You know in our lives that we have choices. The choices that we make may come with consequences. They may alter our relationship with God.
It may prevent from getting certain gains in God�s plan that he has for us Whereas the road could be easy it is now a little bit rougher.
We may cry to God sometimes and say, why Lord,are things not going well?
We may not be flourishing the way that we might want to flourish.
An uphill battle.
Lean not unto your own understanding
Eph 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Eph 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

How do we know the will of GOD unless we read his precious word?
Sometimes we just ignore God�s will
When we ignore His will, we ignore his perfect plan for us -- and at times we put ourselves in harm's way
Let�s look at a few people that ignored God�s will and the consequences:
Judges 14:3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. She pretrayed Him to her people.
Judges 14:16 And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee? His hair was an act of an covenant and he gave it away:
Judges 16:6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
Judges 16:23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
Judges 16:25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.
Judges 16:26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.
Judges 16:27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
Judges 16:28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
Judges 16:29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
Judges 16:30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

Samson had unneeded pain put upon him, because he gave in to his temptations (rather choosing his wants and desires over that of God would have him do) -- He was humbled. Samson's eyes were taken out - he was tied to a millstone for heavy labor � being now ridiculed in the eyes of the Philistines (bringing shame to the name of Christianity�Do you want to be instrumental in bringing shame to the name of Christianity?). He was now entangled with the things of this world. He could not freely exercise God�s work and will in his life.

Let us look at Abraham:
God�s perfect will was that they would not give into temptation
Gen 12:1-5 Abraham exercises his faith and walks away from his Home. God is LORD of his life � when God tells us to go, we ought to follow.
God gives Abram (ham) a promise that he will be the Father of many nations.
Abram is tempted to help him out-- God does not need his help (John 12:32)
Gen 16: 2-4 God does not want our help. By trying to help God out now, he has a rift between His wife and her maid (Hagar).
Abraham was tempted to help God out. This is sin in the eyes of God.
Rom 3:7 For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
Gen 21:4-14 Hagar and her son (Ishmael)were cast out and wandered in the wilderness of Beer- she- ba.
Abraham�s faith became complete. His faith is tasted by GOD (Gen 22:1) when he took Isaac his son to be sacrificed � Hebrew 11:17-19.
Abraham took this task beyond that of the physical.
He believed that God was victorious even though he would have seen physical defeat. He did not put limitations on what God could do. He did not try to help God out on his journey to the land of Moriah (Gen 22:2)
Therefore, when we, as Christians reach this level of Faith in that we take God at His pure words, then and only then are we truly free from the bondage of the things of this world. We walk completely in the way of God, because we exercise the LORD in our life through and by our actions.
Abraham is rewarded -- he no longer focuses on the physical consequences yet looks to the heavenly kingdom.

Situations in our life may be closing in and we ought not to faint as Abraham did not faint (while bringing Isaac to be sacrificed). God acknowledges that Abraham faith has matured to another level. God rewards Abraham (Genesis 22:16&17) - prosperity comes when we show faithfulness to GOD.
Genesis 22:16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
Genesis17That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Genesis18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

God�s Permissive will is that we act away from God�s will, therefore we have consequences for our actions. Even in our disobedience God can still be Victorious. Let us walk in God�s perfect will by studying his bible (2Tim 2:15),and allowing Christ to work through us versus doing his will.

Return to Food For Thought

Return to Main Page