From Shining to Shooting

Thursday, March 13, 2008
Read 1 Samuel 29:1 through 31:13.

(31:4) Saul said to his weapon bearer, "Draw your sword and put me out of my misery, lest these pagan pigs come and make a game out of killing me." But his weapon bearer wouldn't do it. He was terrified. So Saul took the sword himself and fell on it. (MSG)

So ended the sordid tale of King Saul.

I love to watch a show on television called True Hollywood Stories. Admittedly I shouldn't enjoy it, but I do. To tell you the truth, my enjoyment is really more fascination. What fascinates me is that every story seems exactly the same. The Hollywood star rises in "rags-to-riches" fashion, lives a life of fame and fortune, and inevitably meets a tragic fall from grace.

No star's story concludes with as hard a fall as Saul's. This king Israel had requested, he was the pride of Israel, "a choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people" (9:2). He was the one all of them would've looked up to, literally and figuratively. But his became a story of foolishness and rebellion, paranoia and pride. Far too soon it might seem the Spirit of God departed him, his capacity for making holy decisions forsook him, and his own sword pierced him.

Saul certainly isn't the last star to go from shining to shooting. Can you think of a believer or Christian leader who started brightly only to flame out in the end? What thoughts come to mind when you think of that person?

If Saul's life teaches us anything, it teaches us that any low is possible for us when we take the first step in the direction of sin. Unfortunately Saul never recovered. What about you?

Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny.
Ken Hubbard