“We must have a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations: our king will judge us, go out before us, and fight our battles.” 1 Samuel 8:19-20
Crown Prince Ludwig II became king of Bavaria at the ripe age of 18. He was enthralled with the pomp and privileges of royalty and spent his life building a castle with fairy-tale gables and spires, perched high in the Bavarian mountains overlooking his kingdom. But after two decades of laborious construction, Ludwig not only bankrupted his kingdom, he died before ever seeing the castle fully completed.
Even if you’ve never been to Bavaria, you’d probably recognize Ludwig’s masterpiece castle as the model for Disney’s iconic Cinderella castle.
King-making isn’t just the stuff of fairy tales. Because inside every one of us is the bent to make something or someone king.
Israel did this. God had formed the nation Israel from one man (Abraham), rescued them from Egypt and redeemed them from slavery. God had gone before Israel as the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire, parting the Red Sea, leading them through the wilderness and then fighting for them to take the Promised Land.
And still, Israel demanded a king.
Israel longed for a king they could see like their neighboring countries who would make decisions for them, lead them and fight for them.
God had done all three of these things perfectly. God had shown himself wise in ruling Israel, faithful in guiding Israel and powerful in fighting for Israel.
But our bent is to trust something or someone we can see over Someone we cannot.
How many times have you cried, “If God would only write it in the sky for me?” rather than getting into the Word? How often have you gone to a friend for direction rather than taking it to God? How often have you relied on your credit card or your own stubborn will to fight for you rather than depending on God in prayer?
We are good at king-making.
But anything other than God as king in our lives always leaves us bankrupt.
Every single king over Israel fell short – Saul, David, Asa, Hezekiah – until the King of kings came. King Jesus is the only one who can rule over us with perfect righteousness, guide us with perfect wisdom and fight for us in victory because he has already conquered sin and death. Today, let’s stop believing the fairy tale that anything or anyone other than God can be king. No one and nothing should sit on the throne for us but the Lord.
“For the Lord Most High is to be feared, a great King over all the earth.” -Psalm 47:2
Lisa Appelo is a speaker, writer and Bible teacher who inspires women to deepen their faith in grief and find hope in the hard. Eight years ago, Lisa became a sudden widow and single mom to 7. She’s passionate about rich Bible study and teaches a weekly ladies Bible class. She’s a speaker with She Found Joy and has been published at Proverbs 31 Ministries, (in)courage, Risen Motherhood, Jennifer Rothschild and more.
As a former litigating attorney, her days are now filled with parenting, ministry, writing, speaking and running enough to justify lots of dark chocolate. Get your FREE 5-day Bible study on Flourishing in the Unexpected here and connect with Lisa on Instagram @lisaappelo.
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