Wednesday Devo
Scripture:
1 Samuel 4:12-22
12 A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefield and arrived at Shiloh later that same day. He had torn his clothes and put dust on his head to show his grief. 13 Eli was waiting beside the road to hear the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the Ark of God. When the messenger arrived and told what had happened, an outcry resounded throughout the town.
14 “What is all the noise about?” Eli asked.
The messenger rushed over to Eli, 15 who was ninety-eight years old and blind. 16 He said to Eli, “I have just come from the battlefield—I was there this very day.”
“What happened, my son?” Eli demanded.
17 “Israel has been defeated by the Philistines,” the messenger replied. “The people have been slaughtered, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were also killed. And the Ark of God has been captured.”
18 When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and overweight. He had been Israel’s judge for forty years.
19 Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near her time of delivery. When she heard that the Ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth. 20 She died in childbirth, but before she passed away the midwives tried to encourage her. “Don’t be afraid,” they said. “You have a baby boy!” But she did not answer or pay attention to them.
21 She named the child Ichabod (which means “Where is the glory?”), for she said, “Israel’s glory is gone.” She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and husband were dead. 22 Then she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.”
12 A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefield and arrived at Shiloh later that same day. He had torn his clothes and put dust on his head to show his grief. 13 Eli was waiting beside the road to hear the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the Ark of God. When the messenger arrived and told what had happened, an outcry resounded throughout the town.
14 “What is all the noise about?” Eli asked.
The messenger rushed over to Eli, 15 who was ninety-eight years old and blind. 16 He said to Eli, “I have just come from the battlefield—I was there this very day.”
“What happened, my son?” Eli demanded.
17 “Israel has been defeated by the Philistines,” the messenger replied. “The people have been slaughtered, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were also killed. And the Ark of God has been captured.”
18 When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and overweight. He had been Israel’s judge for forty years.
19 Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near her time of delivery. When she heard that the Ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth. 20 She died in childbirth, but before she passed away the midwives tried to encourage her. “Don’t be afraid,” they said. “You have a baby boy!” But she did not answer or pay attention to them.
21 She named the child Ichabod (which means “Where is the glory?”), for she said, “Israel’s glory is gone.” She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and husband were dead. 22 Then she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.”
Commentary:
4:12 The messenger ran a distance of nearly 22 miles (35 km). Tearing one’s clothes, often along with putting dirt on one’s head, was the normal reaction to grief or horror in the OT (e.g., 2 Sam. 1:2, 11; 3:31; 13:19, 31; 15:32; Job 2:12).
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 499.
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 499.
Questions:
Eli spent much of his life sitting in a position of authority, but at some point forgot who was truly King. He honored his sons above God and allowed their sin to continue, even after God had warned him. By the end of his story, Eli literally fell from his "throne" and died.
Most of us will never sit on a throne, but we all know what it feels like to want control.
We want to know how things will turn out. We want to protect the people we love. We want our plans to work. We want God to answer our prayers in the way we think He should. And when we can't control the outcome, we can spend an enormous amount of energy trying to regain it.
Sometimes surrender is difficult because we are afraid of what will happen if we let go. What if God doesn't do what we want? What if His timing is different? What if obedience costs us something? For most of us, our desire for control reveals a deeper struggle to trust that God is actually good and that His authority is better than ours.
God doesn't ask us to sit on the throne and ask Him to help us manage things. He asks us to trust Him with the throne itself. Frightening, but also deeply freeing.
Most of us will never sit on a throne, but we all know what it feels like to want control.
We want to know how things will turn out. We want to protect the people we love. We want our plans to work. We want God to answer our prayers in the way we think He should. And when we can't control the outcome, we can spend an enormous amount of energy trying to regain it.
Sometimes surrender is difficult because we are afraid of what will happen if we let go. What if God doesn't do what we want? What if His timing is different? What if obedience costs us something? For most of us, our desire for control reveals a deeper struggle to trust that God is actually good and that His authority is better than ours.
God doesn't ask us to sit on the throne and ask Him to help us manage things. He asks us to trust Him with the throne itself. Frightening, but also deeply freeing.
- What usually happens inside you when something important is outside of your control? Do you become anxious, frustrated, controlling, withdrawn, or something else? What might that reaction be revealing about what you are trusting?
- Why can it be difficult to trust God when His plans might be different from ours? Is there something you are afraid God might ask you to surrender if you truly gave Him control?
- Think about something you are currently asking God to take care of. Are you actually willing to trust Him with the outcome, even if He doesn't handle it the way you would? What would you need to release to be able to say that honestly?
Prayer Topics:
- Confess the ways you have tried to control people, circumstances, or outcomes that belong in God's hands.
- Ask God to reveal the fears underneath your need for control and teach you to trust Him.
- Praise God that you can rest under His authority instead of carrying the burden of being in control.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
7. How can I trust that the Bible is still God’s Word today? I trust the Bible is still God’s Word today because Jesus rose from the dead, proving He was God and said His words would never pass away. Through the Holy Spirit, God inspired the writing of the Scripture, determined the canon of Scripture and protected the copying of Scripture so that we might know Him and worship Him to this day.
(Matthew 24:35; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Revelation 22:18-19)
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