I Samuel 8-9
The Israelites sounded like kids when they asked the prophet Samuel to appoint a king. After all, they argued, all the other nations around them had a king. “C’mon, dad. Everyone ELSE is doing it.”
Samuel, on the other hand, knew that having a king would lead to crazy taxes to build palaces and finery, conscription of the people’s sons into the king’s army, and many other things that they had avoided since arriving in the Promised Land.
God had a choice: give them what they wanted, or give them what they needed.
In this instance, he allowed them to have what they wanted, and over the next few hundred years they experienced the ups and downs of the monarchy and learned that what Samuel had warned had come to pass. In the end, the people had many more bad kings than good ones, the nation was divided and its people taken into captivity.
We will never know what would have happened if these people had submitted to God’s plan instead of their own. However, you have the opportunity to find out how your life will turn out if you seek God’s will over your own. It can be a difficult thing to do, especially when so many people around you may be living their lives differently.
But take heart; God is a good father, and he wants what is best for you.
Parents know that sometimes what is best for you is telling you “no.”