pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes as he asked, "Are these the only sons you have?"

"Well, my youngest is out in the field.  He's just a shepherd, though.  He just keeps the sheep," Jesse responded.  But Samuel didn't care.  God's anointed was in this land, and Samuel had to obey and find him.  So Jesse sent for his youngest, David, and when David walked in, God made it clear.  Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

One would think that, after a powerful moment like that, David would have automatically taken the throne.  But he didn't.  The anointed king of Israel went back to the field.  It would be decades before his anointed purpose would come to pass.  What did he do in the meantime?

He tended the sheep.  It doesn't seem like a very glorious job for a man anointed and chosen by God Himself.  But that's what he did until God brought him to the place where his anointing would be utilized.

A few weeks ago, another metaphorical door had been slammed in my face.  After the hurt and frustration subsided, I resigned to truly wait on God.  I turned to my dad and said, "I feel like David.  God has anointed me.  I'm ordained to do something.  But right now, I'm just tending sheep."  And there's nothing wrong with that.  The wait can be frustrating and you can feel like you're not living up to your potential, but God has purpose for this season. 

You won't always be tending the sheep.  Like David, you will rise to fulfill your anointed purpose in God's timing.  But for now, until that day arrives, let's just learn to praise Him in the field.  God bless.