Spoiled

But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.” 1 Samuel 8:6-7

I assume that while growing up, like me, you knew someone whom you felt was spoiled. We all knew that kid. He (or she) was arrogant, entitled, and condescending, and we all knew how he got that way. He got that way because his parents were overindulgent, giving him whatever he wanted. His family was likely wealthier than ours and he probably got a shiny new car on his 16^th birthday. And we were probably a little jealous. Even though we disliked his arrogance, we wouldn’t have said no to that shiny new car. We maybe even believed that if we were raised in such an environment, that we wouldn’t have turned out to be so self-absorbed. No, we’d have remained humble and kind.

It’s like those lottery stories, where the guy who wins, quickly self-destructs, tearing his life apart when he gets everything he wants. We’ve seen what instant wealth does to people, but still, we wouldn’t say no. Maybe we even play the lottery, hoping to strike it rich ourselves. We believe that we’d be immune to the dangers of instant wealth. If I won, I’d remain humble and generous, giving away half of it . . .

We must be careful what we ask for. Getting everything we want isn’t always healthy. That’s the lesson of today’s passage, in which the elders of Israel went to Samuel, demanding a king. God intended for Israel to follow him as their king and he established judges to administrate his justice. God’s people looked around them though and, seeing that every other nation had a king, they wanted one too. To this, God told Samuel, Fine. Give them what they want.

My desires aren’t always wrong, but they’re wrong often enough, that I must always remain suspicious of my motives. Why do I want this? Will this turn me towards God or away from him? I’ve followed my own impulsive desires to immense self-destruction and so now, living in faith and recovery, I must learn to interrogate my desires. I’ve been sober for more than 10 years, but I’m still greedy, self-absorbed, prideful, lustful, and gluttonous. Daily then, in whatever I’m pursuing, I must take my will to God, asking if a thing is healthy. Getting everything I want has never been good for me. Faith means seeking not what I want, but what God wants for me.