May 29

Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.” — 1 Sam 16:1 BSB

The Lord is never without a person for His work. When one fails, He always has another ready. His plans and purposes continue, despite human failure and through all seeming disaster.

Consider the young shepherd boy, tending his sheep in the fields, unaware that God had already marked him out to be king. Boys and girls do not know what God has in store for them, but they can be confident that God has a plan for each of them. It may be a great or small place in the eyes of the world, but each one should feel that being exactly what God created them to be is the grandest and most noble thing possible.

If God made someone to be a carpenter, and through restless striving they become a member of Congress or even President, their place isn’t nearly as great in the eyes of the angels as it would have been if they had fulfilled God’s original purpose for them.

The greatest place anyone can attain is the one God intended for them. How do we discover what God wants us to do and be? By faithfully doing His will day by day, in whatever situation we find ourselves. God’s will for today is His plan for us today, and as we follow it, He will lead us to His greater purposes. Neglecting the small duties will prevent us from rising to the greater ones.