007 - Life is Rigged and You Have the Advantage
Have you ever felt like life was working against you? Typically, when it rains it pours. When one thing goes wrong, other things seem to go wrong at the same time. It’s not enough that your roof is leaking; now your hot water heater is on the fritz too, and your AC is acting up. Oh, and the truck that needs new tires is also out of gas. By the way, the tags on your plates are also expired. It all just seems to come in waves sometimes. I’m a country music fan, and most country music lyrics are the same way. If you played a country song backwards you’d be a rich man with the best truck and a marriage made in heaven. There’s a country song by Luke Combs called When It Rains It Pours. It’s the opposite of what you might think though. He sings about how when his fiancé left him, everything started going right. Wouldn’t it be nice if that were the norm - a series of good events all stringing together as if life was rigged in your favor!
I believe all of life is about perspective. Any situation can be good or bad depending on your vantage point. Perhaps with the right perspective, we can live in a reality where life is actually rigged in our favor.
Israel’s first king was named Saul. Ultimately, he’s known as a failure who wasn’t faithful to God, so God took the kingship from his family and established the throne of David in Israel forever. But there are some lessons to learn from Saul’s life, especially when Saul is chosen to be king. I’ll give you four that point us to the idea that life is rigged, and you have the advantage.
1. God is working ahead of you.
The story of Saul takes place in the book of 1 Samuel. In chapter 9, we find Saul going out looking for some donkeys that had run away from his father’s estate. After weeks of searching, Saul decides if he can find the prophet Samuel, he could tell them which way to look. That’s when we come across verses 15-17:
Now the day before Saul’s arrival, the Lord had informed Samuel, “At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel. He will save them from the Philistines because I have seen the affliction of my people, for their cry has come to me.” When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man I told you about; he will govern my people.”
1 Samuel 9:15-17
Saul wasn’t even aware that Samuel was looking for someone on behalf of the Lord to anoint as king. Saul was just being faithful to finish the task at hand. He was being faithful in the place he was currently serving. And in his present faithfulness, God began working ahead of him for a bigger future purpose. God is always working ahead of you for a bigger future purpose. Be aware of the circumstances that you find yourself in. They aren’t difficult because life sucks; there’s a purpose in them, and it always has to do with making a difference in the people you influence. So many times we try to pray away poor circumstances that God wants to use for a bigger future purpose. Pay attention to the people God puts in your path. They don’t show up by accident. Lean into the interruption; be curious about why God has that person in your life today. He’s working ahead of you for a bigger future purpose. Trust Him.
2. You may feel unqualified, but God uses unlikely people.
A few verses later, Samuel tells Saul not to worry about the donkeys, because they’ve already been found. He also tells Saul that he’s special and chosen, to which we find this reply from Saul in verse 21:
Saul responded, “Am I not a Benjaminite from the smallest of Israel’s tribes and isn’t my clan the least important of all the clans of the Benjaminite tribe? So why have you said something like this to me?”
1 Samuel 9:21
I’m sure you’ve felt like Saul at some point. I know I have. Today we call it imposter syndrome. It’s as if you somehow feel like an imposter - unqualified and overrated - and one day, you’re going to be found out. You fear that everyone will figure out you actually don’t know what you’re doing, or that you aren’t as smart as they think you are, or that you will not meet their standards. It’s easy to picture yourself as “not enough.” You see every part of your life, not just the highlight reel. Sure, you made the sales pitch that landed the cash cow of a client, but you know that same rhetoric doesn’t work at home in your failing marriage. Everyone thinks you’re fun to be around, but you don’t want to be alone with yourself facing the mental struggles of PTSD. People have a particular view of you while you’re serving at church, but you know the evil thoughts in your mind. You see the you that no one else gets to see, making it easy to feel unqualified - especially spiritually. But there’s good news for you and me! You may feel unqualified, but God uses unlikely people. You’re chosen no matter how you feel about yourself. God chose you, not because you were awesome, but because His strength shines through your weakness. What you accomplish will ultimately point to His power working through you, not your ability to do anything on your own.
There’s a whole podcast episode I recorded on this topic called, “He Is Who I Am Not; Therefore, I AM.”
