"THE LOST DONKEY"
By: Prophetess hilda arredondo
In I Samuel 9:1-3 it reads, “Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. And the asses of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses.” Saul was a tall, nice looking, and well behaved young man. For Saul, the son of a mighty man of power, this seemed to be just another ordinary day on the farm. His father’s donkeys had strayed away and now were lost. His father needed his son to go out and find them. Therefore, Saul picked out a servant to go with him on this errand. This was just part of being a farmer, animals straying away, and sons being sent to find them were common. But because we serve a great and mighty God who has plans for our lives, Saul’s life was about to drastically change. His date with destiny was awaiting him unbeknownst to him. Our God in Jesus’ name who looks down from heaven takes what appears to be an ordinary day and turns it into an unexpected “date with destiny” as we will see as we read on.
ISRAEL REJECTS GOD
In Jeremiah 29:11, the promise of God's word states, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” God had a purpose and a plan for His people Israel. Israel had rejected the sovereign rule of God. Up to this point in history they had Samuel, the prophet, as their governor and judge who had replaced the Eli priesthood whom God had rejected. He had let that corrupted priesthood run their course to the end, and then had Samuel ready for that timely moment in history to make him judge over Israel. God is never in a hurry and waited for Eli to run the course of a generation – 40 years. Today, He is still not in a hurry and will do what He needs to do in due season with a modern day corrupted priesthood, just as in the day of Samuel. Samuel was an honorable man and full of integrity. He was raised in the house of God learning His ways and was a pure, consecrated vessel as he stepped up to the place of service to lead Israel.
MANY CALLED, FEW CHOSEN
Samuel’s name was called out by Almighty God and he heard and responded to the mighty task of being judge over Israel. Many are called, but few are chosen-Samuel had been chosen! Later, as time went by, we get an idea of what kind of leader Samuel turned out to be. At the end of his reign Samuel stood before Israel and said in I Samuel 12:3-5, “Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither has thou taken ought of any man’s hand. And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.” No one could point the finger at Samuel for any wrongdoing. Now here we are, Samuel is old and retires from his post and his sons are moving in to be judges over Israel, but something was not quite right. “And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah. And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” I Samuel 8:3-5. This was another point in history that would change Israel’s course – to become like other nations at their own request. They no longer wanted the rule of the God of the Universe. Not because He had failed them in His holiness and rule but because honest, holy men full of the Holy Ghost was nowhere to be found. Most were after money and took bribes, perverted justice, and had “Respect of Men.”
MISSING INGREDIENTS
Sounds like some of the church problems of today. The problem of that day and still today was no sanctification and consecration of the office. These missing ingredients, so to speak, had caused a problem then and are still causing a problem today in our churches. Fast talking men and women who have placed themselves into the office of the priesthood are full of sensual and evil lusts, dishonest, liars, greedy, and lovers of money. Many have not gone through the sanctification and consecration necessary to stand in the office. That is the problem with some of our nation’s spiritual leaders. I thank God for the few among us who are consecrated men and women, but it is not a majority. For this reason there is little “fire of revival” in our churches. Consecrated men and women that bring true preaching and teaching will ignite the hearts of the listeners – stirring them to embrace Him (Jesus) and lay their sin and worldly lifestyles down. Consecration is the vein of fire that pours out of those vessels. It brings a hunger and a thirst after righteousness. So now, let us look back at Israel again, they wanted a king. Samuel was shocked over their request. “But the thing displeased Samuel when they said Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but have rejected me, that I should not reign over them”. I Samuel 8:6-7. From that point on Israel would have their way, God who knew best would let them go to settle for second best. The prophet represented the heart of God leading them, but now they wanted man to rule them as other nations. Yet we see God's mercy and love for His people, the promise of scripture that He would never leave them or forsake them would always ring true.
THE LOST DONKEYS
God now leads them to a king—Saul and the lost donkeys. He and his servant set out to look for donkeys and they look and look and cannot find them. Yet, on the other hand, God is working and setting up all the steps of Saul to accomplish his destiny. He is out looking for his father’s donkeys. No other thought is on his mind, just being obedient to the task. God is planning a sacrifice of the people in the high place, and a table is being set for Saul to honor him as the upcoming king over Israel. Church, Jesus holds our destiny. Saul had to go to the high place to hear that his life was about to change to bring about his destiny. Do you want to know about your destiny? Then you will have to go to a “high place” if you’re looking for your destiny. It was in the high place that God revealed to Saul God's plan and purpose for his life. It was in the high place that a table of honor was set for him. Also, in a high place the vision is broader, you can see further then you can in a low place. The whole view is clearer there. In a high place you can see what paths are best to take and the paths not to take.
