Conforming

 

    To conform is to make behavioral changes to provide harmony.  Normally it is to become similiar, if not identical, to another person or group.  Conformant people are considered obedient and complacent to meet the standard.  On it's own it is not a bad thing.  It makes an ideal student or employee.  However, when you strip away how God made you different it is bound to bring problems to your life.

    Samuel had led the Israelites almost his entire life in a very similar way as Moses (beginning and the end).  The people recognized how he held their nation together and did not want to go back to how things were before.  He appointed his sons Joel and Abijah to be judges, or the spiritual leaders, after him.  However, his sons were very similar to Eli's evil sons.  

    They elders watched and waited, but did not see a good solution.  They went to Samuel to address the issue and ask for a king.  They wanted to conform to be like other nations, so that they could have organization and one recognizable leader for the nation.  In their attempt to not lose what made them special, they were stripping away that exact thing.  They were relying on logic over faith.

    A king was never in God's plan.  Samuel pointed out how a king would make their lives more difficult, not better.  The people would not be the happy solution.  The people would cry out to God from the burden a king will put on them, but God would not listen because this was their choice.  

    Even with the valid warning, the elders minds were made up.  They wanted their king.  God relented and told Samuel to give them their king.  Samuel told them that God would appoint them a king and sent them home.  It was the beginning of a new and turbulent era for the Israelite nation.

    Conforming to fit in, be liked, or not to stand out will never look like how you have it in your mind.  You being different is what will make people drawn to you.  They may not like you, but no one is liked by everyone.  Conforming to keep a situation calm can be a good thing, but never conform who you are.

1 Samuel 8