Choices & Unfulfilled Promises - Praise & Pray (for others) September 13, 2022

We all know that God can and will do whatever He says He will. In fact, we are told in Isaiah 14:24 - The LORD Almighty has sworn, “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen. He goes further stating in Isaiah 14:27 - For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

God's word will never be spoken then return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11). After all, He knows the beginning and the end as He is the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 21:6). Yet, I can't ignore that there are places in the Bible where the fullness of His word didn't manifest in certain people's lives. I've learned that I'm not going to understand everything God has done, is doing or will do (Psalm 139:6). I've come to accept that His ways are not my ways and His thoughts are not my thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). Nevertheless, I've been curious and that's caused me to pay attention to why and how God's word can somehow not come to pass for some people.

One such character is King Saul, Israel's first king. Everything started off well for him. In fact, Prophet Samuel said to him in 1 Samuel 10:7 - ... do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you. What an incredible promise! To have so much blessing and favor that God would rubber stamp whatever he did!

And yet, things didn't go so well for Saul. We are told in 1 Samuel 16:14 - Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.

Exactly how did Saul go from having God's favor, to losing it and being abandoned by the Lord to be tormented by an evil spirit?

His story is a cautionary tale to not think that God's blessing is carte blanche to behave however one wants. No matter how much God's word will never fail, if an individual makes the wrong choices, God will respect those choices. The consequences, as they were for Saul and his children, can be dire.

One specific choice made by Saul involved a pre-battle situation. Saul was to wait on Prophet Samuel, who was also the High Priest, to come and make offerings to the Lord. However, the soldiers got jittery while waiting for Samuel and threatened to leave. Although the Law of Moses stated that only a priest may offer sacrifices to the Lord, Saul, fearing soldiers leaving, conducted the offering himself.

Now one would think this shouldn't have been a problem given he'd been told that whatever he did would be fine because God was with Him. Nevertheless, God's favor was not a permission slip for the king to do whatever he pleased. His authority was still confined to the four walls of God's rules and obedience was required. When Samuel arrived and saw what Saul had done, he said in 1 Samuel 13:14 - But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.” And just like that, God's favor - and his kingship - was over in the sight of the Most High.

We must remember that our relationship with God is a two-way street. It's the nature of covenant - both sides must keep their end of the bargain. He speaks good promises that won't fail over us and expects us to obey Him (Jeremiah 7:23). In our obedience, we shall be called to make choices, choices that align with His plans and purposes. Therefore, just because God has made a promise, and just because God is more than capable of fulfilling it, let us not forget whatever role we have to play as well. That role may be to sit back and wait as was the case for Saul, but it can also be to take a step as was the case of the Danites.

Thank God that He is forgiving and will have mercy upon those who repent for their mistakes. With repentance and a changed attitude, God's grace can cause a great turnaround where the wrong choice resulted in delay or derailment. Hallelujah! May we not fail to make the choice that pleases the Lord. May His Spirit guide us so our choices reflect what God is doing and we support His will here on earth as in heaven. And where we chose incorrectly, may His grace steer us back onto His path of righteousness so we step into the fullness of His word over us, IJMN, Amen.

See you back here at Noon EST for fellowship.