Be Careful What You Wish For

And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. (Acts 13:21)

You’ve probably heard someone say, “Be careful what you wish for; you may just get it.” As Christians, we don’t believe there is any power in wishing. However, the word wish can mean your heart’s desire. We could say, “Be cautious what your heart’s desire is; it may come to pass,” because everything we desire is not beneficial. Parents know that everything their children want is not good for them. When I was a child, I would have preferred to have nothing but candy and potato chips, but my mother knew that would not have been in my best interest.

The people of Israel desired or wished for a king. Samuel prayed about their desire and then warned them that what they wished for would not turn out to be good for them. He said, “This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day” (1 Samuel 8:11-18).

The people of Israel didn't seek God's will in this matter, but God gave them a king named Saul, who started strong but failed in the end.

Practical Application – Line up your desires with God's Word. If He says someone or something isn't right for you, stop pursuing.

Psalm 37:4; 1 Samuel 15:11