DISCERNING GOD’S WILL
Numbers 22:12 But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed.”
Numbers 22:20 That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.”
Have you ever felt like you were getting mixed messages from God? Maybe you hear one preacher say one thing and another say something different about the same passage or subject? Have you ever asked for a sign from God to give you guidance about something, and instead of one door opening there seems to be many doors that opened and not all of them leading in the same direction? Well, don’t feel alone. Just read Numbers in chapters 22,23 and 24. After I read them I felt sorry for Balaam! The reason was because I had been there a few times. It is frustrating to want to know what is best to do when it seems someone keeps stirring the situation to make things even worse.
The reason for this is there is someone that wants to bring confusion to make matters worse and his name is Satan! God does not get delight in frustrating us, and trying to cause us confusion. God wants us to do his will and his will is always what is best for us. Satan on the other hand is constantly trying to get us not to trust God, and feel that God really doesn’t have our best interest in mind for us. There is nothing bad about God, and nothing good about Satan! Satan still masquerades as an angel of light just like he did with Balaam. In II Cor 11:14 it says, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their action deserve.”
So what are we to do? Keep trusting God to keep you doing his will. Like with the donkey trying to stop Balaam, God will try to stop us when we are going in the wrong direction. We walk by faith and not by sight regarding our trust in the Lord. (II Cor 5:7) This is not always easy, because sometimes we want something so bad that we want to kick doors open that God doesn’t intend us to go through. Yes, he will let us kick them open, because he is resolved to respect our free will. But God will continue to help us back into the right direction even if we do take a wrong turn. What is important is that we keep on trusting the Lord even if we do make a mistake and go through the wrong door so to speak. We don’t have to worry about God being faithful! We do have to worry that we might become deceived, and because of frustration become unfaithful to the Lord and give up on him.
Jesus tells us Matthew 24:24 that, “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible. The reason they can do this is because they can do and say the things our itching ears want to hear and our yearning eyes want to see! (II Tim 4:3) We all can be like sheep easily led astray, if we don’t keep our eyes on Jesus. This will be a key plan for the false prophet of the antichrist in deceiving God’s people. Like with Balaam, when we hear or see things that don’t seem right and are things that go against his word, we need to go to the Holy Spirit and ask for discernment. Then we need to start looking for his answers. He will not tell us one thing one minute and another thing another minute. He will give us peace of mind and of heart. We will not have to kick doors open, but he will swing them wide for us to walk right through. It will be light and not darkness. In other words his direction will be clear and not confusing.
Sometimes we will need to stand and not be moved until the answer comes. Satan will often make us think if we wait we will miss God’s will. This is a lie!
God’s timing is always perfect even if ours is not. If we miss the train so to speak, God will bring another one right behind it. The key to knowing and finding God’s will is to stand firm in trusting him and looking for his hand to move in our life. After all why shouldn’t he? He did send his only begotten Son to die a terrible death for us on Calvary’s cross just for moments like the one we go through. No situation is too dark or lost that God can not find a way out for us and lead us to unimaginable blessings!
Prayer: Thank you Lord that you always want what is best for us, and if we only seek your help you will do exceedingly great things for us. Please help us to never give up trusting and loving you. We ask this in Jesus holy name!
Commentaires