Remember what the LORD wants you to do.

Samuel was speaking to the Israelite community, reminding them about the things that the LORD had done for them.  They were rescued from Egypt, but it didn’t take long before they turned away from the LORD.

But when you were afraid of Nahash, the king of Ammon, you came to me and said that you wanted a king to reign over you, even though the LORD your God was already your king. All right, here is the king you have chosen. You asked for him, and the LORD has granted your request. (1 Samuel 12:12-13 NLT)

God gave them Saul to be their king.  God communicated this selection to Samuel.  When Samuel told Saul, he needed to be convinced.  So God convinced Saul with several prophetic signs, including the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Samuel instructed Saul about all this ahead of time so that Saul would believe that the LORD had called him to be king.

After these signs take place, do what must be done, for God is with you. Then go down to Gilgal ahead of me. I will join you there to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. You must wait for seven days until I arrive and give you further instructions." (1 Samuel 10:7-8 NLT)

Now, Saul is king. He is trying to get ready to go to war against the Philistines who had been oppressing them for years.  Saul gathered together the Israelite army to battle.  The Philistine army was so big (they were tall) and numerous (like the grains of sand on the seashore) that they were terrified and started to hide.  So, Saul got scared, too.

Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn't come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. So he demanded, "Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!" And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself. (1 Samuel 13:8-9 NLT)

When we face battles in life, it helps to remember what the LORD has done for us already.  It builds our confidence that God will get involved today.  It also helps to remember what the LORD wants to do.  This way we don’t expect God to do something that goes against His Will and His Plan.  Once we remember these things, though, it is equally important to remember what the LORD wants YOU to do.

God doesn’t expect us to do every part of His plan.  We have a part to play, to be sure, but it is only one part.  When we ignore our part of God’s Plan, one of two things happens.  We can struggle because we are not doing our part of God’s plan.  We can also struggle because we try to do our part and other parts of God’s plan.  Either way, we struggle.

Either way, God’s team struggles, too.  When we don’t do our part, God’s team suffers because the LORD had given us an important part to accomplish.  When we try to do more than our part, the team suffers because we are telling other people that they are not necessary.

When we remember what the LORD wants us to do, and we do it, everything falls into place.  We do our part.  Others do their part.  God does His part.  The team experiences victory and God gets the glory.

So, how about you?  Do you know your part of God’s Plan?  Do you live out your part of God’s Plan? Do you remember what the LORD wants you to do?