Human beings do not like being told what to do in general. We consider ourselves to be the boss of our lives and are often resistant to instructions. Not so if we want to live peaceful and joyful lives as Christians.
A father has a clearer vision, has better wisdom and understanding than a three year old no matter how smart the child is for his/her age. And most three year olds consider themselves the boss! The father lovingly instructs his child to ensure that everything pertaining to the child’s life is never compromised in any way. Such a father has plans for his child. Good plans.
Is it not the same with God and His children? God in all His wisdom knows the end from the beginning. He is the Ancient of Days. He pre-existed even before He formed the earth. He knows it all! He told the prophet Jeremiah that before He formed the prophet, He knew him. God had already set out a plan, a road map, for Jeremiah’s life. God created us and like it or not, knows all about us.
God will never reveal to us the entire plan He has for us. That is one thing we have to realise. God wants us to trust Him every step of the way for we are admonished to live a faith life. When we obey one instruction, then He will reveal the next. Otherwise we find ourselves in a stalemate. God will just wait on us to make the move.
God told Abraham to get up and leave his family and land. God promised Abraham He would bless him. God never revealed the full plan and timing of what exactly Abraham’s blessings were. Abraham did not even know where he was going when first instructed by God to leave. Over a course of time as Abraham heeded to each instruction, more revelation came. Abraham also came to realise later, that part of his blessings included having a son out of his loins with his wife Sarah, even in old age. Whenever God was silent with Abraham, it was when God was still waiting on Abraham to do as he had been told! For example, Lot was never part of God’s original plan with Abraham. But Lot came along. The next time God spoke to Abraham was immediately after Abraham and Lot had separated.
We have to get to a point where we trust God all the time. We got to get to the point where we know that anything that God says is for our good and can only be so. We may not like what He is saying but neither does the three year old being told to move away from the fireplace! We got to get to the point where when God speaks we listen without any reservation. We got to get to the point where when God speaks we do not waste time but literally leap and do as instructed. We got to get to a point where we love hearing and doing God’s instructions because of the confidence we have in Him.
Only when we do, will we witness that God has our best interest at heart. Only then will we witness that there is a connected blessing with every instruction. And knowing that means, every time He calls on us, there is not a moment’s hesitation in doing what He says because we are more than confident that He has something good in store for us.
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Yes, my heart agrees with you wholly. But oh, it is so difficult to get there. Like Abraham, our faith will have to be tested over and over again. I was blessed reading your article.
