Before God chose Saul to be the first king of Israel, Saul was out wandering in the wilderness chasing lost donkeys. In 1 Samuel, we see a humble and ironic preview of a king who would soon lead a nation whom God Himself compares to wild donkeys accustomed to roaming in the wilderness (Jeremiah 2:24).

On one of the most significant days in Israel’s history—the day their first king was to be revealed—Saul was nowhere to be found. The tribes had travelled from afar, unloaded their baggage and assembled to await the announcement of their first king. The anticipation was thick. Yet when the moment came for Saul to step forward, he was missing. The people searched, confused, until the Lord Himself had to tell them where to look. “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.

Words matter when those words serve to bear witness to what God has revealed in scripture. Peter confirms this by saying that those who speak should do so “as one who speaks oracles of God, using their gifts to serve others.” (1 Peter 4:10–11). When God provides insight, conviction, and clarity, the call is not to shrink back. The call is to be faithful to Him by using the gifts He has given as a means to serve others. Jeremiah knew this tension well—he tried to stay silent,

Over the many years that Paul and Timothy travelled the Mediterranean basin together, Paul most likely clearly recognized Timothy's spiritual gift of evangelism. We see that in 2Timothy 4:5, Paul encourages Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist.” It seems quite obvious that Paul wouldn’t have any need to encourage Timothy to do that work in this way unless Timothy indeed had the gift of evangelism and Paul wanted him to use it. But what might be the work of an evangelist,