God Told Me
We're encouraged to find God's grace and guidance in our decision making. The lesson from 1 Kings 22:10-28 shows us how you can say "God Told Me" and step forward with rock solid confidence that you are doing what is right and good when you listen to the Word of God, believe it, and act on it. May 25, 2008.
“I think I’m taking the promotion to New York,” my friend, Steve, informed me, knowing that the news wouldn’t make my day. He had been struggling with an offer from his company – an attractive offer – and had asked me for advice. We discussed the pros and cons, but I just didn’t see him transplanting his wife and kids from Milwaukee to Manhattan. “I know you probably think I’m nuts but I really believe this is God’s will for my career right now.”
“Wow, that’s a pretty big decision,” I replied, “What makes you so sure it’s God’s will?”
“My pastor’s sermon last Sunday about taking chances and leaps of faith, and about regrets when we haven’t done God’s will in the past. I know I’d regret saying no to this. And I’ve always been a Yankees fan.”
“Sounds like an offer you can’t refuse.”
“Exactly.”
“Well if you just can’t refuse it, then whose will are you doing? What if God’s will is for you to stay in Milwaukee where your family is and your kids have friends and you don’t have to work 70 hours a week to pay the rent?” I asked.
“Yeah, I thought of that,” he admitted. “But I have a really good feeling about this decision and I just sense God telling me to go. You know?”
“No, actually, I don’t, Steve. I think you’ve got voices in your head or you dreamed it to convince yourself of something you had already decided.”
“You’re not helping,” he sighed with as he dropped his face into his hands, hearing what he didn’t want to hear but what he needed to hear. I know I didn’t make his decision easier, but I also know he’d make a better decision now.
Every day Christians convince themselves that God is telling them to get married (or even divorced or living together before marriage), to study for a career, or just get out there and do something different. Is it really God? Or do people just get bored or infatuated with a life situation and want a way out or in with God’s name stamped on it? Today the account of a couple kings and a bunch of prophets warns us about the dangers of illegitimately using God’s name to get what we want. We’re encouraged to find God’s grace and guidance in our decision making, clearly communicated in the Bible. God Told Me can be a very valid reason for any Christian making a difficult decision, as long as I’m willing to listen to what God is really telling me in his Word.
In October 2005, after the Palestinian president and the foreign minister met with President George Bush, they asserted that Bush told them, “I’m driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, ‘George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.’ And I did, and then God would tell me, ‘George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq.’ And I did.” I suppose if Joshua received direct messages from God in the Old Testament about going to war, we should grant contemporary commanders the same privilege. Then again, who’s to say that one of them won’t go loony and think that God told them to nuke Australia.
Don’t think it can’t happen. It is exactly what happened as reported in 1 Kings 22. Wicked King Ahab, who had set up idols in the northern kingdom of Israel, gathered around himself 400 prophets. Call them counselors or seers or advisers, they knew what their job was. Their job was to tell the king what he wanted to hear. Period. Even if they knew it wasn’t good for him. If King Ahab would walk up to one of them with a piece of broccoli sticking out of his teeth and ask, “How do I look today?” they would instinctively answer, “Most handsome as always, your majesty.” They were “yes” men. So when King Ahab couldn’t keep his eyes off of a coveted piece of property that didn’t belong to him, nobody was going to tell him he was nuts for wanting to go to war with Syria to get it. “Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious, for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand,” the prophets cheered him on. The Lord will give it? A couple of cooler heads in the crowd spoke up, including King Jehoshaphat from the southern kingdom of Judah, whom King Ahab had summoned to form an alliance against Syria. He asked, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of” (v. 7)? There was, and get this. First of all, King Ahab readily admits that a prophet of the Lord had different things to say than his prophets. And secondly, the prophet of the Lord sent by God to advise King Ahab had advised King Ahab before and King Ahab had tossed him into prison for stating inconvenient truth from God that King Ahab didn’t want to hear. Summoned by Ahab’s ventriloquist puppet prophets and coached to agree with their empty promises, Micaiah, the prophet of the Lord, at first mimicked the false prophets, sarcastically stating their same conclusions. King Ahab detected the sarcasm and told Micaiah to tell him the truth, so he did. He revealed two visions he had received from God, one of them depicting “all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd,” and the other a dialogue between God and an evil spirit who wanted God’s permission to entice King Ahab with smooth sounding lies.
