1 Samuel 9-10 teach us that even in the exercising of our agency in unwise ways, the Lord will do all He can to help us to be successful.
The Israelites chose to have a king, against the counsel of Samuel. Despite this poor choice, the Lord did all he could to help them to have a king who would lead effectively. Saul is described in 1 Samuel 9:2. I had the student highlight the characteristics he had. We discussed leadership in general and how the qualities Saul had would assist him as he led the children of Israel. 1 Samuel 9:21 suggests that not only was Saul “goodly and choice” but that he was humble as well.
The story of Saul’s life begins with all sorts of wonderful possibilities. The table was set for him to be the best possible leader the Israelites could have had. It is my testimony that the Lord will do all he can to help us be successful in our lives. In Jacob 5 we read the allegory of the olive tree. In this allegory one way to interpret this is that we are the trees. The Lord moves us in our lives to various parts of the vineyard, He prunes us, nourishes us, etc. As the allegory unfolds the Lord asks the following question:
What could I have done more for my vineyard? (see Jacob 5:47,49)
The answer is that there is nothing more He can do for the vineyard. If He could do more, He would. This has so many applications in the lives of our young people. Jacob 5 teaches us that even in times of pain (pruning) the Lord is working toward our good. Even when the tree becomes corrupt, He does all He can to save us.