In today's first
reading, 1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22a, the Israelites ask Samuel to appoint them a
king to rule over them, like other countries have. Samuel is upset at
their request and goes to the Lord to complain about it. God says to
Samuel: "Grant the people's every request. It is not you they reject,
they are rejecting me as their king."
God lets the people
choose their will over His, as He does to this day. Part of discernment is figuring out when we are choosing our will
over God’s will. In the story, Samuel warns the people that a king has the
right to "take your sons and assign them to his chariots and horses,
and they will run before his chariot. He will also appoint from among them his
commanders of groups of a thousand and of a hundred soldiers. He will set them
to do his plowing and his harvesting and to make his implements of war and the
equipment of his chariots. He will use your daughters...He will take the best
of your fields, vineyard, and olive groves, and give them to his officials. He
will tithe your crops and your vineyards, and give the revenue to his eunuchs
and his slaves," and much, much more! The people still insist on
having it their way!
Do we automatically close our ears when a
person in authority over us or someone in a leadership position suggests that
what we are about to do or get involved in, or that to which we are saying “no,”
will ultimately be to our ruin and cause us a lot of misery? Do
we realize that sometimes when we reject advice coming from an authority figure
we could actually be rebelling against God as our Ruler, our King! The
more vehemently we cling to our way may be the clue that we are rebelling
against an Higher Authority, namely, our God, Truth itself!
