The prophet Samuel had anointed King Saul the first king of Israel. He was now thirty years old and was leading the nation in battle against the Philistines. The Philistines had gathered at Micmash to come against Saul and his army. The Lord was directing Saul through the prophet Samuel as God had instructed. Samuel instructed Saul to go ahead of him to Micmash and he would follow in seven days. He would then offer a burnt offering on behalf of the people of Israel.
The pressure began to build as the Philistines gathered around Micmash preparing for battle. The people of Israel began to fear this battle and began to scatter throughout the countryside. Saul was getting more fearful. Samuel did not show up on the morning of the seventh day. Finally, Saul became fearful of the impending attack and took it upon himself to offer the burnt offering. After he had done this, Samuel showed up. "You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command."
Saul believed he needed to take control of the situation. Whenever we take control of a situation out of the will of God, it demonstrates we are led by fear. Many a boss is so driven by fear that it motivates him to manage by over-control of his people. This results in codependent relationships in which the employees are fearful of making the wrong decisions, and they are driven to please the manager at all costs. This results in loss of respect for the manager. Many times the employee ends up making poor choices just to please the manager so that resentment begins to build within the employees due to the manager’s over-control.
Do you see any signs of over-control in how you relate to others? Can you allow others the freedom to fail? Do you find yourself changing directions in mid-stream when you see something you don’t like? Are you fearful of failure? These are all symptoms of a Saul control spirit. Pray that God will allow you to walk in the freedom of trusting in Him and those around you.