One lesson we can take out of the story of Saul and the missing asses of Kish his father is that the asses thought to be missing were not lost. What goes missing in your life may not be lost. Somebody bigger than you knows about it and knows where they are. He will have them restored in due time.
It is one of the great privileges of walking with the Lord. He preserves what we think we have lost, like the axehead that fell into the river in the time of Elisha. No creature is hidden from His sight, and in this case, He took what He never intended to keep away. The asses were taken because He has a plan in motion that will eventually come light.
An axehead which falls into the river will swim back. All that is needed is for the Lord to be involved in the venture, otherwise it will be gone forever. This is why we plead with every soul, even falling on our knees, to be mindful of false religion, to make sure that the Lord Himself is the One they have surrendered to and are doing business with. Getting into religion may give the appearance of being with the Lord when the truth is completely different, with the attendant consequence, especially at the twilight of this life.
My father passed away long ago. I wasn’t even saved at the time. About twenty years after, I returned from a Christian camp meeting at dawn and fell asleep. In my dream, I entered into our family house in my hometown and found him in the living room. His body was gleaming like glass and generally very good looking. The dream was so real. I exclaimed that my father couldn’t possibly be with with us since we all knew he had died. Everyone assured me that he was still alive. I was very delighted but in disbelief until I woke up. He was a staunch Christian in his lifetime, so I believed the Lord was trying to tell me that he was still living in heaven.
Kish didn’t know he did not have to worry about the missing asses. God created a circumstance that would launch Saul on a journey by which He could have a meeting with him. The creator of the universe is the creator of circumstances, the majority of which are never pleasant. And that is simply because they are necessarily so. In this case, the Lord needed to tease Saul out of his comfort zone to have a meeting with him.
Purpose is greater than convenience. Before you expend too much time complaining about the situation or circumstance you are presently in, please pause to ask if God’s purpose should be sacrificed for your convenience? I complained bitterly about the inconvenience of school, especially the boarding house. It took time for me to see the necessity. I am glad I cooperated and let it play out. No matter how tedious or gruelling your prevailing circumstance, I will advice similarly that you let it play out. The spool of a tape has its terminal point. It may call for you to persevere, let things play out. You may have to endure mockery from those who imagine they have the upper hand in your situation, let the spool run its course. The pain and discomfort are servants of divine purpose.
When you make Christ the Lord of your life, He has lordship over your circumstances. He has lordship over your intellect too. Your understanding may be at a loss at some detours. You only need to cooperate or obey all the way to see the beauty of what he has in store.
In the 7th verse of I Samuel, chapter 9, Samuel advised Saul to “do as occasion serves you”. What does that mean? It implies that God will work through your natural impulses. Just follow whatever turning your mind guides you into. Obey your pure thoughts. This in any case was how Saul and his assistant got to meet Samuel. They were actually at their wit’s end and were about to give up when the idea of seeing the Seer came up. It was an absurd idea borne out of a natural impulse. Hannah at Shiloh was exactly at this point too. An impulse of this nature is not produced through a well-considered thought. If Hannah had a chance to think better, she wouldn’t go and kneel before the altar in front of everyone and pray as she did that one last time. Reason might have double-crossed her and said, “you don’t have to do that. You will only make a fool of yourself. You have prayed before that altar before how many times?”
Do as occasion serves you. God may need your utter frustration and confusion to put the finishing touch to what He is preparing for you. But please beware of ungodly counsel. Don’t take direction from your own ungodly desires which probably had been lying dormant all this while.