Resignation

Resignation

4/8/17

Many of us in the professional world have had to deal with either a person resigning or had to resign ourselves from a position.  While the reasons for any resignation vary greatly the process is never difficult and even though the company, organization or nation continues on, the process is a final one and one that is tendered as final.  We have many examples of this type of setting to take place in the Bible and while God shall never resign from showing us His love and mercy, our choices against His Will continually serve in such a resigned capacity.  Even though mankind’s version of a resignation continually hovers over our heads, it is the last thing on God’s heart and unless we turn from our ways we shall once again hand in our resignation to God as a sign of total allegiance to the world.

Over my years in the medical field, I have had the opportunity to further my career and to promote myself for better pay and settings.  Not ever deed of resignation that I have completed has been on good terms however and it is through these times that I wished were different they are permanent and cannot be changed.  As stated in the opening paragraph there are always reasons that resignations are handed into the head of the job, with some being for promotion and others under specific scrutiny and in either case, shifting takes place within the represented organization and lineups further defined.  I have been involved in some retirement resignations, moving to another location resignation status and some that have just not worked out resignations.  While we may see some people go on down the road, what is left behind still can hurt and many times large readjustments occur as a result.  A resignation is a serious matter and one that should be taken into all consideration before tendering, for once it is produced the words and actions – on both sides – cannot be returned and thus played out for the extent of the relationship.

In a few instances that I have faced had the person resigning from their position and during the time frame before they left continued to work as normal.  This is the way things should operate so that everyone could adjust to the upcoming changes and begin the process of replacement.  This setting has occurred countless times in human history on every job level imaginable but when the person decides to resign and then take back their resignation it can cause some uncomfortable conditions that not all who are involved in the overall picture are willing to accept.  I vividly remember when these two instances occurred that after the intention of rescinding of their resignation that one was accepted and one was ignored.  It did not matter which case I refer to the new conditional positions were in awkward terms and proved to leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouths after all was said and done.

The act of resignation is a final resolve for that person, group, or nation and while it might seem difficult to accept the entity giving the resignation should see to it that it is finalized as quickly as possible.  But what occurs when the entity that is giving their resignation has more to do with the company’s existence than currently recognized?  Do both parties involved understand the implications of this division and permanent resolution?  It is a tough call to answer yet one that should be taken into consideration before administering.  The example God wishes to share with us today is one that had finality to the nation of Israel and how complete God was when the decision had been made to choose an earthly king over a sovereign and holy God.  I am amazed of how much this setting and the first few chapters of 1 Samuel relate to our world today and how scary it is to see how things are unfolding as they did during the time this part of 1 Samuel was written.

In 1 Samuel Chapter 12, we have a dark picture being painted as the salivating mouths of Israel begin their quest to join the world and weed out God from their hearts.  1 Samuel 12:1-15 is the exact passage we will cover here but only a few specific verses will be typed.  In the previous chapters, we find that Israel has specifically asked Samuel to hand over the fate of Israel to their keeping so that they could lower themselves in the eyes of God and elevate themselves in the eyes of the world.  There is no greater or more dangerous positional belief than this lie.  It is this fact that we are missing today because we believe the lie that in order to be equal we must align ourselves with the world and leave God out of things.  There cannot be any further or greater lie that we can believe from Satan.

Samuel again stands before them and states the facts concerning this resignation of Israel from God by first proclaiming who he is to their lives and how long he has been serving in that capacity.  If we stop and look at this passage for a bit we see that Samuel has been associated with Israel’s standing with God ever since he was a young boy and even from his beginnings a prophet and administrator of Israel he has done nothing but tell the truth coming from God.  I know that not every specific detail is mentioned over Samuel’s lifetime but through the question, he asks them in verse 3 and the answer the people give in verse 4 a huge direct relationship is presented here.

