Irreplaceable

King Saul was a bigshot.  You know the type.  He was muscley, tall, loud, large, and in charge.  Sure Israel may have been a comparatively small pond, but Saul was definitely the big fish.  Everybody knew him.  Most respected him.  Some feared him.

Somehow, though, things went sideways.  Saul got too big for his britches, and before he knew it he had burst an embarrassing seam.  I’m talking about the Amalekites.  Saul had made his share of messes before, but this was the worst yet.  God had told Saul to destroy the Amalekites.  He even commanded the destruction of all they owned.  If you know the story, you remember that Saul didn’t do what he was told.  First mistake?  God said to utterly destroy them all, but Saul decided that he could revise the battle plan.  There were captives to be taken, and great spoil that only needed to be carried home.  So he did.

Do you know what Saul’s biggest problem was?  He had a pet.  I call it the five-eyed-monster: pride.  Saul started to think that he was something special.  He thought that nobody could or should dictate to him how he should rule the kingdom.  After all, he had everything under control, didn’t he?  Perhaps Saul’s raging pride problem can be best seen in his statement about the praise David received.  The ladies sang “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”  Saul responded, “What can he have more but the kingdom.” (1 Samuel 18:7-8)  The most important thing in his life was his position, and the second thing was that people sing songs about how wonderful he was.  Have you ever had someone write a song about your exploits?  No?  Me neither.

Saul’s situation came to a head when the prophet Samuel arrived after the battle with the Amalekites and rebuked him for his disobedience.  The message was this: “The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.” (1 Samuel 15:28)  Saul thought he was God’s gift to Israel, but that day he found out that he was not irreplaceable.  In fact, in spite of his exalted view of himself, God said that He had somebody better to take his place.

But what about us?  Do we ever get to the place in our lives and ministries that we start to think that things will fall apart without us?  Do we think that everything depends on our personal strength and charisma?  Let us remember that nobody is a bigshot to God.  Keep in mind that nobody is so much of a bigshot that they cannot be replaced.  Truly, the more we become a bigshot, the more we need to be replaced.

“… God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”  James 4:6

Pastor Paul Gibbesh