In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, “LORD Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life,” - 1 Samuel 1:10-11a
So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the LORD for him.” - 1 Samuel 1:20
The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions. - 1 Samuel 3:1
Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. - 1 Samuel 3:4-5
So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. — 1 Samuel 3:9The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. - 1 Samuel 3:19
Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.” - 1 Samuel 12:3
They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” - 1 Samuel 8:5
Four Reasons Our Harvest Disappoints
1. I Sowed Something Disappointing
"When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel… Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice." — 1 Samuel 8:1, 3
Four Reasons Our Harvest Disappoints
1. I Sowed Something Disappointing
2. Others Sowed Something Disappointing
"Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations." — 1 Samuel 8:5But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. - 1 Samuel 8:6
“... “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us...” - Deuteronomy 17:14
"that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles" (1 Samuel 8:20)
And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. — 1 Samuel 8:7
Four Reasons Our Harvest Disappoints
1. I Sowed Something Disappointing
2. Others Sowed Something Disappointing
3. Something Failed to Grow
"Far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you." — 1 Samuel 12:23
A field that didn't grow is not proof that you planted badly.
Four Reasons Our Harvest Disappoints
1. I Sowed Something Disappointing
2. Others Sowed Something Disappointing
3. Something Failed to Grow
4. God Uprooted It
"Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king." — 1 Samuel 15:23
"And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel." — 1 Samuel 15:35
"The LORD said to Samuel, 'How long will you grieve over Saul?...'" — 1 Samuel 16:1a
Two Reasons We Get Stuck in Our Grief
1. We refuse to accept reality.
2. We can’t see a future beyond the one we’d envisioned.
"How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons." — 1 Samuel 16:1
Two Things God Gives Samuel in His Grief
1. Honesty - “I have rejected Saul as king.”
Sometimes the truth hurts – but God loves us too much to tell us anything else. Healing starts with the truth.
Honesty means accepting what's true today. It doesn't mean deciding what's final.
Two Things God Gives Samuel in His Grief
1. Honesty - “I have rejected Saul as king.”
2. Hope - “I’ve already chosen another.”
"How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons." — 1 Samuel 16:1
Honesty answers our refusal to accept reality. Hope answers our uncertainties about the future.
God redeems the field you're actually in, not the one you wish you had.
3 Steps to Navigating a Disappoint Harvest
1. Read
2. Release
3. Replant
Step 1: Read
Give an honest assessment of where you are and what needs to be done.
• What have I sowed that needs repentance?
• What have others sowed that needs forgiveness?
• What has failed to grow that needs acceptance?
• And what has God uprooted that needs my surrender?
Step 2: Release
Release the future you’ve tried to control.
"Surely the LORD's anointed is before him." — 1 Samuel 16:6
"Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." — 1 Samuel 16:7
Step 3: Replant
Respond with obedience to what God wants to do now.
Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah. - 1 Samuel 16:12b-13