AN APPOINTMENT WITH DESTINY
Are you looking for something? Or possibly think that you’re going a certain way to look for a specific thing? Does it appear to be another normal day for you, as it was for Saul? But suddenly a “Divine Appointment” pops up in your path bringing changes that affect you and your whole life. You will never be the same again – your destiny is about to begin. You see we never know what our God is preparing for us. Your thought may be, I’m just looking for something. Saul was on a “Common Errand” looking for his father’s strays. But when they couldn’t find the donkeys a thought came to the servant, “There is a prophet in this area who is very accurate, let us ask him about our lost donkeys.” Immediately after asking where the seer was, they were directed to the Prophet Samuel. I Samuel 9:13-17 says, “As soon as ye be come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up; for about this time ye shall find him. And they went up into the city: and when they were come into the city, behold Samuel came out against them, for to go up to the high place. Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying, Tomorrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me. And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, Behold the man who I spake to thee of! This same shall reign over my people.”
OUR CHOICE MAY NOT BE GOD’S BEST
God had already informed Samuel, that He would put a man in his path that would be the one to reign over Israel and here he was – Saul, the son of Kish. This was not God's best, He wanted to be their king, yet He would still give them the king they wanted and they would have to live with their decision. In I Samuel 9:18-20, it reads, “Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer’s house is. And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer: go up before me unto the high place; for ye shall eat with me today, and tomorrow I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thine heart. And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found…” Samuel told Saul not to worry about the donkeys, they were found and now what seemed like a wild goose chase turned out to be Saul’s “divine appointment” with his destiny—to be the first king over Israel. It appeared that he was out looking for lost donkeys, but God used the donkeys to get Saul to cross Samuel’s path and get him to go where He wanted him to go. Church, many times God will use a certain situation that affects us in our everyday lives to get us where He needs us. We may think it’s about this or about that, but really it’s about getting us to our destiny. Since His thoughts are higher than our thoughts He will use whatever He needs to get us there. Our Jesus has a purpose for everything in our lives and God's plan will come to pass as the Holy Spirit leads. Out of the many experiences I’ve had over the years with the Holy Spirit, I would like to share with you the one that changed my life forever and brought me to my destiny.
LOOKING FOR THE ALL-AMERICAN DREAM
Many years ago my husband and I were without jobs. At that time (1980) we lived in the Ohio area which had become economically depressed. The auto and steel industry was struggling and the steel mills and factories were laying off workers and some were closing down. Our driving thoughts were to find better jobs so that we could continue pursuing the All-American dream. Nothing wrong with that – but if God has a dream that He wants you to pursue then He will do His best to get us there, just as Saul. He was looking for lost donkeys, yet the day of his destiny was at hand! Church, if we are born again then we are His children. He loves us and the negative circumstances sent our way, our Lord will use them to get us to our destiny. Never in our wildest imagination did we think that Louisiana would be the place where our God would lead us to those new jobs.
A DIVINE APPOINTMENT OF PRAYER
Through many circumstances (too many to write about in this letter) our family ended up in Louisiana in 1980. We were looking for the All-American dream, but our Lord had other plans for me—my destiny was waiting for me in Louisiana. I needed God so desperately in my life at that time and still do and He needed me. Here I was looking for a job, but He had a job waiting for me—a job of prayer--The National Divine Connection Of Prayer was waiting to be birthed.
The Lord would bring me in touch with some of the most wonderful praying people in the nation. A faithful committed people that would be willing to join me and pray for America to repent and turn back to God so we could have a mighty revival. This year will be twenty-seven (27) years since we set out to look for those jobs – a step that would change my life forever. While looking for that job Louisiana became a “Divine Appointment” of prayer for me and my real job was assigned – Prayer for America. I have never been so fulfilled and happy and He has always taken care of me and my family in every area. Are you looking for something today? If you are – don’t be surprised – the destiny of God could be waiting right around the corner for you! To God Be the Glory!
Thank you so much for reading this message. If you would like to make a copy or copies of this newsletter, you are welcome to do so. Make sure your copy is in its entirety and the message should not be changed. Judgment messages are very serious and those declaring them carry a big responsibility. Hilda Arredondo's name and her website http://ndcprayer.com/ and e-mail address uipwc@bellsouth.net should accompany this message as you print it. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail us. At this point we have no representatives outside this ministry and all business for the ministry is handled by hilda arredondo, 195 El Shaddai Rd, Opelousas, La. 70570
