Who Leads Your Faith

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from 1 Samuel 8:19, ” Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, ‘No, but we will have a king over us.’ “

Background

I have a few friends who recently got what they wanted. Ordinarily, that would be something to rejoice about. But in these instances, I’m not so sure that’s the case. In this situation, God brought them to a point of decision over a critical matter. Bridges had been crossed, mistakes had been made, and they were now at a point where something had to give. One option was tough, uncomfortable, and fraught with uncertainty. The other was even tougher, much more messy, and maybe a little more than a bit scary. And so the choice was made. They decided what they wanted, and though it was less than ideal, they went the way of the tough and uncomfortable over the tougher and even more uncomfortable. In the midst of the dilemma, emotions ran high, to the point where faith and trust may have taken a backseat to personal preference and hurt feelings. And looking where they are now, I’m not sure that what they got was what God wanted. As we all know, sometimes the worst thing we can get is what we want. God’s way, especially His way out of a mess that we have been a part of, is not usually simple. At least not in its fulfillment. But in many ways it is so simple, perhaps too simple for us to accept. For to trust Him to clean up something that appears so filthy, so tarnished, requires us to completely believe that He alone has the power to correct and heal. We must believe enough to endure, rather than pinching off enough faith to flee.

Application

Deciding between two tough choices is no vacation. And choosing the more difficult option is no guarantee that God is in that choice. But your Bible, just like mine, is full of moments when God seemingly asked, ” Do you trust Me? Do you trust Me enough to completely trust Me to take care of this? ” Some things seem impossible, so messed up that we can’t envision even the first ray of hope for improvement. But does God really want us to abandon ship? Is that His kind of faith? Can you really hear yourself telling God that you didn’t think He could do it?

Charge

As we seek Him today, let your faith in Christ lead you rather than you leading your faith.