Standing in Line

January 7, 2019

It’s really quite remarkable when you think about it. “O how the mighty are fallen!”— a lament recorded in 2 Samuel over a king who what by all rights should have lived and died in obscurity, but whose name is familiar to millions of Jews and Christians—Saul, first of the Israelite monarchs. Were it not for the Bible, he would be just one of thousands of minor rulers of history’s petty fiefdoms. Israel after all, was for most of its ancient history, a mere footnote in the annals of the major world empires of the day. As it is, Saul is known even by little Sunday School children while many of the major players of history lie forgotten in their graves or known only by their participation in the Biblical story.

Saul should be an encouragement to us. A minor potentate, but great among the kings of Israel, he helped consolidate a fragmented hodge-podge of tribal loyalties under a single monarchy. He was certainly flawed, ending his life in disgrace and dishonor. But he is remembered. 

So when it seems as if life is flowing all around us in major torrents into a sea whose magnitude is beyond imagination, we can take heart that God often chooses the insignificant and unknown to fulfill his purposes, and when the final role call is taken, the last shall be first and the least shall be greatest. I don’t know where in line I’ll be standing, but living as I do in the backwaters and eddies of society, I’m hopeful to at least be somewhere in the middle. And if not, though normally I hate standing in line for anything I will be grateful to even be in that one.