Invisible

Today's passage:  I Samuel 8
     "According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee."
     Recently, I have been feeling like the invisible man.  Being at home all the time is a blessing, but sometimes I get a little stir crazy.  I feel the need for some adult conversations.  I notice myself at church sometimes just rambling on and on to anyone who will listen, because I need to talk.  There have been several events recently that I have or have not attended and wondered if anyone noticed I was or was not there.  I get the sense that nobody remembers me. I have concrete examples for this, not just suppositions.  And when I think this way, I wonder if I am making any impact in life.  I am not saying these things for anyone to pat me on the back and say, "I remember you".  I am not looking to be reassured that I am important, because even when I feel like this, I know that I am important to my family and to God.  It just seems like several events have led up to this post.  Reading today's chapter, I think I can identify with Samuel.
     Samuel is now an old man with two sons of his own.  He parented them, like Eli parented his two sons.  Samuel established his boys as judges when they did not have the character to be in that position.  Dollar signs shone in their eyes, and it was their only motivation for doing the job.  The people have had enough.  They approach Samuel with a request.  They want a king.  They want to be like the surrounding nations.  Who wouldn't be hurt by this demand?  Samuel felt forgotten.  He felt like all the good he had done in Israel had been disregarded.  He felt rejected.  God reassures Samuel that he is not being rejected, they are rejecting Him.  Samuel is probably getting a sense of how God feels everyday with His people.  He created them, He separated them, He gave them a unique identity. He provided for them, supplied for them, protected them but they want to be like every one else.  They forget all He's done, and like a little tag-along brother, Israel wants to run with the big kids.

Samuel's Farewell--Taken from Standard Bible Readers, Book Six
By Lillie A. Faris, Illustrated by O.A. Stemler and Bess Bruce Cleaveland
The Standard Publishing Company, 1929

    God instructs Samuel to give the people what they want, but to warn them how their lives will never again be the same.  Samuel educates the people on the price of a monarchy.  The next several verses give a list of all the king will require. This does not deter them.  They are insistent on wanting a king.  Truth be told, they had already made up their mind before weighing the pros and cons of this decision.    I've met so many people who ask for advice without ever having the intention of taking it.  Some people just ask for counsel to see if it will agree with what they had already decided.  The people did not come to Samuel to ask for his advice on the matter, they just wanted his blessing.  Now Samuel understood how God must feel sometimes.  Too many times, we go to God, not for His wisdom or His direction, but for His blessing.  We want Him to bless the decision we have already made and get upset when He wants to take us on a different path.    Let me get back to the pity party I had started earlier.  I have set the table for some company, if you would like to join me.  When I feel forgotten, when I feel like I am not very important, I need to remember that God is treated like that every single day.  I may have moments in my life that feel this way, but God has endured it since Creation.  He is the only One who deserves to be remembered.  He is the only One who deserves praise and glory and tribute and honor.  If He doesn't get everything He deserves, if He is forgotten, why should I feel like I deserve better?  If I feel like nobody knows who I am, I am just getting a taste of what my God experiences.  He doesn't have pity parties.  He doesn't say, "Woe is me!"  He doesn't go to the garden to eat worms.  He deserves all the praise every person has to give which He does not receive as He should.  If I'm feeling forgotten, I better look up.  There is Someone who deserves to be remembered more than I do.  And the One who deserves the most, remembers me.