My Response to God Matters in the Story Line

Today I am noticing God's response to an evil man's humility... God had determined that Ahab was going to die and that He would wipe out his entire line... as He had done to two other kings that had been evil before him. It was surprising though, that when Ahab had heard this he humbled himself and went around "meekly":

1 Kings 21:27 "When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly."

Ahab had had a man killed because he wanted his land for a garden... he had already disobeyed God and let a man live whom God wanted put to death and then took a life for his own selfish ends....

God was still determined to carry out what He had decreed, but He delayed the worst of it until after Ahab's death... He would wait to send the full judgement on his son, who was next in line to be king, simply because Ahab had humbled himself.

It appears that though evil mars the glory of God, He will, in His timing, still accomplish His purposes... and He somehow allows our response to Him to affect the story He is trying to tell... when Ahab behaves in an evil way he isn't representing the heart of God... so God must act... but when he humbles himself God shows His mercy... reveals His heart in the story....

It amazes me that we can have an interaction with God despite how evil we are....

My head is full of questions... What does God want us to see about Himself here? How does humility/recognizing God as God and me in my proper perspective affect my day to day? Wouldn't repentance be better than simply being humbled?

It seems that in God's story, He allows room for me and my evil fallen ways... and my response to God DOES matter... how will I respond to what He sends to me today?

Wondering about THE Story line....

This week I've been reading through 1st Samuel and can't help but wonder about some things... God clearly wanted to rule over His people, but they begged for a king... how that must have hurt Him to be rejected by them, but He provided a king for them anyway... it goes on later to say He regretted making Saul king over Israel... I wonder how that works... God who doesn't change His mind does seem to have regrets....

Seems like He keeps giving despite His own personal pain.

I'm in the part of the story now where Saul is being tormented by an evil spirit sent by God... and David has been given the Spirit of God... and watching the story unfold with these dynamics is puzzling... the most I can seem to glean at this point is that God is telling a story and He has something to reveal about who He is (despite our responses to Him) and so He orchestrates things with fallen people to achieve His purposes....

Makes me wonder what He is up to... what is it He is trying to say about Himself and what is my role in His ongoing tale?

I wonder how I might live to bring Him less pain... or better yet some joy?