No Small Moments

I've been reading through the Bible for, like, four years. Maybe five. And I'm only in 1 Samuel. Clearly, I've taken a few detours along the way.

The story of Saul becoming the first king of Israel isn't new to me, but when I read how Saul was called to kingship by the prophet Samuel, I seriously didn't remember the details. Do you know how many weird, insignificant things had to happen for Saul to run into Samuel and for Samuel to name Saul king? A lot. Here's a brief list:

• Saul's father's donkeys went missing.
• Of all his sons, Saul's father asked Saul to go look for the donkeys.
• Saul walked all over tarnation to find those donkeys and couldn't find them.
• Just when he was about to give up, his servant happened to know that a "seer" (Samuel) was in a nearby village and suggested they go see him about the donkey situation.
• Saul says they need to pay the seer but they don't have money. Oh wait. The servant has some. Perfect.
• On their way to the village, Saul and his servant happen to walk by some girls going to draw water, and ask them if they've seen the seer. They have.
• Samuel had just arrived in their town that day. 
• Samuel was on his way to a banquet, and the people wouldn't eat until he was arrived. If Saul found him too late, he'd have to wait a while to talk with him. 
• Saul finds Samuel in time (and God had told Samuel the day before that he would meet Saul at that place and time...the banquet was actually for him, even though he hadn't shown up yet).

Y'all, a donkey hunt is the way God chose to anoint the first king over His people. Every one of those details individually is insignificant; you wouldn't think twice about the fact that a servant has a little change in his pocket. Girls going to get water in the middle of the day? Okay, yeah, that happens. But without each of those details working in concert, Saul may not have been the king of Israel. 

This isn't an isolated story. It's all over the Bible, all over our lives. And it's not a new story. I know all about "divine appointments" and God's sovereignty. But it hit me freshly this week, and I needed the reminder that I'm part of an infinitely bigger story than I can sense or see, that my moments matter.