The Weekly Word: No more hiding

By Pastor Paul and Dixie Phillips, Gospel Lighthouse Church, Floyd

And finally Saul son of Kish was chosen from among them. But when they looked for him, he had disappeared! So they asked the Lord, “Where is he?”

And the Lord replied, “He is hiding among the baggage.” So they found him and brought him out, and he stood head and shoulders above anyone else.

— 1 Samuel 10:21-23 (NLT)

Earlier in this story, God spoke to the prophet Samuel and told him that he would meet a man and he was to anoint him to be king. It all happened just as God said. Samuel met Saul and anointed him with oil and prophesied over him.

Saul knew God had chosen him, but when the day came for Samuel to present him to the people as Israel’s first king, the future monarch was nowhere to be found. The leaders inquired of the Lord where he was and the Lord spoke and said, “He is hiding among the baggage.”

We know from reading about Saul that he had many attributes that people look for in a leader. He was tall, good looking, and someone they could be proud of. But at his own inauguration ceremony, he was hiding. God had given Saul so many signs to confirm to him that he was destined for the throne, but when that moment finally came, he hid.

We know Saul had a hard time believing he was chosen. He dealt with deep feelings of inferiority. We can see it in his own words that he spoke to Samuel, “Am I not… from the smallest tribe of Israel… the least of all?” (1 Samuel 9:21).

If we’re honest we have to admit we all have a little bit of Saul in us. Sometimes we hide among our own baggage. We might struggle with inferiority and justify disobedience.

Maybe we don’t feel we are educated enough, or wealthy enough, or have a good enough knowledge of the Bible to share our faith with someone.

Maybe our past mistakes get in front of us and trip us up, and we find ourselves chained to shame. So, we hide among our baggage.

Maybe God is asking us to do something, but our fears keep us from doing it.

God usually wants to stretch our faith and help us grow. He calls us out of our comfort zones and asks us to be willing to do things that sometimes aren’t easy.

Like Saul, we want to hide. But what if we stopped hiding? What if we took our baggage to God and He helped us deal with it. What if we took a leap of faith?

What if we became all that God intended us to be? It might have a domino effect and help others to step out in their own faith journey. Hiding and not dealing with our baggage has never helped anybody.

So let’s go ahead and leave the baggage with God. Let’s be brave enough to share what God has done for us with others. Our story might just be the key that can unlock someone else’s prison door. Let’s dare to be different.

Saul was called and anointed to be king. God put him on the throne. God has anointed us for whatever He’s called us to do. Let’s do whatever He is asking. No more hiding.

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Pastor Paul and Dixie Phillips have been honored to serve the Gospel Lighthouse Church, 205 Madison Street, in Floyd, Iowa, since 1981. To find out more about the church and ministry go to www.floydslighthouse.com.