Recently, the day after a prayer meeting, my friend sent me a video about inquiring of the Lord before making decisions since we had a similar discussion in the meeting. This sermon really spoke to my spirit as God had been showing me a few different situations in the Bible in which leaders did not inquire of the Lord, so their followers faced the harsh consequences of their indiscretion. The sermon highlighted a perfect example of this in the book of Joshua.
So they said to him: “From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God; for we have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt, and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan—to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants; now therefore, make a covenant with us.” ’ This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy. And these wineskins which we filled were new, and see, they are torn; and these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey.” Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the Lord. So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them. And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. Joshua 9:9-16
Israelites did not ask counsel of the Lord, so fell into the trap of the Gibeonite deception and the land that God had showed them was theirs, they relinquished because they were deceived into signing a covenant by the people of that land. This is very scary to me as I think of how many times, I might have missed God’s blessings and promises because I did not go to Him and ask Him for His instructions. But I dare say I am not the only one. The pastor in the sermon pointed out that people are selected in churches because of worldly resumés instead of by the guidance of God. I have gone into many ministries because they needed my help and I was able to fulfill the requirements of the ministry, but I never stopped to ask the Lord if that was the ministry He would want me in. What we may think is a good idea, may not be God’s idea. We get into partnerships and relationships without first consulting God because they may look good to our natural eyes, but we are limited in our perspective, so we get into trouble later as we did not seek the view of the Sovereign Infinite God who is omniscient and omnipresent. If we make decisions based on our flesh, then we will often make the wrong decisions as the flesh can easily be enticed by the enemy with what may seem attractive, but God knows the heart of the matter and looks beyond appearances so we should always seek His advice and wait on His instructions as it would not be wise to trust our own understanding and experiences only.
Wisdom would also dictate that we should seek God’s counsel before seeking the counsel from others. God will direct us to whoever He would desire us to speak with. Sometimes we seek counsel from the wrong people not knowing what is in their hearts. We must inquire of the Lord and wait on Him to respond to us, or else we could cause great harm to our own lives because of wrong counsel. They may come to us in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. Caution should be taken so that we don’t pursue the guidance of people who are not pursing God in our desperation for solutions to our problems.
So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. But he did not inquire of the Lord; therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. 1 Chronicles 10:13-14
Our discernment is lacking if we are not walking by God’s Spirit. We should be willing to submit to God’s instructions and walk in His righteous path even though it may not be easy. We must seek the Lord to find out His thoughts and His ways because they are higher than our own.
Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. “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: 6-9
Let us not neglect inquiring of the Lord in every situation. He cares about everything in our lives. I remember when I worked at a certain church, I would ask God what to wear for most Sundays. I told a friend of mine who was a youth pastor at that time about this and he told me I was taking things too far. Yet, the days when I sought the instruction of God on what to wear, those were days when I got a lot of compliments. God knows how to put together an outfit. And, He is concerned about every detail of our lives, so we should never forget to inquire of Him, no matter the circumstance.
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