1Sam 9-11 “and a Hard Life Lesson.”

Child-rearing comes with ups and downs. The old saying: sticks and stones may break my bones, but words shall never hurt me is so false. Samuel’s heart takes a nosedive when the elders come to him and say they are not pleased with his sons. Their excuse is that they do not follow Samuel’s ways. In reality, like spoiled children, they wanted a king so they could be like every other nation because “they are all doing it.” Today we call it kindergarten politics.

In his quiet time, God spoke to Samuel’s heart.

We all have times when others speak ill of us, and our heart is breaking, especially when it speaks to our parenting skills.  When that happens, return to these chapters in Samuel to hear God’s reassurance; they are not rejecting you but God because men are fickle.

When you experience something like this, you must remain strong and continue the path of godliness. There will always be people who will respond like this no matter what you do, how prayerful you are. They march to their own drumbeat. These are the hard lessons of life. Men choose men rather than God.