Gospel Reflections #897: Yet God does not abandon us.

1 Samuel 8:7 "Then the Lord said to Samuel, 'Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as king over them.'"

Why did the Lord tell him to listen to the people's voice?

It was because the Lord knew beforehand that the people were stubborn and would not listen.

If they stubbornly refused, the Lord could not rule over them by force, violating their free will.

We often wish God would ignore our free will and forcibly lead us onto the path of salvation.

We want to be forced into what benefits us, but we don't want to be forced into what we dislike.

We possess a stubborn nature that desires automatic purification while refusing to change our hardened hearts.

God knows our nature well.

Yet God does not abandon us.

God continues to engage with us, never giving up on the possibility until the very end.

This is because God's rule is ultimately based on our own free will—a rule we accept because we love God, not because we are forced.

This doesn't mean we should simply become humble. Rather, it means truly knowing God, engaging fully with Him, and through the trust and intimate relationship that grows from this, our free will leads us to love, obey, and entrust ourselves to God.

Just as we need regular physical checkups, we also need regular spiritual checkups.

Let us ask God to search our hearts.

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.