“Then, from a flask he had with him, Samuel poured oil on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying: “The Lord anoints you ruler over his people Israel. You are the one who will govern the Lord’s people and save them from the power of their enemies all around them.”
2 Samuel 10:1 (NAB)
A turning point of destiny can happen through the least expected circumstances, with the help of many unlikely participants.
Saul was a young man whose runaway donkeys led him to a royal destiny. His father sent Saul with a servant, to go search for some lost donkeys. As it started getting late, Saul was about to give up and return home, but the servant encouraged him not to give up, but to consult the prophet Samuel who was living in the area.
So they started searching for the prophet Samuel’s home, to get some spiritual help in finding the donkeys. A group of women passed by, and they asked them where Samuel lived. The women pointed them in the right direction, and Saul and his servant soon arrived at the prophet’s home.
Meanwhile, God told the Prophet Samuel to anoint a young man named Saul as the King of Israel. The donkeys were still lost, but Saul’s destiny was about to unfold.
The prophet told Saul he would find the donkeys on his way home. The next day, Samuel went to Saul’s home and what began as a search and rescue mission for donkeys, ended with Saul being anointed the first King of Israel.
This story is full of people, who had some small part in fulfilling a divine plan. We can see the mission of each person in this story. Lost donkeys began as a problem and a loss, but God takes the losses and the negatives in our lives, and turns it into something beautiful. He connected Saul to all the right people for a much greater purpose.
When Saul became tired and was ready to quit, the servant encouraged him to keep going and seek out the prophet. God sends motivators into our lives at the right time, just when we are losing heart and becoming spiritually exhausted.
Neither of the two men knew where to find the prophet, but the neighborhood women knew, and they were passing by at the right moment to point them in the right direction. People, even strangers, are sent to us at the right time and place, who, as passers by, point us in the right direction.
Every person has a part in the divine plan, and God has a perfect plan for every person, not only those who will become kings. We are all interwoven in the destinies of other people, just as they are in ours. More than we know, there is deeper purpose for all the connections we have with people throughout our lives.
Someday in our afterlife, we will learn of the ways God used the people He connected us with, along our journey. We will realize who the encouragers were or the strangers who passed by at the right time to point us in the right direction.
All the twists and turns in our lives were used by God to bless us with far more than we could ever ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20)
We will have all of eternity to connect the dots, and discover the wisdom of the networking of each person in our lives, starting with our parents.
Lord, we will never have enough words of gratitude, but thank you for all your loving kindness shown to us throughout our lives, to fulfill our destiny which is beyond what we could ask or imagine. Amen