It WILL BE Done God’s Way or NO Way!
Sadly, just reading the title of this post may cause feelings of anger, resentment and rebellion, instead of providing the comfort and encouragement it should and will when we truly know the Lord and put our faith and confidence in the power and promise of His Word. Our attitudes and displays of anger, resentment and rebellion toward God are rooted in pride, which we know goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18); but reading Deuteronomy 1:19-46 reveals just how seriously God deals with rebellion. Obviously, rebellion against God on any level is very dangerous business and something men and women standing for marriage restoration just can’t afford. But if we’re honest and really examine the above passage of scripture, most of us can recognize ourselves and the similarities to our own situations as we stand for the restoration of our marriages, which means we need some serious attitude adjustments in our hearts, minds and spirit.
When our marriages fall apart and everything comes crashing down around us, we tend to turn to God; but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we fully SURRENDOR to Him. And if we don’t accept, acknowledge or understand His superior knowledge and power, or that His wisdom and understanding is vastly superior to that of any man or woman, we are likely to find ourselves very frustrated and disappointed, which leads to anger, resentment and rebellion. We want and EXPECT God to do what WE want Him to do WHEN we want it done and HOW we want it done; but GOD DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY…NOT BY A LONG SHOT! Just look at what happened to Jonah (Jonah 1-4) and see what happens when we don’t submit and surrender to what we KNOW God has asked and commands us to do! Ultimately, like Jonah, we WILL DO what God intends for us to do, but it will be our choice whether or not we do it the hard way; and the sooner we learn to DO what the Bible teaches us to do, the easier our path to marriage restoration is. And that has NOTHING to do with how it’s done or how long it takes, which are often what tend to cause men and women standing for marriage restoration to grow angry, resentful or rebellious toward God. Yet, nothing we do or don’t do and NOTHING that happens as we stand for the restoration of our marriages and families comes as a surprise to God (Ephesians 1:4-14) and He can and will work it ALL out for good when we love Him and are called according to HIS purpose (Romans 8:28)! And in the end, EVERYTHING will happen according to God’s will and plan no matter how much we do or don’t cooperate. God has already proven to most of us that He knows how to get our attention, and the good news is that when we turn from our disobedience, anger, resentment and rebellion against Him (all sinful and wicked in the eyes of God), GOD WILL FREELY PARDON US AND GIVE US SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE SEEDS WE’VE SOWN! (Isaiah 55)!
After having several conversations yesterday and today about submitting and surrendering to God and doing things HIS way without being resentful, angry or even rebellious, it was really pretty neat to see today’s Coffee Break message from Lorraine Ezell! And there’s NO DOUBT that when we focus on doing things God’s way, we WILL BE blessed and encouraged!
“And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.” 2 Kings 5:10
Our text is taken from the story about Naaman the leper who went to the prophet Elisha to be healed. When he got to the home of Elisha, the prophet did not come out and
greet him, he did not pray a prayer over him, he did nothing except send his servant out to tell Naaman to go and wash in the Jordan River seven times. Listen to Naaman’s response in the next two verses.
“But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his
hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.”
Naaman needed a healing touch but he wanted to receive it “his” way. Aren’t we like
that? We’ll need a healing, a provision, an answer from the Lord, but we want Him to give it to us in the way that we determine. We know how we want it to happen and expect God to do it that way. The Bible tells us that, “God’s ways are not our ways.” (Isaiah 55:8,9) They are so much higher and better than anything we can imagine. God doesn’t always do things our way or the way we want, but He does do them perfectly in accordance with His own will.
What answer has He given you that you didn’t want to hear? What has He instructed you to do but you have put it off because you don’t want to do it that way? What is keeping you from obeying what He has said? Is it pride? Fear of man? Intimidation? Fear of failure? Do you think God has made a mistake? If God has told you to do something but you are putting it off, or trying to do it your own way, then your disobedience is what’s standing in the way of your receiving. Obedience is better than sacrifice.
Have a great day. Just think, Naaman would have remained a leper the rest of his life if he had not gone ahead and obeyed God’s instructions through Elisha.
Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell, and available online and sent by email free of charge for the asking from About the Master’s Business Ministry, Inc.
So please feel free to call Lorraine at (601) 833-5278 or E-mail her at mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net
And you can visit her on the web at MastersBusiness.org.
This so confirms what I have been feeling lately. It so often amazes me that every time I log on and read the Seads Of Faith encouragement, the message is 100% accurate to what I have been going through that week or day. I have been wanting restoration, but in my mind imagining it being done my way! I want to give God the glory because as I was praying to the Lord last night in the garden, and having a “WOE IS ME” session, I said to Him that I have all these words; one from a pastor, telling my husband (on a rare visit to my church, in front of me) that everything that has been taken from him would be restored very soon; One from a guy in a parking lot at Christmas, saying that I must not fear, God is in control, that He has a wonderful plan for my marriage and my life, that I must not look back; and now my 13 year old son having a vision of his dad kneeling before the throne of God, with withered skin and torn clothing, and saying to Jesus “I have failed you and I now come to you seeking grace in my time of need.” And as he spent time at the throne, his clothing was being repaired tear by tear. I just said Lord, I have all this and yet your prophecies and these visions seem like they are coming to nothing (IN MY EYES)! Well, as usual, God answered! I went back inside, feeling very dejected, and opened my bible to Ezekiel, a book I don’t often go to, and there the Lord spoke to me from Ezekiel 12:21-25:
The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by and every vision comes to nothing’? Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to put an end to this proverb, and they will no longer quote it in Israel.’ Say to them, ‘The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled. For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations among the people of Israel. But I the LORD will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, you rebellious house, I will fulfill whatever I say, declares the Sovereign LORD.’ “
I just felt God say to me that restoration will be done His way, in His time, according to His Word….So now it’s back to praying and trusting.