The good news is that despite all of Ahab’s idolatry, mockery, and rebellion God’s patience hadn’t run out and he had called eagerly to Ahab through the prophet Micaiah to turn from his lusts and pride. The bad news is that Ahab refused to listen. There was a god to whom Ahab bowed and it was nobody other than himself. God lost Ahab to hardened unbelief and impenitence – therefore, wanting to protect his own name and protect others from Ahab’s demented schemes the Lord “decreed disaster” for Ahab. The arrogant king went to battle against Syria even though the prophet of the Lord had warned he would not return safely. Well, Ahab not only lost the battle but a stray arrow just happened to fall out of the sky and just happened to find a hole in his armor and he just happened to bleed to death in his chariot. A final, fatal message from God that Ahab wasn’t able to resist.
Want to go your own way and pretend it’s God’s way? The same God who had to protect his reputation from Ahab still protects his reputation today. “Watch out!” Jesus warns. “A bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:15,18,19). Ahab wanted to feel good and look good. Micaiah wanted to do good. Good fruit doesn’t just look good, it is good. Good decisions don’t just look good or feel good, they are good. So what makes the difference between good fruit decision and bad fruit decisions? The tree – is it a good tree or a bad tree? Because Jesus died on the tree of the cross those who believe in him are good trees. He is the vine and we are the branches, connected to his life giving power of the cross and the tomb, drawing the nourishment of forgiveness from him, and relying on him for direction in our decision making that produces good fruit. How do you know, then, whether a decision is truly good? How can you tell if a decision is from God? Jesus tells us, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24). You can say God Told Me and step forward with rock solid confidence that you are doing what is right and good when you listen to the Word of God, believe it, and act on it.
Some people find it frustrating to read the Bible for guidance about a particular topic. They think God should tell them in the pages of Scripture whether or not they should have back surgery or if it’s the right time to buy a house. After searching the Scriptures they discover that the Bible does not contain the words “back surgery” or “30-year fixed mortgage” then the exhaustion of the search leads to frustration at the lack of specific direction. So how can the Bible provide practical guidance for someone willing to listen to God’s Word? Let me suggest two approaches for you that will help. First of all, familiarity. The more familiar you are with the Bible, the more useful it will be in your life. Like rental equipment. I picked up my rental equipment yesterday and the rental guy said it’s the busiest day of the year for rentals, then he continued, “Wait until they all come back and say the equipment doesn’t work. I betcha 90% of them’ll be operator error.” I paid attention to his instructions and for a piece of heavy equipment I was using for the first time, things turned out great. Purchase a Bible with a good index and concordance for finding words and comparing passages. Then take the time to read and study your Bible in a way that works for you. If reading 7 chapters a day has bogged you down, then read only 7 verses a day. Find what is useful, and you’ll be delighted how God’s voice becomes clearer to you – not echoing from some distant place or inside your own head, but clearly communicated from the pages of his Word. Secondly, the Bible becomes more relevant to daily life when you accept what it says in faith. Too many people want rules and polices in the Bible with subpoints and fine print but the fulfillment of the law isn’t how many rules you keep but how you keep God’s command to love with eager faith. Listen to God’s Word regularly and you’ll find high promises of God’s love for you and wide statements of what God expects so that you can choose one of a zillion options and it’ll be okay with God. Then you can say, “I chose to make this decision and I trust that God will bless it in his way.”
This weekend one of the biggest movies is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The crystal skull plot is based on actual scientific findings that up to 13 crystal skulls exist in the world, purportedly created by ancient Mayans and Aztecs. Some believe the skulls have psychic powers to increase happiness and improve your life if you listen to them. I can see it now, Indiana Jones finds such a skull, and while shaking it asks, “Should I make another Indiana Jones movie and perhaps rival Rocky and Star Wars as the biggest sequel producer of all time?” He puts the skull to his ear and listens. “Yes, I think I heard a ‘yes’!” I’m being silly, but the point is this: Christians have something better in our possession than a crystal skull, a crystal ball, a horoscope, the internet, or even our own analytical thinking as good as it might be. We have God’s Word. It is perfect. It is always right. It is clear. It is always available. God is so determined to be open with you and communicate his promises and blessings that he doesn’t play games, hide his messages behind a code, or make riddles when it comes to something as important as his love for you and his guidance for your life. Open up the Bible, apply it to your faith and decision-making, and say, “This is the word of the Lord.” God Told Me to say that.Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (http://www.gracedowntown.org/) on May 25, 2008
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