In verse 3, Samuel asks the people if he had done anything wrong or had deliberately taken anything from their land or personage without their knowledge, or if he had done their land and children any harm while he was their leader.  The people seemingly did not hesitate in their answers by proclaiming that he had done nothing wrong while he was in office and served as their leader.  The people did not balk at this event nor did they fully understand what exactly Samuel was serving as during this session.  Not only was Samuel serving as a person leader to the nation of Israel but he was also serving as the only liaison between God and them for their leadership, guidance, and wisdom.  The people had grown so lustfully of the world that they had become blind to what was transforming before them and what they were doing.  They accepted this portion of Samuel’s question and answer session as a part of his resignation to their wants alone, totally missing that they were severing the relationship with God at the same time, through His witness. 

Israel saw this process as the coming together and the fruition of their wants to become as other nations, while they were physically correct they were desperately wrong spiritually, they celebrated their freedom from God and their equality with the world.  What they were not recognizing was that it was not just Samuel resigning before them but also God presenting His case to them concerning the position He provided them during His reign over their nation.  It is apparent that the blindness of Israel was great enough that the people representing Israel in this passage did not even have a clue what was occurring and what this resignation meant, a sad day in the history of Israel for as they would soon find out that conditions of their lives would be totally different.  In verse 4, the people returned their verdict concerning the questions presented from Samuel in which they fulfilled the message of separation by acknowledging that Samuel had done no wrong against the people, further proving correct God’s statement to him in 1 Samuel Chapter 8 when God said that the people had rejected Him and not Samuel.

Through the words of the people, there cannot be any recognition of their ignorance to what they were declaring against God for through their own words share publicly their hearts concerning their position of worldly acceptance instead of their Divine separation.  In verse 5, Samuel seals the “deal” and closes the matter that both parties involved understand exactly what has just transpired, but little did the people know exactly what their actions had done, a setting that one can imagine when Jesus stated on the cross for God to forgive the people for they did not understand what they were doing.  In verse 6, Samuel begins another portion of words that redefines the position of God with His people by invoking the glories of God that He demonstrated through Moses, Aaron, Jacob, and what occurred to the people when their forefathers had forgotten God.  By the time Verse 10 of this passage arrives, the people literally have no excuse for their divisive decisions against God.

In this short passage alone we can determine that Samuel understood that God was a complete and consistent God and that what God had shown the people over time was a book of consistency that would continue even through this specific process.  While the people understood this truth, they cried with superficial hearts once again for their separation from God and declared their position for an earthly king.  In verse 13-15 Samuel once again gives instructions to Israel about listening to the voice of God and obeying His commands for their lives.  Even though the earthly king had been chosen, Samuel made it crystal clear that God still was in control and that He desired their obedience to Him first.  A sobering warning was also given out to Israel as Samuel concludes this portion of Scripture by telling the people that if they choose not to obey the commands of God that His hand will be against them and not for them, a position that they knew about and still ignored with their full hearts.

Samuel did a great job in reminding the people of Israel about their past and how their lives would be severely changed after the final words of resignation were spoken.  God wanted to make sure that every base was covered with this process so that the people would not be able to process a loophole in God’s leaving, and that it was NOT God leaving them but them leaving God and what would occur when they did.  One cannot help but be drawn back to the Garden of Eden when God is presenting His obedience class to Adam and what would occur if he would disobey what God had set into motion.  God’s ways are truth manifest and nothing less and it was Adam who disobeyed and lost his life, it was Moses who disobeyed and lost his life and God was making sure that Israel understood this truth would be fulfilled in their lands and hearts if repeated again.  It is through this passage that God reinforces the truth that it is by our choices that we deviate from His Ways and not that He deviates from them, thus demonstrating the origins and eternal foundation of Covenant.

This passage of Scripture is a perfect picture of how mankind is the one that decides to go their own way and not God.  It also paints a beautiful picture that while God loves His children with all of His heart, He shall never rule over them in anger or vengeance but through true love and compassion in allowing mankind to choose Him or the world.  By the time this setting had been played out God had allowed Israel to make their own choice about who ruled over them and since God was a consistent God in those days just as He is today He will allow us to make that same choice of ruler as well.  But as we make this choice of kings, we must keep one huge detail in mind that the other side of the coin is still in play as well and fulfills the truth that God is a consistent God.  For when we choose the world we are saying to God the exact same words that Israel said to Him back in 1 Samuel chapter 8, that we know better than He and that our finite decisions are better than His eternal wisdom; therefore, we can expect the exact same devastation that Israel faced if we choose to disobey God.  Oh, and by the way, when we choose the world over God, we have already committed our first act of disobedience.

