Based on 1 Samuel 9:1-19 (New King James Version)
“There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. And Kish said to his son Saul, ‘Please take one of the servants with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys.’ So he passed through the mountains of Ephraim and through the land of Shalisha, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them. When they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, ‘Come, let us return, lest my father cease caring about the donkeys and become worried about us.’ And he said to him, ‘Look now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man; all that he says surely comes to pass. So let us go there; perhaps he can show us the way that we should go.’ Then Saul said to his servant, ‘But look, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread in our vessels is all gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?’ And the servant answered Saul again and said, ‘Look, I have here at hand one-fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way.’ (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he spoke thus: ‘Come, let us go to the seer’; for he who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer.) Then Saul said to his servant, ‘Well said; come, let us go.’ So they went to the city where the man of God was. As they went up the hill to the city, they met some young women going out to draw water, and said to them, ‘Is the seer here?’ And they answered them and said, ‘Yes, there he is, just ahead of you. Hurry now; for today he came to this city, because there is a sacrifice of the people today on the high place. As soon as you come into the city, you will surely find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now therefore, go up, for about this time you will find him.’ So they went up to the city. As they were coming into the city, there was Samuel, coming out toward them on his way up to the high place. Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, saying, ‘Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.’ So when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, ‘There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over My people.’ Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, ‘Please tell me, where is the seer’s house?’ Samuel answered Saul and said, ‘I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today; and tomorrow I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart.”
If we understand this passage, we can see the great opportunities that God gives, and very unexpectedly. We see this Saul that simply went looking for some donkeys his father lost (back then, animals had great material value). So then, this Saul went out by obeying his father in helping him recover part of his wealth—something unanticipated happened, a need, and something was happening that neither Saul nor Kish had any idea of, something in the background, and these lost animals were only something that would open the door (per se) to something else. This same event should open our eyes and help us understand that we have no idea what is happening around us, and why it is happening, and that we have no control over anything, because the great majority of things are invisible or unknown to us.
Now then, some might say, and because of this same ignorance: “I never received such an opportunity to be something so important.” But the truth is that you have in fact received such opportunities, and many times, and in different ways. You may reply, “How, when, where…?” And of course, the answer is in the Word of God. To start looking at this, God presents Himself personally to every human being through many different ways and manners, as it is written: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Romans 1:18-21. Everything that was created speaks of God, of His magnificence, of His power, of His person. The problem is that everything that was created is taken very lightly because some prefer to believe that the creation is either a cosmic accident or simply, it just is and nothing more than that, and so, it is taken for granted. And since no one can neither control nor do anything with all of that, then it is taken as something common and ordinary (incredible, isn’t it?). Things like the sunrise that He allows to happen, like the air that He allows our lungs breathe, like the beating of our hearts He allows to occur, like the gravity of this planet that He sustains with His presence that keeps us from flying off into space, and so on, are seen as unimportant. As it is written: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Colossians 1:16-17.
Maybe this issue of questioning further the value of God’s call continues, which within itself bears its own punishment, because we are not talking about a human being’s invitation, we are talking about God’s invitation. To answer this, the Word teaches us the following, which is God’s purpose for all mankind, as it is written: “And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:9-10. When God calls us to follow Him, He is really inviting us to be His kings and priests, to be beings of great standing in a place that surpasses this temporary world, in eternity. God is always looking for people to acknowledge Him and to convert to Him so they can be transformed into these kings and priests, and He allows for these unexpected situations to occur that interrupt daily life so His invitation can be made even stronger, going even beyond the daily greatness that He uses to speak to us. In the end, what are your lost donkeys, the things that are affecting you somehow? Will you be able to understand God’s call when the unexpected happens, and will you be able to pay attention to Him so you can follow Him to greater things? Or, will you just continue being focused on your lost donkeys and lose the opportunity for eternal greatness? Lord bless! John