Pride and Support

Then he said, "I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God." So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord. – 1 Samuel 15:30-31

At this point in the book of 1 Samuel, Saul's right to be king over Israel has been taken away from him. God has had enough of his pride. Although Samuel had to deliver this message to Saul, Samuel turned back toward Saul, that his soul might be saved, if he were to truly repent.

In my own life, I'm finding the need to look to God more often as I grow in my faith. Reading the scriptures, on the prideful fall of Saul has shown me that I do not want to end up the way he did. Though I have not been given rule over an entire nation, God has put me in a leadership role at my current job, and it is easy to be prideful in that position. However, there is more to the story. 

In the passage, Samuel turns back to Saul in hopes that he will have meaningful worship with God, and that God may save his soul. In chapter 15, we find that Saul actually never truly repents of the sin that lost him the kingdom, yet Samuel grieves over that. Samuel is a faithful servant of the Lord, and not a "dispassionate messenger of God's word" (Trapp), meaning he knew there was value in support of others' faith, as little as it may be.

God may not have plans for me to be a great profit, as Samuel was, yet I know that (through Christ) my soul has been saved, and he wants me to set aside my pride and support the faith of those who need it. I will pray for anyone reading this; that your faith may increase each day and you may support those in your life who are lacking faith.