How does one go from being chosen by God to being rejected by God?

In the book of 1^st Samuel, the Israelites ask God for a king because so far, they’ve only been ruled by judges and prophets; God was their King. However, they wanted to be like the other nations around them, so they requested for God to choose a king for them. In chapter 10, Samuel anoints Saul as a king appointed by God to rule His people and all is going well until Saul decided to start doing things his way (bad move).

“How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of His people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” ~ 1 Samuel 13:13-14

But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to His voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.” ~ 1 Samuel 15:22

“Fat of rams” refers to the best part of an offering or a sacrifice. In this scripture, God through Samuel is telling Saul that obeying God is better than any offering or sacrifice and submitting to His command is better than the best part of any sacrifice. Saul looked to please the people instead of pleasing God and that caused him to disobey God in several instances. God told Saul He found another man (David) who is after His heart and he will take Saul’s place.

“Now the spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear.” ~ 1 Samuel 16:14.

To answer the initial question, I believe disobedience caused Saul to be rejected by God and can also cause us to be rejected by God even if we’re in a position God Himself put us in.

I believe God still requires us to go after His heart, be submissive to Him and obey all His commands. We need to consistently take inventory of our hearts and make sure it is still after God and His heart. Spiritual deterioration is a gradual process, so we need to always be mindful of the state of our hearts.

My prayer today is that we will continue to seek the Father’s heart and allow the Holy Spirit to convict us when we stray away from the Lord’s commands. As we do this, I believe we will continue growing 2gether. Grace and peace 🙂