Let God Handle It!
Are you
resisting God. because you don't understand some facet of His truth? Obedience to your Creator must come through faith.
The Bible, in no uncertain terms, relates the stories of two different
kinds of people: those who questioned God and disobeyed His orders
because they were displeased with His answers, and those who
obeyed Him without questioning. The first way leads to eternal death:
the second way leads to eternal life.
Be honest with yourself! How do you ask questions about the Bible? How
do you seek the truth? Is it wrong to ask questions? Why do you ask
questions? Is it to learn or to argue? To understand or to rationalize?
To obey or to rebel?
More often than not, people ask questions not because they are truly
interested in the answer, but because they are looking for an excuse to
disagree - to not submit themselves to an order - OR simply
to pretend they are smart.
For instance, to the carnal mind, Sabbath keeping doesn't
make much sense. What's so holy about the seventh day of the week? Why
should the Sabbath be different, than any other day? What difference
does it make whether God rested in that day or not?
The answer, of course is utterly simple for those who believe in God
and are honestly searching for the truth. If for no other reason, we
keep the Sabbath because God says to!
Faith does not require
understanding.
Strange as it may seem, your obedience to God does not depend upon His
answers to your "whys."
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen" (Heb. 11:l ). Notice!
The Bible does not say, "Faith is the answer to all of your questions"
or "the satisfaction of your intellectual curiosity. Faith is implicit
trust in God and His Word - whether you, understand its meaning or not.
You believe God without questioning - and do what He says.
"For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that
things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (verses
2-3).; The understanding is through faith, and not by arriving at some
answer that is plausible to you - the answer that humanly you may have
wanted. When you grasp this truth, your attitude will change, and you
will have a totally different outlook on life-a depth of faith in God
that you have never experienced before.
Adam and Eve missed the point
Our first parents questioned God's orders and refused to believe Him.
God commanded Adam: "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest
freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:16-17).
And as Adam and Eve let doubts enter their minds, they gradually became
vulnerable to Satan's destructive deceptions. Why indeed had
God given them such an unfair order? Why didn't He want them to eat of
that particular fruit? Why, of all the trees in the garden, should this
one be forbidden? The couple was unable - actually unwilling - to
understand God's reasons and they refused to obey Him without fully
grasping the purpose of His order - and agreeing with it.
And so came about, as Herbert W. Armstrong has called it, the first
"scientific experiment." It was based on distrust of God's Word! Adam
and Eve yielded to their intellectual curiosity - to vanity. "And when
the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the
fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her and
he did eat" (Gen. 3:6).
Think. Where did the pair get the idea that the tree was good for food
and would "make one wise"? Had God told them that? No. Under Satan's
influence, Adam and Eve convinced themselves that it was possible for
them to reach the goal of Godship without submitting to God's order.
They rejected the Holy Spirit - which, in time, would have caused them
to understand everything they needed to know for salvation.
Do you see how this can also affect all of us as Christians? If your
obedience, to God depends upon His answers to your questions - answers
that will satisfy you - then you are most vulnerable to Satan's -
attacks. Satan is today trying to divide the Church by putting doubts
in God's people's minds!
Noah didn't ask why
"Noah was righteous before God-How can we be? The Bible simply states,
"Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked
with God" (Gen. 6:9).
Unlike Adam and Eye, Noah did not question God's orders. He didn't
doubt His Creator's intentions and Word. "Thus did Noah; according to
all that God commanded him, so did he" (verse 22).
Simple, isn't it? A childlike faith. Yet, ironic as it may seem, many
people today, swayed by their intellectual vanity, claim that the
biblical account of Noah's ark is not scientific. They are, convinced -
despite what God says - that the ark could not. have been big enough to
shelter all of the animals. Or they raise questions about how the
animals of their own accord came into the ark. None of this, in the
minds of the "wise" of this world, is scientific. In short, they
distrust God's Word.
But Noah didn't. He faithfully obeyed the order, went ahead with the
construction and after many years of hard labor, completed it - just in
time, before the waters came. Noah trusted God's scientific mind!
