Why I'm not a perfect mother and you aren't either.

And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul,

seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with

oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided

me a king among his sons.

Rita Langeland wrote an article on this passage; it's a quick and easy read and focuses on the question that the Lord asks Samuel.  When this verse got stuck in my head this week, though, the part that I kept focusing on was not the question, How long will you mourn Saul..., but the command, Fill your horn with oil and GO...

How often does God give that command, to GO? 

Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”

Luke 22:8

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...Matthew 28:19

“Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”  Exodus 6:11

The LORD answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.  Exodus 17:5

The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” 1 Kings 19:11

When we ignore, or refuse to tune into, God's command to GO, we often do so with the best of intentions.  Our society, including the church, has instilled in us a deep respect for researching a topic from every concievable angle.  In fact we feel justified in a little, well, boasting if our research is more in depth and concrete than someone else's!  Now research is wonderful thing, and certainly we should use it wisely when making decisions, but have we begun to equate research and fact-finding with love and committment?

IF you love your child and are committed to the best possible private school education THEN you will look at every school option from every angle until you are ready to scream.  IF you love your husband THEN you will spend countless hours online finding the perfect birthday present for him and then cross-referencing prices from every store until all of the joy is gone from the gift.

And while God wants us to use our heads, he gives us examples, again and again, to GO. Stope thinking and GO.  Stop planning and GO.  Stop waiting for the perfect time/person/job and GO.  He wants you NOW.

I imagine that one reason why God wants us to go is this:  We are not perfect.  I am not a perfect mother/wife/sister.  You aren't, either.  All of our fact gathering and information hoarding does two things.  1)  It lets us rely on our intellect instead of God's grace.  If I can just research enough I will make the right decision and then bad things won't happen.  2)  It lets us imagine that we can make the perfect choice.  If I can just research enough I will come up with the one, perfect, correct answer.  It's out there, somewhere.

Learning to stop, and to GO, is such a very hard lesson.  Where does God want you to GO?