WOW, Jeni! I can only imagine how you must have felt when you started reading this post and saw God’s mind blowing, ever faithful power of confirmation at work like that! As just about everyone who knows me knows; of ALL there is about God to just totally blow us away; that is just one of the most awesome things to me because we see it SO often; He NEVER fails to confirm the Word He wants to get across to us! Thank you SO much for sharing this with us; the scripture reference is so perfect too!
Well, I can personally attest to this post, AND that THERE ISN’T ANYTHING IN IT that’s NOT TRUE! God gets his way, and if we come lovingly and acceptingly, it is so much better. His peace is so great, and even when you think you have found His peace and love, He shows you that it is greater than you can even imagine! Just as His word is alive, so is His love, and it grows deeper and deeper. Anger and resentment don’t stop His love, but once those things are gone, He can love you even more; or I should say that we can feel His love more! God bless! Don’t be a Jonah; it’s not as fun as you might think!
Oh, Joe, I love what you said about being able to feel God’s love so much more when we can finally let go of our anger, bitterness and resentment–the YUK! That is SO true and the message I’m always trying to get across to people. I think it’s because we DON’T feel God’s love that we struggle so much to trust and obey, and yet it’s all of that ungodly stuff inside of us that blocks OUR ability to feel it. While His love is ALWAYS unconditional, His blessings, protection, provision and relationship with us are ALWAYS VERY CONDITIONAL! But for some reason, the truth of that is way too often left out of the Gospel and most people just don’t know it! Okay, I had best stop or I’ll be off on another post! LOL Thank you so much for sharing your perspective; it means a lot to all of us, especially knowing how God managed to get your attention when you were trying to follow Jonah’s poor example! I just stand in awe of God every time I think of what He has done in your heart and life!!!
Jeni, that scripture God gave you was exactly for you! And how faithful our God is to answer us and encourage us when HE knows we are lacking in faith or need a pick-me-up! When I think of God’s fatherly relationship with us, I think of me and my soon to be two year old. When I know something will harm him and I tell him “NO,” he starts kicking and screaming. He doesn’t know that the something is bad for him, but I know. And even though he doesn’t fully understand why I won’t let him do something, as he grows older, he will see why I said NO to something that could have harmed him. Also, as he may keep trying to do whatever I said No to, he will come to learn that he can kick and scream with me or just accept my No. That is the way we are too; we can kick and scream with God and say “It’s too hard. I can’t do it. But why this way? I want it and I want it now!!!” But as we grow in the Lord, we will see that we can continue to kick and scream, and not get things our way, or be obedient and get better results than we ever expected!
This post resonates with me. All I can say is “Amen” and “Amen” again. God loves us so much and wants us to be conformed to His image. God will have His way and will do everything to get us to become our very best. I can think back over my life and see when I was (and sometimes continue to be) so stubborn. I said the right words and even believed them. I even thought “now that I have it right” God would immediately fix my world according to my plan. Somehow, I believed because I was walking straighter (according to what I thought) than my husband….God would reward me by doing what I asked Him to do. I would get mad if it was taking “too long” or it seemed like my husband was getting away with something. God does what He wants to do. When I pray according to His will He will perform it. Not because of me, but because of Him. I am so glad…God didn’t always answer my prayers when I wanted Him to. My struggle and learning how to trust reminds me of a time I had to do a ropes challenge course. I was blindfolded and I had to trust my ropes partner to guide me along a path in the woods. At first, she and I worked out some hand signals because we were not allowed to speak and could only use hand signals. Remember…I am blindfolded. We did okay for a few minutes until we came to a spot that needed a signal we had not worked out. I had to be real stilll and try to comprehend what she was doing as she held my hand. Should I move forward, backward, to the right or left? Should I step up or down? I had to trust her. I prayed and God spoke to my spirit. I could either be rebellious and do it my way or trust her and what God’s spirit was saying to me. Going my own way could prove dangerous because I couldn’t see the path. She could see and of course my heavenly Father could too. At the end of this exercise I was in tears. That day, God showed me how much farther ahead He sees and knows. The beginning and the end of a thing is in His hands. Since then, I repent more quickly and try to get with His program (although I do have times that I falter). That’s why it’s good to have a God fearing, scripture referencing support group like this one (not to replace training our own ears to God, but to confirm what His word says).
Just recently, I re-surrendered everything back to God. It was through many tears, because I thought I had already done that many times before. God revealed to me that I was still holding on to little pieces and needed to let go at another level. It was humbling, but God rewarded me with confirmation of His promises concerning my marriage and my family.
Linda…thanks for your prayers
To God be the glory.