Seek the best

Lee Yen and I have a daughter and 3 sons. There are great gifts from the Lord. Uniquely and wonderfully made with huge plans and ideas for the future. Our one and only desire, as parents, is to see them rise up to be God fearing individuals that will follow God's ways and impact the world with their unique gifts. Not great academic results, or great wealth. If this is given to them then it is for the purpose of fulfilling their unique calling. As they seek first His kingdom and His righteousness everything else good will follow. However, Samuel, like his predecessor, did not have a good experience with his sons.
1 Samuel 8:1-3, Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.
I can feel for Samuel, and you may be asking how this could happen. I do not know his situation, but I know that we as parents can only do so much with our children. The rest is prayer and much grace from the Lord. Our children need to take personal responsibility for their actions, including dealing with the consequences. This leads me to the second lesson from this chapter. Know that ultimately each individual needs to take cognizance of how their actions impact their personal relationship with God.
1 Samuel 8:7, And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.
The people of Israel wanted a king like everybody else. The way of the world is not necessarily the best and Samuel gave an elaborate discourse on why it will not work. It appears that they were seeking not God's best for them. Sometimes we think we know better, but fail to receive God's best for our lives.
Father help me to hear your voice well and obey. You know what is best for me.

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Sreedhar's Journey

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