How do i move on?

Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. Acts 13:21 ESV

​The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel?  Fill your horn with oil, and go.”  1 Samuel 16:1a ESV

So, imagine someone working with you for roughly forty years. Then you have to let them go😞

Samuel might have reminisced about his first encounter with Saul and how Saul didn’t even think he was fit for the job.  Saul expressed he didn’t think he had what it took to fulfill the requirements. 

I imagine Samuel thought about how Saul never told his uncle about his new leadership appointment when he returned home from finding the donkeys.  His uncle clearly knew something was different about Saul but Saul never breathed a word.

I bet Samuel chuckled when he thought about the day Saul was announced as king over the Israelites and they couldn’t even find him.   The knucklehead was hiding.

Oh, what about the time the children of Belial despised Saul in his newly appointed position over them.  They didn’t bring Saul any presents.  Saul just held his piece.  I meant peace.  😃

On a serious note, Saul didn’t even let it bother him. 

Now Saul would no longer be part of the team.  Saul was no longer God’s trusted king.  Samuel’s right hand man.    

Forty years.  Samuel and Saul must have developed quite a relationship for Samuel to grieve like this. 

Samuel had a dilemma.  How do I move on?

And God had a response:  Let’s go and press forward.  Complete your mission. Do what you were called to do.

Life will present us with disappointments, no doubt.  And, yes, grieving is normal and healthy to a point.  The key is personally knowing when it is time for you to move forward.  

Byron Pulsifer sums it up well.  “Persistence - the ability to keep moving forward, in spite of difficulties.”

​Be Strengthened and Encouraged in HIM,
Liz