Applying 1st Samuel

I've been reading through 1st Samuel and it's been really interesting. As I've been reading, I've been trying to see how I can apply it to my life. Every time I open my Bible I pray that God would help me understand the stories of how He helped His people back then and how it applies to me right now. I guess I went into it hoping to find encouragement but ended up finding conviction. Funny, how that happens.
I was reading the story of Israel asking for a king and Samuel warning them that they didn't actually want what they were asking for. I was thinking through why it was wrong of them. After all, a king isn't always a bad thing. What was the real difference in a judge and a king? Why was one right and the other wrong?
As I read I realized that it did apply to me. It applied to me because a king, in and of itself, is not wrong, just the way that all of the good things I fill my mind and time with, aren't wrong either. What is wrong is when we replace God with those things. In my case, I replace God with God's will. Weird, I know. But I've always had a tendency to make finding God's will more important than finding God.
The Israelites were wrong for wanting a king because they wanted to follow a king instead of following God. They weren't looking for the opposite of God, but they weren't looking for God. Samuel told them that if they continually looked toward God for direction and didn't forsake Him, He would continue to bless them. But, if they started looking toward other things, they would lose God's blessing.
We can't just live and expect God to be in our lives. We can't look for things and expect to find God. We can't just walk and expect to be on His path. We have to chase after Him. We have to be intentional about seeking Him, not just intentional about seeking something good and occasionally thinking about Him, hoping He's just somehow included. Being intentional about never seeking what is blatantly wrong, is not the same as always seeking what we are supposed to. As in, seeking God.
Some times I feel God leading me towards something and then I get obsessed with it and seek so hard after what I think is His will, that I put Him on the back burner. I ignore Him because I don't have time in the middle of His will to continue to seek after Him.
I repented of this today as I read. I know He forgives me every time but someday I hope to follow His will without forgetting about Him.
Good thing He's patient with me.