FRIDAY 29 April, 2016
Request Reluctantly Granted
And the king said to Joab, “All right, I have granted this thing. Go therefore; bring back the young man Absalom.” Then Joab fell to the ground on his face and bowed himself, and thanked the king. And Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has fulfilled the request of his servant.”- 2 Samuel 14:21-22
Joab’s plan worked; he had forced the king’s hand into bringing Absalom back. But there was a problem; deep inside David’s heart he was not ready to have him home. Besides it really was not God’s timing. Absalom’s heart was still not right before God or his father. Although David agreed to Joab’s request, he should have first asked himself, did God speak to me directly or was I coerced by Joab to take this action?
It is important to know that we cannot force people to do what we want. Never try to be the Holy Spirit in people’s lives, it just does not work.If we try to push people by our own strength and abilities, it will usually fail.
Remember Abraham when his wife Sarah, in her own understanding, tried to help God? Instead of waiting on God’s timing to receive a promised son, she told Abraham to lie with Hagar, her handmaiden, to have a child. Abraham listened to his wife when he should not have.
Ishmael was born and later Isaac, just as God promised. As they grew, there became a sharp division in the family. Sarah should not have interfered with Gods plans; it would have been better to wait on the Lord (Genesis 16-21). We should learn from her mistake:
For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Wait on the Lord; be of good courage…wait, I say, on the Lord!
~Psalm 27:14~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit Somebodylovesyouradio.org!
