Greener Pastures


1 Samuel 8:4-22

“The grass is always greener on the other side.” Lack of contentment causes one to see everything else as a better option. “Anywhere but here,” we might say. Going over to the other side seems easier, so rather than doing the hard work of making our current circumstances meet our expectations, we want to cut and run. Who knows where the impulse originates, but it is a common one, existing in every time and place. When things get difficult or do not go the way we want, we look for an easy way out.
Such was the experience of the Israelites during the waning years of Samuel’s judgeship. Samuel’s sons were not living up to the standard of good judging which Samuel had established, and the Israelites wanted a change. Instead of wanting the current situation to be improved, however, they called for a new form of leadership. The Israelites wanted a king. In itself, this might not have been a problem, but they let slip their true motivation: They wanted a king like the other nations (8:5). As the Lord soon tells Samuel, “They have rejected me from being king over them” (8:7).
What a thing to do! Just because the judges whom God had appointed were failing in their duties, the people sought to do away with God’s method entirely! Maybe they would see sense, though, when they learned just what their request would mean. Samuel tells the people that the king will be hard on them (8:11-17). He will take from them over and over and over again. The king will take their sons and daughters to be his laborers and soldiers. The king will take their food and resources for his own purposes. The king will satisfy himself at their expense. In all of these things, the people will be the poorer just to have a king like the other nations; and eventually they will cry out for the king to be removed (8:18). Do they really still want to make that choice?
Sadly, the people of Israel were not dissuaded, and they got their king. Beginning with Saul, the kingship brought all kinds of grief to the people, until eventually they found themselves in exile under a foreign king. Was that really what they wanted? Probably not. The grass just seemed greener on the other side. Things were bad for them in the moment, and they thought the remedy was a complete change of scenery. Instead, they ought to have turned to God and asked for his wisdom and guidance in how to improve their situation in way that he would want.
The same is true for us. We may be dissatisfied with the things of our lives, whether because of bad things happening to us or because we just are not content any more. How will we respond to these periods of disappointment and discontentment? Will we toss it all up into the air and pursue our own way into greener pastures? Will we ignore the warnings that our plans will not produce the results that we want? Or will we take the opportunity to go to God, lay our cares before him, and lean upon him to address our troubles? He might answer by telling us that this is a time of trial, a time to learn patience. If so, we might have to continue to endure as we have, trusting that God will bring us through in his own time. It may be that he will answer us, leading us to pastures of his choosing. Regardless of the answer, we ought to do the difficult work of going to God and trusting his answer and his ways. Do not just run to greener pastures; they rarely are as green as they seem. -TL

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