Fearlessly CourageousDesk of Dennis Piller4 4 2023Click for Audio Version
Our choices outside of God‘s will … cost us!
When God says NO, or not yet, it’s often because he can see what the weight of this want Will do To us.
So often growing up when my parents told me No, I felt they were being too restrictive, but as time went by, I came to realize that my choices outside of their will and desires will cost me. I see now that it is the same way with God.I spent some time in 1st and 2nd Kings. It really is a huge history lesson. There are a lot of kings. There is this repeated pattern of disobedience of the kings, and it started to get on my nerves and get a bit exhausting. But as I started digging deeper into God’s word, I was humbled by how much I could relate to these kings, especially through all their disobedience, and afterward the inspiring trustworthiness of God.Ultimately, the experience of the Israelites, being led by these imperfect human kings, helped me to see more clearly our need for the one true, perfect, and righteous king, Jesus! In many ways, we too can be kings of our own little universe. Maybe it’s a company you own or your family or in certain relationships that you’re in, you are the senior partner. We too are imperfect humans and have the same need for the one, true, perfect, and righteous king.
I discovered in this that there is a difference betweenGod's "Sovereign Will",and his "Will of Command".
God's Sovereign Will – Gen. 50:20 Matt. 11:25 Eph. 1: 11, means that regardless of the situation or circumstance, God’s sovereignty is supreme, and all human history is under his authority. There will be many times that parts of God's sovereignty will be a mystery to us, but He is always right. Romans 8:28When we talk about God‘s “Will of command”: Matthew 7:21, Ephesians 5:17. We’re talking about God‘s commands that we draw from his word. They often relate to our moral conduct. God's revealed Will is sometimes called God’s will of precept or “Will of Command”.
God's sovereign will provides us with our foundational security. But his “will of command” offers only possibility.So how do we tie these two together?
God is in control. But he doesn’t control our choices.
God has given the responsibility to humans to choose him, his way, and his best.Our obedience to God‘s will of command is actually an indication of whether or not we trust him. As we talked of earlier, we will eventually realize what our choices outside of God‘s will … cost us. One day we will come to realize that. But there has never been a time when God has been wrong. In the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament the tribal elder and seer Samuel is asked by the people to appoint a King over them so they can be like other nations – “That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.”.1 Sam 8:20
Why was it wrong for the Israelites to request a king?
First, it was wrong because they were supposed to be holy. This desire to be like all the other nations was a problem because being holy meant being set apart or different.Second, their covenant with God meant they were to put their complete trust in him and his leadership but they requested a king as a go-between.
That is not so different from modern-day America. We are called to be Holy. But we too struggle with this attitude of wanting to do and be what other nations are doing…what the rest of the world is doing… In effect, doing what they please. Going to God when they have a need or need a handout. He wants us to rely on him in times of trouble personally! Put our trust in him completely in the good times too! We can only do that by knowing him. That requires spending time with him…reading his word…getting to know his character, his promises, and his history of always being there for his chosen people even though they habitually fall away. But he relentlessly pursues us as he did the Israelites. He may have left them in captivity for some lengthy season because they disobeyed his leadership and his leaders. But he always forgave them and came back for them.
What did they lose by rejecting God and choosing a king?
Up until that point, Israel was led by God himself, bringing deliverance in battle and by his anointing prophets and judges to help lead his people. But living by faith in God frustrated Israel, and for this reason, they eventually asked for a King to rule over them so they could be like the other nations.We are called to live by Faith. such faith is known by what it does or produces. Hebrews 11:1-3 teaches us that faith is a firm persuasion of the things we hope for – it is having a firm confidence in God that He will do as He has promised (Isaiah 55:10,11; Jeremiah 1:12; Acts 27:25).Living by faith means every day, no matter what, you have a quiet confidence that God is good. He is not withholding His goodness from us, but rather He is working out all things together for the good of those who love Him (see Romans 8:28).
“You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.”Psalm 119:68. Choose you this day who you will serve!Bethel Goodness of Godhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGgJTcnNAc0
