Better yes.

Last week we talked about how the protection in getting counsel comes from our obedience. I also talked about how God’s provision comes as we walk out in faith what God has asked us to do, like the disciples handing out the bread and the fish to the multitudes. Please know that you cannot manipulate God into getting on board with your thing by calling it “faith”.

I am reminded of the temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11. Verses 5-7 say, “Then the devil took him [Jesus] to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’” Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

Sometimes as Christians, we like to dress up our “temper tantrums” as walking in faith. If God says no and we go to counsel and our godly counsel says no and we do it anyway, that is not being “strong and courageous” or “full of faith”. That is being rebellious and reckless. Devil loves it when we are walking in rebellion because we are vulnerable to his attacks. We are out of the covering and protection of God when we are operating in rebellion.

We can quote as many bible verses as we want, but if God is not in it, it will end in disaster. In the above verses we can see how the devil tried to manipulate Jesus using the word of God. He tried to use God’s word against God and He failed. Likewise, we can’t pluck a scripture from the Bible and try to use it to force our own agenda. Use it to try force God’s hand so He does what we want Him to do in any situation. Or use it to support something that we know is blatantly wrong. That will not work. That is not faith and it is not Jesus.

The bible wasn’t written in a vacuum, everything must be taken in context, and we must realise that we follow the leading of God. We don’t get to “pick our own adventure” and certainly God doesn’t follow us. We follow Him.

Why am I saying all of this? Some of the greatest disappointments, discouragements, out of control moments I have had in my Christian walk were as a result of me trying to force my agenda on God. I prayed and asked God. God said, “Girl don’t do it.” I pretty much said in a nutshell, “I’m gonna go see for myself”. Every time I have done that, I have without a doubt later on regretted it. God wasn’t trying to withhold something good from me. He was trying to stop me from going through unnecessary pain.

We can think of rebellion as someone cursing God out or colouring their hair green. However, rebellion has nothing to do with hair colour or external things, it is an attitude of the heart. You can be in church every Sunday, amening the pastors and still in rebellion. Rebellion isn’t only in the big things. Rebellion is also in the small decisions. Disregarding the voice of God. Disregarding counsel. Not submitting to authority and yes that includes your boss at work. Your pastors at church. Your youth leader. Your teachers in class. Whatever realm you are in there is a person in the position of authority and we need to be submitted to authority, see Romans 13:1-2.

If God thinks it is important that we submit to earthly authority, how much more important do you think it is that we submit to His authority? I think rebellion is essentially saying, “I know better than you.” It stems from the attitude of not wanting to be told what to do. But the thing is, we don’t know it all. At best we live to be 100 years old. Do we think in that time we can gather more information about life than God has in His entire existence?

When we put it into context, we realise how silly we are. Yet we do it anyway. Sometimes it is because we do not trust God is looking out for us. We secretly believe God acts good, but He is not really all that good. Is He? Yes! Yes, He is. He is better than we can ever imagine. Living in a world full of chaos and destruction, sickness and uncertainly, cruelty and violence, it is hard to imagine a God who is just as good as God says He is. But truth of the matter is, God’s goodness is not based on our experiences. What we have or have not seen. God’s goodness is who He is. It is a part of Himself that he cannot separate Himself from.

So, we don’t need to go seeing for ourselves. We don’t need to force God’s hand to bless us. He already wants to bless us. However, my pastors say, “A blessing out of time is a curse.” This is why we don’t grab a scripture and demand God to do what we want Him to do when we want Him to do it.

Scripture shows us what is possible through the finished work of Jesus, Holy Spirit reveals God’s heart for our lives and brings to life God’s word in our hearts and Papa God holds the timing. Committing our plans to God is a part of the Christian journey. I don’t mean praying, “God bless this thing that I’m going to do.” But prayerfully seeking God’s heart and direction before you even commit to doing it, then seeking counsel and then walking out whatever it is God says to do. Whether it’s yes, no, or not now, we trust Him because we know that He is good.

As much as we trust God to step out in faith when He says, “Yes”, we need to trust that He will guide us through the no’s and lead us to a better yes.

Love and blessings

Melissa Tsingano