3. God will transform you when you take a step in obedience.
Alisa Keeton, the founder of Revelation Wellness, always tells me, “Your healing is in your going.” What she means is that your healing will come through your obedience. Specifically to me, she’s telling me to preach, write, and speak, because healing comes through action. We see this in Scripture when Jesus healed ten guys with leprosy. The Bible says, “As they went, they were healed.” As they walked in obedience to where Jesus told them to go, they were healed. Their healing was in their going.
Want to know something crazy? God didn’t choose Saul because Saul was capable. He didn’t choose him because He was talented. He didn’t choose him because he had it all together. In fact, God had to completely transform Saul into the right person for the job. That’s incredible news, isn’t it? I don’t have to be perfect for the job God has called me to, because God will transform me into the right person for the job. In 1 Samuel 10, Samuel gives Saul some instructions and tells him to go back home for them to take place, and as Saul leaves, walking in obedience, verse 9 tells us this:
When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed his heart, and all the signs came about that day.
1 Samuel 10:9
In the very moment that Saul began to walk in obedience, God transformed him by changing his heart, making him the right guy for the job of Israel’s first king. You don’t need to be perfect; you need to be obedient. You don’t need to be smart; you need to be obedient. You don’t need to be older, or younger, or cool, or educated; you need to be obedient. God will transform you when you take a step in obedience. He will equip you, because He has chosen you.
4. God will appoint certain people in your life to champion the journey with you, but not everybody’s gonna ride your train.
I was in Minneapolis, leading a ministry event with our team, and we went out to a sports bar for a late dinner on a Friday night. When we arrived, we found out it was “Two-fer Night.” What that meant was that all draft beverages were two-for-one. So we all ordered our meal, and we all ordered a drink. We thought that half of our drinks would be free, since it was Two-fer Night. Instead, each person was given two of the drink they ordered! We were all confused at first and then started laughing when we realized our misinterpretation of the deal. It also turned out that the deal was only good for 20oz pours, so they were bigger than the normal pint-sized drafts. We sent a picture to our boss who was unable to make the event, to which we received the reply, “What in the world is going on? Behave and don’t get into trouble - and don’t tell people who you work for!” It was humorous to say the least. I tell you that story to simply tell you that this last lesson is a two-fer: you’re getting two truths in one, yet they go hand-in-hand.
Once it’s made known publicly that Saul has been chosen and anointed to be the first king of Israel, some people are all for it; others, not so much. You can probably relate. It’s like when you get a promotion. Some people are happy for you, while others aren’t. In verse 26, we read:
Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, and brave men whose hearts God had touched went with him.
1 Samuel 10:26
There will be certain people God appoints in your life to champion the journey with you. They will become friends who are anchors for your soul. You will be able to lean into them, count on them, celebrate with them, cry with them, trust them, and be challenged by them. Most of these people enter your life seasonally, whether for a long season or a short season; and rarely but occasionally, some of them will be with you for life. It’s not that when they leave it’s for a bad reason; sometimes God is calling them in a different direction, and that’s okay. Identify who the people are that God has appointed to you in this season and trust His orchestrating them into your journey. Remember, you may not have picked them, but it was God who touched their hearts to accompany you - and He knows what you need before you need it.
Verse 27 says this:
But some wicked men said, “How can this guy save us?” They despised him and did not bring him a gift, but Saul said nothing.
1 Samuel 10:27
Here’s the second part of the lesson. Write it down and remember it.
Not everybody’s gonna ride your train. And you know what? That’s not a bad thing; that’s actually a good thing. It’s a gift that God removes the people who don’t need to be on the journey He has for you. Social media has made this concept really fuzzy. We are now digitally connected with people from past seasons who were never intended to be in our lives in this season. There’s a reason that person’s not in your life anymore, and frankly, there’s a reason you’re not in theirs anymore. Don’t fight it; embrace it. It’s okay to grieve the loss of a friend, but don’t take it personally. God is moving the hearts of some people towards you and the hearts of some people away from you. Either way, it’s for your benefit and for His glory. Not everybody’s gonna ride your train, but embrace those God has on it.
I hope you can see from these lessons that God is not against you, but He is in it with you, working through you, fighting for you. Lift your head and walk in confidence today.
