Written by\u00a0Amie Stockstill<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was a nerve-racking moment to walk into a beautiful, upscale restaurant with ten couples who you have looked up to for years without ever having the opportunity of knowing. My date, the honored guest, had been my youth pastor for six years and this was our very first date. It was his 30th birthday and his closest pastor friends and family decided to throw him a fancy dinner party.<\/p>\n
The entry to the room was as grand as the room itself, including the twenty person square table decorated to perfection. To my surprise, no one sat down until Joel pulled out my chair, at the head of the table, and asked me to take my place. In the midst of trying to honor my pastor, I suddenly became the honored guest myself.<\/p>\n
There was a man named Saul who had a similar experience in 1 Samuel 9. As he was searching for some lost donkeys, he stumbled upon the great prophet named Samuel. The Lord spoke to Samuel the previous day and told him Saul would be the very first king of Israel. When they met on the road, Samuel instantly recognized Saul as the chosen one. He told him not to worry about the donkeys and then he made a statement to Saul that was completely out of left field, \u201cAnd I am here to tell you that you and your family are the focus of all Israel\u2019s hopes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He responds to Samuel\u2019s claim with confusion and excuses, \u201cBut I\u2019m only from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of that tribe! Why are you talking like this to me?\u201d Confidence is quiet. Insecurities are loud and proud!
\nDespite how Saul felt about himself, God made the decision to appoint him as king. Moving forward the Bible states,\u00a0\u201cThen Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the hall and placed them at the head of the table, honoring them above the thirty special guests.\u00a0Samuel then instructed the cook to bring Saul the finest cut of meat, the piece that had been set aside for the guest of honor.\u201d In the midst of finding donkeys, Saul became the honored guest of the Prophet Samuel. What a surprise for Saul. What began as running a simple errand ran him straight into his destiny!<\/p>\n
The next day Samuel anointed Saul and told him he was chosen to rule the people of Israel. Reading the following chapters, we see that although Saul was chosen by God and placed at the head of the table, he never truly accepted his role with confidence. When Saul tried to anoint him in front of everyone, he hid behind the baggage! His story is riddled with comparison, self-doubt, and even torment from insecurities. He could have ruled with grace and confidence had he accepted that God was on his side! His own personal baggage held him back from becoming all he was designed to be. What a sad ending to a God-ordained beginning.<\/p>\n
The lesson here is that our baggage determines our borders. We all have the seed of Saul in us! The insecurities, doubt, and fear that plagued Saul are the same tricks that Satan uses against us every day. If we are going to take our rightful place at the table, we have to defeat the relentless enemies of comparison and fear. Insecurity manipulates us into hiding. Belief in God allows us to step forward when called upon no matter the cost. It gives us the courage to shine in situations where we feel like the least qualified.<\/p>\n
You only have one life. No one else can take the place at the head of your table. It is reserved especially for you. In fact, some of your greatest assets may be held up until you sit at the head of the table. You are the honored guest of your own life. Own it! This is your moment to take your place at the head table. He has prepared a table for you in the presence of your enemies (Psalm 23:5)!