Abraham's obedience
Abraham's life is one of the most difficult stories for a carnal mind
to accept. In some ways, it may even( sound illogical to a Converted
mind. Just imagine! Abraham was 75 years, old when God told him, "Get
thee out. of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's
house, unto a land that I will shew thee" (Gen. 12:1).
But Why? Why should an older man be ordered to leave his homeland and
settle in an unknown country? Why couldn't God choose a younger man?
After all, Abraham was prosperous and blessed in his native country. He
was a happy man, why did he have to move? Wouldn't God have blessed him
or his children in some other ways - ways that would have been more
humane and more logical?
However valid these questions may seem our forefather Abraham didn't
ask them. He trusted God and obeyed Him. "So Abram departed as the Lord
had spoken unto him"(verse 4)
And how about the Unthinkable order God, gave the old patriarch to
sacrifice Isaac, the son he loved? Does that really make sense? Is it
just - is it godly - to kill a son and burn him as an offering?
Let's face it - Abraham could have found numerous reasons to argue with
God - to even doubt Him. Why did God have to put him through such
difficult tests? Can you possibly obey a God who tells you to kill your
son, when He Himself has emphatically ordered you, "Thou shall not
kill"? Why in the world would God give such an impossible order?
Again, humanly speaking, these are logical questions, but Abraham knew
that his obedience to God was not subject to his perfect understanding
of God's orders. He unconditionally trusted and obeyed his Creator, who
knows all things best.
"And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass., and
took two of his young men with, him, and Isaac his son, and clave the
wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and went unto the place of
which God had told him" (Gen. 22:3).
What an attitude! Would you have acted the same way? Would you have
obeyed God without raising all kinds of objections? No wonder Abraham
is called the father of us all" (Rom 4:16) - in faith! Now compare his
attitude with that of Saul, the first human king of Israel.
Obedience is better than Sacrifice
Unlike Abraham, King Saul did not choose to walk with God. He
questioned the orders he received, rather than obeying in faith.
Saul was instructed by the prophet Samuel: "And thou shalt go down
before me to Gilgal and behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer
burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven
days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou
shalt do" (I Sam 10:8)
The order Was clear. It needed no explanation. But Saul had neither
Abraham's obedient attitude nor Noah's patience; He allowed his vanity
to lead him into disobedience. He asked why Samuel -and not he, the
king - should perform the burnt offerings. What difference would that
really make? And why should the wailing period be seven days? What if
Samuel were delayed? There was no obvious, reason for him to follow the
order exactly.
Actually, Samuel was delayed. For some reason, he did not show up at
the appointed time. King Saul needed no better- excuse to disobey.
Since the prophet didn't come at the appointed time - and since "the
people were scattered from him" - he took things in his own
hands and offered the burnt offerings.
However, no sooner had he undertaken the task than Samuel arrived.
"Thou hast done foolishly," he told the king. "Thou hast not kept the
commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would
the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever" (I
Sam. 13:13). Saul failed to pass the test; his heart was not right and
God rejected him.
Saul's character was also tested when God ordered him to "go and smite
Amajek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not but
slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and
ass" (I Sam. 15:3).
Once again, Saul and his people had something to say. Why did God want
to smite every single Amalekite and utterly destroy their belongings?
Was that kind? Why not spare, the children and women? What wrong had
they done? Moreover, why take vengeance on the oxen, sheep, camels and
asses?
To King Saul's carnal mind none of this made sense. Any responsible
human being could simply, not obey such an order - even if it came from
God. Consequently, "Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the
sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all
that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that
was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly" (verse"9).
Strange isn't it? King Saul and his people thought they knew better
than God. This reasoning prevented them from obeying Him.
And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and
sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is
better than sacrifice; and to hearken than the fat of rams" (verse 22).
What a lesson for all of us to learn. And what a pity, that some of
God's people have forgotten it. Partial obedience is not sufficient,
with God, it's all or nothing.
How not to be healed
Naaman, a commander of the Syrian army, was a leper and sought to be
healed. "So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood
at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto
him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall
come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean (II Kings 5:9-10).