It would be easy for us to really scold the Israelites after studying this passage from the Word of God but if we are truthful we cannot because we fall into the same category of personal separation from God each day that we take a breath.  It is also easy for us to blame God for all of the atrocities that we face each day and through our own disbelief of His presence and allowance in our lives, curse Him and resurrect the fruits of our hearts’ desires.  In the next few books of the Bible we find that Israel does exactly this type of behavior and since they were humans and so are we, we can expect nothing less from our actions than theirs.  We also can understand that God did not ever leave Israel and that He continued to show them their wicked ways and what occurs when disobedience to His Ways are in favor first.  God never stopped calling the children of Israel to come back to Him and He surely is not and has not stopped calling His children to return to His Ways today either.

A few nights ago, my mother gave me a great example of choices and how we view them and at the time we make them we do in such a manner that we are confident about making them but at the same time hope that those choices made will not come back and bite us at some point in time.  What a futile description of life that brings and yet we thrive through this condition, chew our fingernails afterward and scream with anger when things go south.  But every single person who walks this earth follows this same path at some time in their life all the while ignoring the One truth that can lead them away from such misery and defeat.  I wish I could say that I have never experienced such agony but just s you, I have two legs and walk the earth.

It is clear that the children of Israel did not understand nor did they wish to live through the commands of God.  That same lack of knowledge rules our hearts today, and we really have no excuse for our choices because while the children of Israel did not have the Bible to refer to they did have the laws of God taught to them directly, so both sides of the block are covered with beliefs in lies instead of the eternal truth of life.  If we could only pin down the aspect of our life that wishes to live by our own ways and throw it out all of us would be so much better off but God would never allow this to occur because it would undermine His complete and perfect creation of our existence and place a manipulative state of being that we would resent even further.

Do we as a society that is supposed to be the leader and example to the world fathom the reality of what we are supposed to be doing in such a position?  Israel was considered to be in this position during their time in the Bible yet they refused to recognize it and live it by choosing the world instead.  Do we have to follow in the exact footsteps that they did and be mortally crushed by the worldly choices as they?  God has made it very clear that our standards are given to us by Him and through His Word but like Israel, we have turned our hearts to the flesh.  While Israel’s demise had a resounding effect on their lives and the shift of power in the Middle East our demise shall have worldwide consequences which will usher in the end times of the world and not just for a region.  Our existence, when looked on as a whole, cannot be denied that some divine authority (GOD) has chosen us to be the source and example for the entire world.  It is imperative that we keep God first due to this truth because if we do not, not only shall we fall to our knees but the spirit of the world shall be unleashed in a way that shall frighten the entire globe; in other words, the end times that the Bible predicts would begin to emerge and once again prove the Bible and God correct.

As of this moment in our lives, we have the opportunity to delay this world setting and our destruction.  I have no idea of when God shall say “enough” but I do know our actions have already birthed that word into His heart, sadly I might add.  Church, you are the Light that God needs to shine so that we know what our wrongdoings are, we cannot afford to blindly choose the world as Israel did in this article.  Do you realize that it took over 2000 years for Israel to gain its name back?  And it was all due to the choice of them to accept the world as their friend instead of having God protect them through His Ways, why do we have to follow suit?  It is our responsibility to show others the true way of life and to offer those who are hurting that there is a God who wishes to separate us from that hurt.  But we cannot do this mission if we are embedded in the world, we must choose God and His Ways and throw out the world and close those doors that give Satan an opportunity to conquer.

God is calling us to stop the resignation process from Him and to once again work under Him and His Ways.  All of our issues that concern worldly ways will be answered and we shall know true happiness and peace like never witnessed before.  This is the kind of leadership that God desires for us and not one that is so confused that their inner thoughts and desires are so tangled that all motion cannot be driven properly.  The only way this shall occur is if we put God first in our life and redirect our resignation statements to the world.  God gives His 100% commitment to us and all He asks in return is that we choose to live under His blood 100% as well.  It is an easy choice to make and one that is so vital to our eternity.

DLB