God’s Working

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I suppose many of us have tried to understand the plan God has for us. Perhaps it is a relocation, or whether we should embark on a financial adventure, go to the mission, or a host of other things. Maybe it is the smaller everyday things that we face: like strength to train our children, or a mountain in our lives. At times it may feel like God is not hearing our prayers; we feel so small and insignificant. I have been there and know what this feels like. Waiting and waiting for God to answer our prayer. Yet, I have found in his good time, he answers those prayers. Perhaps not in the way we would expect. Sometimes he gives strength to go on in faith, other times he removes those mountains and sets us free.

As we grow in our Christian experience, it seems like God asks us more and more to walk by faith. He requires more of us, wanting us to not lean as much on visible evidence as the quiet feeling in our hearts that he is in control.

God has always had a unique way of revealing his plan to his people. He seldom gives direct answers, rather he appeals to their faith. An example is when God told Samuel to go and anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the next king of Israel.  See 1 Samuel 16. It would have been the simplest if God had just told him who he was. He could have said, “Go over to Jesse’s house in Bethlehem, and anoint his youngest son David to be the next king to replace Saul.” Instead, he told Samuel to go offer a sacrifice, and invite Jesse to come. He then had Jesse bring each of his sons before him to see whom God had chosen. As they came before him, Samuel thought that surely this was the one, only to have God tell him,” No, I have not chosen him.” God told him not to look at the outward appearance for he looks at the heart. All the sons who came before him failed the test. Samuel then asked Jesse if this was all his sons. “No,” he said, “The youngest is out with the sheep.” Samuel said to fetch him; they would not sit down until he got there. When David arrived, the Lord said this was the one, and he anointed him.

It is a mystery why God anointed David so long before he became king. It took many years, during which time he fled for his life from a jealous Saul before he became king. The Bible records that when David was anointed the spirit of the Lord came upon him and departed from Saul. Was this anointing needed to help him learn to become a Godly King? Did it take those years of being pursued by Saul to become the leader that God wanted? On several occasions he had the opportunity to kill King Saul, but he would not lift his hand against God’s anointed. It seemed like he had a deep understanding of the Lord. Perhaps it was this infilling of the Holy Spirit which provided him with the strength to not strike back against the unjustness of what he experienced.

Although most of us are not waiting to become a king, God still works in much the same way today as he did back then. It is comforting for me to know that God has not changed the way that he leads. When I begin to question about not knowing why I cannot see God’s plan clearly, all I need to do is remember this account and know that this is the way that God has always done things. He reveals his plan to man as they follow him.

What was the reason that God did not just tell Samuel about David in the beginning? Would Samuel have questioned God? Would some sort of self-gratification came into play? Would Jesse’s family have tried to prevent it and said that it could not be, he was too young? Would they have exercised some control over events? One may never know, but it was Gods way, and he had a purpose in it.

David could have become frustrated by the way his life played out. He no doubt wondered about the anointing and to what purpose it was. It does not say that he was told that he was to become king, but surely, he knew the anointing was of significant purpose. He had plenty of justifiable opportunity to take his revenge on Saul and steal the kingship, yet his respect for God’s plan kept him in check. This is an outstanding example of his faith and trust in God.

Suppose God always just told us clearly ahead of time what his plan was? Would that make us happy? Would we like the results it brought? Or would we tend to then compare how God was speaking to each one of us? Would we have bragging rights or claim to have a better relationship with God, beings that he was speaking so clearly to us? One may never know, but we can rest assured that it is a good plan.

What if the Bible was just theories and ideas, rather that teaching and truth? What if it did not have a plan, or if God had created people but required nothing of them? What if people were more like God’s playthings, and he considered them unintelligent? Or if they had no real purpose, he just let them do anything they wanted. This may be what humanism would like us to think, but we know otherwise. Humanistic thinking may look at the Bible as a book of literature rather than the Word of God. This may be a temptation when we find walking by faith difficult. Without faith, we are intellectuals leaning on human reasoning. Human reasoning requires visual evidence for truth, or it must use evolution to explain those things which cannot be proven by science. This has never been God’s way. His way is a way of faith and trust. It is to believe without seeing, to trust without visible evidence, and to leave the things we do not understand to an all-knowing God.  

Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Hebrews 11:6 When we let go of faith, we let go of God. Because we cannot see him, the very first step to please him is the act of faith. It takes a small amount of it even to pray your first prayer. No man has actually seen God and lived, but over and over his children have seen him through the evidence of his being. The miracle of life, the answered prayer, the peace after he forgives our sins, are all fruits of his existence. He is like the wind. We cannot see it, but we see what it does. He is also like love. We cannot physically see it when someone loves us, but we feel it and see the evidence by their actions.

Is it then any wonder why God did not just tell Samuel who he was to go and anoint king? Not really. It’s the way of God. He wants us to follow him wherever he leads. He wants us to be close and in tune with him, which is not possible if we do not have faith, or do not believe in him.

Much can be learned about him as we walk by faith and quietly trust him. He is interested in every detail of our lives. He knows and understands us through and through. He will not give us more than we can handle, and neither will he withhold something that he feels will do us good. When we can get our preconceived ideas out of the way, and put our simple trust in him, he can then show us how our lives can look the way he has planned them to be. God has not intended for Christian life to be boring, but an interesting journey with him in the lead. He does not want to be someone that we call on only when we are in trouble, but he wants to be our all in all. He wants us to have a relationship; a Father, son relationship, where we turn to him before things go wrong. He wants us to experience his goodness before we have a struggle. He wants to meet us in the morning and before we go to bed, and any time in between. He does not want to be our spare tire, but the engine that makes the vehicle of our life operate. He wants to be the rainbow in our storm. This is where we will see our faith rewarded and find true happiness in living for him.