Israel, as the book of 1 Samuel opens, is an amoral soup.  During the time of the Judges Joshua’s righteous generation died out.  A new generation arose which neither knew the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.  And the result of that disconnect is a spiral into immorality.  Israel look no different from the nations around them.

Sometimes it feels like there’s a chasm between Old Testament life and our own other times it seems almost too close for comfort. We’ve just started a series in 1 Samuel and I think it’s the later rather than the former.

What are the challenges you face following Jesus in your life?  Where are the pressure points?  What makes it hard to keep going as a disciple? Stop and think about it, name them out loud. It is hard following Jesus, being different, standing out, walking to the beat of a different drum

Sometimes those pressures and challenges are caused by our faulty expectations aren’t they?  We know there are great benefits to being disciples of Jesus, knowing God, being forgiven.  Our shame and sin are covered, we know we’re welcome to bring anything and everything to God Almighty in prayer, we know we’ve been given a church family to support us.  We know we have God’s word to guide us, and that the Holy Spirit indwells us making our relationship with Father and Son a living breathing reality.  We know our future is certain, that eternal life has begun here and now.

But despite all those blessings sometimes life is hard, discipleship is hard. Sometimes we can find ourselves asking God why as God’s people life is so hard, why we have to go through certain things, why God doesn’t step in and intervene?

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