How long will you cling to what God has clearly cut off?

June 04, 2025

When God Ends What You’re Still Holding On To

1 Samuel 16:1 (KJV)

“And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.”
1 Samuel 16:1 (KJV)

When God Wakes You Up to Wake You Up

The Lord doesn’t always whisper. Sometimes He wakes you up. And this morning, He stirred my spirit so sharply I knew it wasn’t just for me. Someone reading this needs to hear it: God has moved on, and He’s calling you to do the same.

Samuel had poured his heart into Saul’s leadership. He mentored him, guided him, and watched him ascend. But by 1 Samuel 16, the anointing was gone, and so was God’s favor on Saul’s throne. Samuel was stuck in a place of grief. Not just grief over Saul’s rebellion but grief over his own misplaced attachment to what used to be.

God’s Questions Expose Our Condition

“How long wilt thou mourn for Saul?”

When God asks a question, it is never to gain information. He is all-knowing (Isaiah 46:10). Rather, His questions expose the condition of our hearts. Just as He asked Adam, “Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:9), and Elijah, “What doest thou here?” (1 Kings 19:9), He now confronts Samuel with a soul-piercing inquiry: Why are you still crying over what I’ve already rejected?

Many of us are mourning not the loss of a person or position, but the loss of our dependence on it. Like Samuel, we become emotionally entangled with what was never meant to remain. We confuse grief with guilt. And we weep over things that God removed for our protection.

Codependency or Covenant?

The Spirit spoke this clearly:
Samuel, you’re not struggling with Saul. You’re struggling with your attachment to what Saul did for you.

This is the kind of soul surgery only God can do. There is a difference between loving someone and being codependent on their presence. When God removes a person, platform, or position, He is not being cruel. He is cutting away what no longer carries His blessing.

“Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away.”
John 15:2 (KJV)

God will not bless a relationship He has rejected. And many are stuck in spiritual stagnation, not because they lack calling, but because they refuse to release what He has ended.

Modern Parallels: God Is Still Pruning

This principle is painfully relevant in our time. People are mourning over ministries that have become toxic. Churches clinging to leaders God has long since stopped anointing. Political idols, cultural ideologies, and even personal relationships that no longer bear witness to truth or righteousness.

In an age where emotionalism often masquerades as faith, God is still asking: How long will you mourn what I have rejected?

Your Oil Is Still Full

God didn’t just tell Samuel to stop mourning He gave him a mission.

“Fill thine horn with oil, and go...”
1 Samuel 16:1 (KJV)

The oil still flows. The call is not canceled. The future is not forsaken. There is still a David waiting to be anointed. But as long as you're staring at Saul, you will miss what God has already prepared.

“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?”
Isaiah 43:19 (KJV)

A Call to Repentance: Release What God Has Rejected

God may have allowed that relationship, position, or season for a time but now it is time to let go. Crying won’t change His will. Sentimentality won’t alter His sovereignty.

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)

If you find yourself weeping over what was, ask the Lord to reveal whether you are clinging to a comfort that’s become a counterfeit. Repent not only from sin, but from spiritual paralysis caused by fear of change. And rise to walk into the next chapter.

The Gospel Message: The Ultimate Rejection and Redemption

The rejection of Saul points us forward to the ultimate rejection when the world rejected Christ. But unlike Saul, Jesus was perfect, blameless, and holy. He took the rejection we deserved and bore our griefs to open the door to eternal life.

All have sinned.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
Romans 3:23 (KJV)

Sin brings death.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:23 (KJV)

Jesus paid the price.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8 (KJV)

Confess and believe.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Romans 10:9 (KJV)

Conclusion: Mourning Is Not Mission

Friend, God cares for your heart, but He also cares for your calling. Let this be the moment you set down the mourning and pick up the mission. Stop pleading for Saul. Start preparing for David. Fill your horn with oil and go there is more ahead than behind.