Naaman's healing from leprosy required only that he wash himself seven
times in the Jordan. But Naaman didn't like that. He disagreed with the
procedure. Why the Jordan, he asked himself, instead of some other
river. And why seven times? Wouldn't once be enough? He had totally
different ideas as to how his healing should take place. He wouldn't
accept the prophet's order. So "Naaman was wroth, and went away and
said, Behold, I thought, He [Elisha] will surely come out to me, and
stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his
hand over the place, and recover the
leper (verse 11).
Fortunately, some of Naaman's soldiers had more sense than he and
convinced him of his, foolishness. And his servants came near, and
spake unto him and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee to do
some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then,
when he saith to thee, wash and be clean? (verse 13).
So Naaman went down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan,
"according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again
like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean'' (verse 14).
If Naaman had had to wait until he understood the exact reasoning of
God's order, he probably would have never been healed. But there are in
God's Church today, some spiritual Naamans. They will only accept an
answer if it pleases them. If they disagree, they may decide to turn
away, dissatisfied, unhappy - and prone to leaving the Church!
Where Shall We Go
Christ's disciples, before their conversion, also had some doubts about
xertain things. They would often question Jesus, expecting some answer
that would satisfy their curiosity and carnal minds.
On one occasion, the disciples and several others were totally
confused; when Christ revealed to them that He was the bread, which
came down from heaven.
Just what did He mean by that statement? Some murmured against Him
while others argued with Him.
Patiently, Christ explained: "I am the living bread which came down
from heaven if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever and
the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life
of the world" (John 6:51).
That was the breaking point. Not only could they not understand the
explanation, but they were outraged. How could they follow a man whose
teachings made so little sense? "From that time many of his disciples
went back, and walked no more with him" (verse 66).
Does this remind you of the attitude of anyone you know? Yours perhaps?
Would you turn away from God or leave His Church because something is
hard to understand?
When Jesus saw that some of His disciples left Him, He turned to the 12
and asked them: "Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life" (verse
6).
This is the basic, clear truth we all need to remember. It you have the
same attitude, God will always, be with you and protect you against
doubts and fears.
Peter meant exactly what he said during the last Passover, AS Christ
was washing His disciples' feet, Peter objected when his own turn came.
It was unthinkable that Jesus, the Master, should wash their feet.
But Christ answered: "What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt
know hereafter If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me" (John
13:7-8) Notice that Christ didn't stop to explain the exact spiritual
meaning of the foot washing.
And what was Peter's sudden reaction? He said; to Him, Lord not my feet
only, but also my hands and my head" (verse 9). Are you beginning to
see what God expects of you?
Whether your "whys" are answered or not, the question is, "Are you
willing to obey God?".
God's way, not yours
There are some things that we in God's Church do not yet fully
understand. We don't always know why God does things the way He does
them. But one, thing is sure: He always knows best. Let Him handle it -
His way, not yours!
Some in the Church today demand that all their questions be fully
anwered before submitting themselves to God and His government. They
can't comprehend the Church's simple faith in God's leadership and thus
get into bad attitudes.
Just remember: So-called "intellect" is not required for salvation.
Curiosity for the sake of pleasing your intellect your human vanity
will only draw you away from God and His truth.
God has already clearly revealed everything you need to know and
understand for salvation. You don't have to search for the answers to
those "whys"- they are already made plain in the Bible. However, for
the time being, God has chosen not to reveal certain things - He has
chosen not to answer some of your questions - for your own good. Let
Him take care of things. Don't lose your salvation by demanding that He
explain everything He is doing - God has no such responsibility.
God know best
We have come to God's Church to learn His ways - not to impose ours on
Him or on others. We didn't come to His Church to reason with Him, but
to surrender to Him - totally and, unconditionally. We have been called
to obcy and serve. Servants don't argue with their masters. They simply
do what the masters say, Unfortunately some of our friends and brethren
have not quite understood this fundamental truth. That's why they are
no longer with us.
Individually and collectively we have a job to do. Are you doing your
part? Or are you perhaps hindered by your doubts, questions and
worries? Obviously, all of us would like to see God's Kingdom come as
soon as possible. We may even wonder why the waiting is so long! But
God knows best. Let Him do things His way, wait patiently, trust Him,
submit your will to His - and you will truly know that "all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28)
Reprinted from the April 1980
Good News article by Dibar Apartian
