A Change that Needed to Take Place
1st Samuel 7
Samuel gathered all the people of Israel together and Samuel judged the people. He told them to stop with their false idol worship and to put away these idols because they have been dishonoring the Lord. When all the people came they listened to Samuel and stopped with their worship of false gods. They drew out water which was a sign of repentance before the Lord. They wanted anew start. They needed a new start. They were in judgment against God because they were in conflict with him by how they lived.
The Enemy Comes During Repentance
The Philistines heard that they were gathering together and they thought what a perfect time for them to attack Israel. Remember during this time, Israel was in oppression by the Philistines. The Israelites became afraid and asked Samuel to keep praying to the Lord. God was working for Israel as he brought down thunder against the Philistines and he made it so they would no longer invade their territories. The oppression from the Philistine has come to an end (for now).
It usually seems that when you are convicted of sin and realize that you need to be made right before the Lord and you seek after him and want forgiveness, Satan is right there ready to distract you, he will try to keep you so far away from meeting God that you will not even know that you can. He will make you become terrified because you will start thinking that you can’t go before the Lord because you are so unworthy. I have been there and we tend to let the enemy know that we are scared and we run away from the mighty God who can protect us.
Israel Actually was Doing What Was Right
If you notice three things with Israel: 1) They stopped their sin when confronted. 2) They asked God for forgiveness. 3) They asked Samuel to not stop in praying for them. These are signs of true repentance. They truly wanted to change and it was not because of the enemy around them but because of the conviction of sin.
Have you stopped with your sin? Maybe you need to ask God to reveal it to you? Ask the Holy Spirit to convict you. Have you been convicted lately? Then do you seek God and ask for Him to forgive you? God is willing to forgive those who want to be forgiven. Then do you always seek the Lord in this matter? Don’t stop. Ask God to help you in overcoming sin. Ask God to fight the enemy and temptation for you. The great thing is that God already does this for us but wants us to ask. It is like the person that just wants to be used. God wants to be used for you and is ready and already active in your life. How great it is to have the grace that passes down to us from our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for dying for me. Thank you for making me a new creation.
