Throughout the Word of God in the Holy Bible we learn the different characteristics of our human nature and we learn the weaknesses in our flesh when we begin to drift away from God by placing our eyes upon man rather than staying focused on the Lord. In the book of 1 Samuel God teaches us one of the most important lessons in life right out of the gate when the people rejected God and began to desire the leadership of man.

 The people were tired of leaders that abused their positions by placing heavy burdens upon the people due to serving themselves rather than properly serving the will of God. During this period of time with Samuel and the passing of the chain of command to Saul God taught us a vital lesson of how not to look at the outward appearance of man nor his family statue but to look at the heart of a man to recognize who they follow.

 Our Father in Heaven taught us this lesson for a specific reason in order to help us make wise decisions in our future when we select our leaders because He knows how we tend to rely on what we see rather than trusting in God in whom we believe. In this lesson with Saul becoming our first King or President, God teaches us the importance of our leaders seeking God for council prior to making decisions which could have a negative impact on the people.

 The problem that we have today is that many of our leaders are not seeking God for proper council and taking matters into their own hands as Saul did back in this period of time. Many of our leaders are allowing worldly advice to influence their decisions and allowing selfish motives to guide their actions. This same lesson was taught with Moses when he allowed the pressures of the people to guide his actions as a leader instead of following the instruction of God to maintain the position that he had been given.

 Due to our society continuing to drift away from the Word of God and looking for answers in the world this has allowed a majority of our population to become vulnerable and confused. In this vulnerable state of America from the suppression of the minority to the suppression of the poor many of our leaders have learned how to use these spiritual oppressions of the people to achieve their positions of power in order to serve themselves rather than properly following the instruction of God.

 No one should seek a position of leadership without being led by God to serve the people and when we elect our leaders it is vital that we listen to God rather than to man. As Martin Luther King Jr. was called we learn that our leaders that are driven by God are to help us to move forward by walking with us to overcome our struggles rather than trying to hold us down in order to maintain their own positions.

 It is easy to talk about change and prey upon the emotions of the people to influence their decisions but when we make decisions based on our emotions without truly evaluating the motives behind the individuals then we are only setting ourselves up for harder times in the future. This is why we are in the state of economic crisis that we are in here in America due to the world preying upon our emotions in our spontaneous decisions. The same principle applies to children out of wed lock and the high divorce rate here in America because we have allowed our emotions to guide our actions rather than understanding the self discipline that is required to maintain the freedom in the love that God has given.

 Real change first starts within ourselves and then spreads to our homes then to our communities. The world likes to think that money is the answer and that our  leaders are the ones that can make a difference and this is where the world is wrong! For real change starts at the foundation or the bottom and then works its’ way back up to the top while never forgetting the importance of maintaining the foundation from which we stand in order for God to continue to bless our land.

 It is in our human nature to want someone else to do the work but we must recall that it is our individual responsibility under God to maintain the integrity of our homes and of our nation in order to maintain something for our children’s future…amen

 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man… Psalm 118:8

James Harrison

Balanced Life Ministry