Samuel puts the same choice before the people of Israel as Moses had: life or death. They are told that it will be well with them if they follow the Lord. They are told that if they do not obey God, then His hand will be against them.

It should be an easy choice, and at the moment, they are choosing God. But why? They are humbling themselves before God because they are afraid.

Samuel says watch while the Lord shows you His power. God sends a storm during dry season, a storm that probably destroyed crops at the beginning of wheat season. They feared God.

Now the fear of the Lord is a good thing. It is the beginning of wisdom and understanding. It was getting them to acknowledge they had done wrong in turning to a human king instead of to God as their king.

But they were fearing for their lives. They weren’t in awe of the awe-someness of God.

They weren’t reveling in how this great God chose them and was for them, desiring to take care of them and prosper them. They saw God as against them.

How do you see God?

Do you have a healthy fear of the Lord? Samuel tells them both to fear the Lord and to not be afraid. We are to fear the Lord, but we’re not to be afraid.

How can we do that? By knowing that this great, powerful, mighty God is on our side? How can we be convinced of that? Because we get on His side. You choose His way.

He’s not demanding obedience to stroke His ego. Love is not proud. God is love. He’s not looking at Himself in a mirror admiring Himself. He’s eyes are on you.

He demands obedience because He knows that His ways are good and perfect! He knows that turning from them is turning to pain and suffering and death. He knows that there is nothing good in man and turning to man for help is a losing scenario unless God is in it.

Only God is good. Don’t you want goodness in your life? Don’t you want to choose what is good and perfect? Can you trust that God is good all the time? That’s all He’s asking you to do. Believe He is who He says He is, who He has revealed Himself to be.