as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams." (1 Samuel 15:22, NIV)
We are the Lord's creation, each individual and unique; His handiwork. We are told throughout Scripture that He wants none to perish, that He does not delight in the suffering of His people. He wants a relationship with each of us but does not force us. He doesn't even force His favour on us:
"Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him." (1 Samuel 16:14, NIV)
We need to actively and continuously seek the presence of the Lord or we risk being exposed to temptation or torment. This is a very troubling passage. "an evil spirit from the Lord"? Does God have an evil spirit? I can't imagine. My best thought is that He withdrew His protection from Saul. We'll see later that He did this just temporarily...