Lent

March 13, 2023

Scripture Reading:

1 Samuel 16:1-13

The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.’ Samuel said, ‘How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.’ And the Lord said, ‘Take a heifer with you, and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.” Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.’ Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, ‘Do you come peaceably?’ He said, ‘Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.’ And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. –Samuel 16:1-5

When I read the above scripture, Matthew 10:16 popped into my mind: ‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Reading and understanding the people with whom we work is key to progress regarding whatever our goal may be. I  once had a supervisor who never wanted to be blamed for any mistake. Sometimes, things go wrong, and in most instances, there is a conflation of reasons for the mistakes. My co-workers and I had observed our supervisor’s behavior and shared experiences of being called into her office where nothing got done until we took responsibility for the problem, whether we had much to do with the negative outcome or not. Once she became relieved of any fault, she could be very helpful in devising a plan to correct the fallout. So, most of her staff developed the habit of starting conversations with her regarding addressing a problem by immediately saying something like, “I don’t know how I let this happen.” Doing that markedly shortened the time spent trying to address the situation.

There is indeed a time, as Ecclesiastes 3:6-8 says,

    to search and a time to give up
    to keep and a time to throw away,
    to tear and a time to mend,
    to be silent and a time to speak,
    to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

Being wise about how we approach people and situations may make all the difference in the world regarding positive outcomes.

Prayer: Lord, enable us to be wise as well as loving and peaceful. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.