And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel. 1 Samuel 15:35 KJV
Not all relationships are meant to last forever.
I’ve written before that I started my blog after the loss of a relationship. A marriage. I found myself mourning a loss of a person that was/is still very much still in this world – last I heard.
In fact, over the years, I have lost relationships that have meant the world to me, at least at some point. Some did, some, maybe not. We all have. Some relationships that we have lost may even have us wondering what if at times. Some, we may mourn until our dying day. I used to think that to mourn the loss of a relationship was somehow a betrayal of my relationship with God somehow. Reading this passage, I sort of think a little differently.
I know that God makes no mistakes. Nothing catches Him off guard, nor by surprise. Still, for us to have a heart to mourn the loss of a relationship – the change in a person, especially for the worst… Isn’t that compassion in a sense? Didn’t Samuel, here, have the heart of God. Yes, God repented that He had made Saul king over Israel. But, surely not in an eye rolling, exasperated exhaling of His breath kind of way. Wasn’t it in the same way that Samuel mourned for Saul until the day of his death?
We don’t serve a mean, calculating, callous God. We serve a merciful, compassionate, caring, tender-hearted, gracious God. I believe He mourns for us when we go astray. I believe that He longs for us to turn back to Him. It’s not His will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
*Original Image by Yours Truly
On the Outside Looking In 