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[757,4],"tags":[749,1020,1021,16],"class_list":{"0":"post-3991","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allgenerations","8":"category-discipleship-ministries","9":"tag-749","10":"tag-amie-stockstill","11":"tag-courage","12":"tag-discipleship","13":"entry"},"title_es":"Toma tu lugar","content_es":"Escrito por Amie Stockstill Fue un momento angustioso caminar hacia un restaurante hermoso y exclusivo con diez parejas a las que has admirado durante a\u00f1os sin tener la oportunidad de conocer. Mi cita, el invitado de honor, fue mi pastor de j\u00f3venes durante seis a\u00f1os y esta fue nuestra primera cita. Era su trig\u00e9simo cumplea\u00f1os y sus amigos y amigos pastores m\u00e1s cercanos decidieron invitarlo a una cena elegante. La entrada a la habitaci\u00f3n era tan grande como la habitaci\u00f3n en s\u00ed, incluida la mesa cuadrada de veinte personas decorada a la perfecci\u00f3n. Para mi sorpresa, nadie se sent\u00f3 hasta que Joel sac\u00f3 mi silla, a la cabecera de la mesa, y me pidi\u00f3 que tomara mi lugar. En el medio de tratar de honrar a mi pastor, de repente me convert\u00ed en el invitado de honor. Hubo un hombre llamado Sa\u00fal que tuvo una experiencia similar en 1 Samuel 9. Mientras buscaba algunos asnos perdidos, tropez\u00f3 con el gran profeta Samuel. El Se\u00f1or le habl\u00f3 a Samuel el d\u00eda anterior y le dijo que Sa\u00fal ser\u00eda el primer rey de Israel. Cuando se encontraron en el camino, Samuel reconoci\u00f3 instant\u00e1neamente a Sa\u00fal como el elegido. Le dijo que no se preocupara por los burros y luego le hizo una declaraci\u00f3n a Saul que estaba completamente fuera del campo, \"Y estoy aqu\u00ed para decirte que t\u00fa y tu familia son el centro de todas las esperanzas de Israel\". Responde a La afirmaci\u00f3n de Samuel con confusi\u00f3n y excusas: \"\u00a1Pero solo pertenezco a la tribu de Benjam\u00edn, la tribu m\u00e1s peque\u00f1a de Israel, y mi familia es la menos importante de todas las familias de esa tribu! \u00bfPor qu\u00e9 me est\u00e1s hablando as\u00ed? \"La confianza es silenciosa. \u00a1Las inseguridades son fuertes y orgullosas! A pesar de lo que Sa\u00fal sent\u00eda por s\u00ed mismo, Dios tom\u00f3 la decisi\u00f3n de nombrarlo rey. Avanzando en la Biblia dice: \"Entonces Samuel llev\u00f3 a Sa\u00fal y a su siervo al corredor y los coloc\u00f3 a la cabecera de la mesa, homenaje\u00e1ndolos por encima de los treinta invitados especiales. Samuel luego instruy\u00f3 al cocinero que trajera a Sa\u00fal el mejor corte de carne, la pieza que hab\u00eda sido reservada para el invitado de honor. \"En medio de encontrar burros, Sa\u00fal se convirti\u00f3 en el invitado de honor del profeta Samuel. Qu\u00e9 sorpresa para Saul. \u00a1Lo que comenz\u00f3 como un simple recado lo llev\u00f3 directamente a su destino! Al d\u00eda siguiente, Samuel ungi\u00f3 a Sa\u00fal y le dijo que hab\u00eda sido elegido para gobernar al pueblo de Israel. Leyendo los siguientes cap\u00edtulos, vemos que aunque Sa\u00fal fue elegido por Dios y colocado a la cabeza de la mesa, nunca acept\u00f3 verdaderamente su papel con confianza. Cuando Sa\u00fal trat\u00f3 de ungirlo frente a todos, \u00a1se escondi\u00f3 detr\u00e1s del equipaje! Su historia est\u00e1 plagada de comparaciones, dudas e incluso el tormento de las inseguridades. \u00a1Podr\u00eda haber gobernado con gracia y confianza si hubiera aceptado que Dios estaba de su lado! Su propio equipaje personal le impidi\u00f3 convertirse en todo lo que estaba destinado a ser. Qu\u00e9 triste final para un principio ordenado por Dios. La lecci\u00f3n aqu\u00ed es que nuestro equipaje determina nuestras fronteras. \u00a1Todos tenemos la semilla de Sa\u00fal en nosotros! Las inseguridades, dudas y temores que plagaron a Sa\u00fal son los mismos trucos que Satan\u00e1s usa contra nosotros todos los d\u00edas. Si vamos a ocupar el lugar que nos corresponde en la mesa, debemos vencer a los implacables enemigos de la comparaci\u00f3n y el miedo. La inseguridad nos manipula para escondernos. La creencia en Dios nos permite dar un paso al frente cuando nos lo piden sin importar el costo. Nos da el valor para brillar en situaciones en las que nos sentimos menos calificados. Solo tienes una vida. Nadie m\u00e1s puede tomar el lugar a la cabeza de su mesa. Est\u00e1 reservado especialmente para ti. De hecho, algunos de sus bienes m\u00e1s importantes pueden retrasarse hasta que se siente a la cabeza de la mesa. Usted es el invitado de honor de su propia vida. \u00a1Me pertenece! Este es su momento para tomar su lugar en la mesa principal. \u00a1\u00c9l ha preparado una mesa para ti en la presencia de tus enemigos (Salmo 23: 5)!","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/09\/Take-Your-Place.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4T9u2-12n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}