OUT OF THE ORDINARY

OUT OF THE ORDINARY

So Saul disguised himself by wearing ordinary clothing instead of his royal robes. Then he went to the woman’s home at night, accompanied by two of his men. “I have to talk to a man who has died,” he said. “Will you call up his spirit for me?” “Are you trying to get me killed?” the woman demanded. “You know that Saul has outlawed all the mediums and all who consult the spirits of the dead. Why are you setting a trap for me?” But Saul took an oath in the name of the Lord and promised, “As surely as the Lord lives, nothing bad will happen to you for doing this.” Finally, the woman said, “Well, whose spirit do you want me to call up?” “Call up Samuel,” Saul replied. When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed, “You’ve deceived me! You are Saul!” “Don’t be afraid!” the king told her. “What do you see?” “I see a god coming up out of the earth,” she said. “What does he look like?” Saul asked. “He is an old man wrapped in a robe,” she replied. Saul realized it was Samuel, and he fell to the ground before him. “Why have you disturbed me by calling me back?” Samuel asked Saul. “Because I am in deep trouble,” Saul replied. “The Philistines are at war with me, and God has left me and won’t reply by prophets or dreams. So I have called for you to tell me what to do.” But Samuel replied, “Why ask me, since the Lord has left you and has become your enemy? The Lord has done just as he said he would. He has torn the kingdom from you and given it to your rival, David. The Lord has done this to you today because you refused to carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites. What’s more, the Lord will hand you and the army of Israel over to the Philistines tomorrow, and you and your sons will be here with me. The Lord will bring down the entire army of Israel in defeat.” Saul fell full length on the ground, paralyzed with fright because of Samuel’s words. He was also faint with hunger, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night. —I Samuel 28:8-20

The Lord God Almighty sometimes works through things we may not expect. In the above passage Samuel is called back from the dead. This is surely out of the ordinary and yet we hear of “out of the ordinary” situations that happen within our life’s sphere from time to time— things that we may not be fully able to explain or understand, but things that have happened. So it is with the situation above. It happened and Samuel relayed a message to Saul about his impending death and that also of his sons. It came true (I Samuel 31:8). But this is just describing what a disobedient Saul did and how the Lord worked through it to give Saul a message, a message he had already been told before about Saul having the kingdom taken from him and given to another. The message of Saul’s impending death was added by Samuel.

Years ago when I was sitting with my dad who was on his death bed, he had a vision. This was outside the ordinary… that was for sure. He relayed to me what he was seeing. With tears running down his face he told me that what he was seeing was beautiful and that the tears were not of sorrow but of joy! After this vision my dad had, he got up off his death bed and lived another year and a half. The doctor was amazed to see him walk into his office when he should have been dead! Yes, there are things that happen out of the ordinary that we cannot fully understand or explain, but they happen!

Dear Father, thank you for all the things You work through… even those things we do not fully understand. Help us to cling to Jesus above all in the power of Your Holy Spirit. May it be so!