God’s initial call often aligns with a person’s natural abilities or desires (what they can and want to do). Over time he tests not their ability but their heart. The test reveals the heart by demanding surrender in the very area where self-will is strongest. This test works to deepen relationship and intimacy with God. When the heart is tested it either chooses itself or God.
Was Saul acting in free will and obedience when he delivered Israel from its enemies, or was he functioning involuntarily — like a heart muscle beating or an eye blinking? Saul did what the Lord had called him to do. He was a valiant warrior who conquered and punished Israel’s enemies. Yet when given the opportunity to fully surrender his will to God’s rule by utterly destroying the amalekites, he failed and was rejected.
First, there is the calling — the task God equips and even inclines a person to fulfill. Second, there is the test — the moment of decision that reveals whether a person will submit their will to God’s authority or seize the right to define good and evil for themselves.
We see this throughout biblical history. Adam fulfilled the cultural mandate to be fruitful, cultivate, and exercise dominion — yet failed when tested by the simple command regarding the tree. Moses delivered Israel, spoke with God face to face, and led the nation faithfully for decades — yet was barred from the Promised Land for one act of self-reliant disobedience at Meribah. In each case, the calling succeeded while the test exposed the heart.
In this account Saul spared what he deemed valuable and destroyed what he deemed worthless. God didn’t ask Saul to judge, he instructed him explicitly utterly destroy everything even giving Saul an itemized list. When Saul failed to obey in favor of his own judgment. he replayed the primordial sin in Eden. The fundamental question has never changed: Who gets to determine what is good and evil? Saul and Adam and Moses’ greatest failure was to claim for themselves the right that belongs to God alone. They failed to surrender power and authority to the Almighty.
God knew what Saul would choose, yet He still gave him the chance to choose it. Like a patient parent watching a child insist on tying his own shoes, God allows the attempt — not because He lacks knowledge or power, but because genuine relationship requires real opportunity. Justice demands it. No one will be able to accuse God of withholding the chance to obey.
Saul accomplished the calling, but he failed the test. The kingdom was torn from him because his heart was not fully surrendered.The same question confronts every believer: When God steps back offering a greater degree of free will and says, ‘Now you choose,’ will we obey and acknowledge His rule, or will we withhold something from the God who deserves everything? Our answer reveals who we truly worship.
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