April 16

The Spirit comes over Saul

            As he turned away to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all these signs were fulfilled that day. When they were going from there to Gibeah, a band of prophets met him; and the spirit of God possessed him, and he fell into a prophetic frenzy along with them.  When all who knew him before saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” A man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”  When his prophetic frenzy had ended, he went home.

1 Samuel 10:9-13

           

            The nation of Israel wanted a king.  God found one for them from the tribe of Benjamin.  Saul was a head taller than other men, strong, athletic, virile and confident.  He looked like what a king should be.  After leading a search for his father’s missing livestock, he found himself face to face with the Prophet of God, Samuel.  Samuel assured him that the livestock were safe and told him that there was one other small matter to discuss.  They sent the others ahead and then and there Samuel anointed Saul, proclaiming him king of Israel.  The Prophet gave Saul a series of signs that would be coming to confirm that this was God speaking, not just a crazy old man.

            Saul went the direction he was supposed to go, saw what Samuel said he would see, met who Samuel said he would meet and was convinced that this divine invitation was really happening.  Finally he came across a group of prophets and a transformation happened.  The Spirit of God came on Saul and he fell into a prophetic frenzy.  He praised God; he spoke in other languages; he spoke hidden realities and told the future.  He was not himself at all and all who saw him were confused. 

            And then when the frenzy had run its course, Saul went home.

            I am a control freak.  I readily admit it.  I like having plans and I get grumpy when they change.  I deeply dislike being out of control of my body.  I get the chills when I think about being out of control of my mind.  I am a strong proponent of Free Will and believe that God grants us the ability to choose, never forcing Himself upon us against our will.  And then I come to this story and I see the Spirit of God come upon someone and I’m not sure how to reconcile that with my worldview.  Did God just completely take over Saul, pushing the man out of his mind and body?  Did God awaken a part of Saul that had never been utilized before?  Did God pour out new gifts and abilities on Saul at that moment?  We don’t know.  What is clear is that this was not a subtle action.  The surrounding community saw what was happening and knew that a spirit had taken ahold of this man.

            Disability used to be ascribed to spirits.  Someone who was deaf or blind or mute was believed to have a spirit afflicting them.  Someone who had seizures was recognized as being under attack from evil spirits.  People who were out of their minds were considered to be in that condition because of a spiritual attack.  In the modern world we tend to scoff at such notions.  Disabilities are widely considered to just be neurons firing in atypical ways, developmental abnormalities that strike a certain percentage of our population.  All of our maladies are physical issues with physical treatments.

            I’m not sure what to think.  I am glad that the IDD community is not demonized any more.  I am glad that my staff had better strategies to deal with seizures than, “Get Holy Water and Cast the Demon Out.”  However, I read stories like this one with Saul or Jesus and the man of the tombs or the boy who kept throwing himself into the fire that the disciples could not heal.  I read those and see that the physical realm can be deeply impacted by spiritual forces.  What if our conditions are not just physical?  What if there are spiritual components as well?  How would we know?

            I think, as with all matters of the unseen spiritual realities of life, we press in to God.  Maybe we take a little bit of extra time praying to ask if there are things that we should pray for with our children.  My wife and I have felt led in the past to spend some time praying against anxiety for our son.  We’ve prayed about food sensitivities and loneliness and dozens of other things.  If there is something spiritual that needs to be attended to, God will not hide it from you.  But He also will not drop it on you.  We need to be willing to ask the question and listen for the answer.

             

           

A moment to reflect:

Take a few minutes to ask God if there is anything that you need to pray about for your child and then try to listen for a response.