When God’s Instructions Don’t Make Sense

When God’s Instructions Don’t Make Sense

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“ “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” “ Luke 6:46

Within 24 hours of publishing one of my little devotionals online, I was dismayed. Disappointed. A bit disgruntled. Borderline discouraged. All of which are frankly still too easy for me to fall into if I am not careful. I was not careful. I wasn’t content with what I had written. Too long. Too wordy. Too much of me in it. Too this. Too that. Okay, confession. In a nutshell. I just wasn’t pleased. Being a long-time writer, coupled with a background in editing, combined with being way too easily critical when I find myself walking in the flesh rather than walking by God’s Spirit, it makes for a bit of a challenge, to say the least, when it comes to my writing. But then I am reminded my writing isn’t for me; it’s for the Lord. And, when He gives me instructions, on what to write, and leads me in how He wants me to write it, and directs me in editing it if and as He desires, and tells me when to publish it, I know what I need to do. Love Him. Humble myself before Him. Submit to Him. Obey Him. It’s as simple as that. Even when I don’t understand His instructions. Because following Christ is about following Christ; it’s not about following ourselves. That day I wrote that little devotional was a perfect reminder. That I need to trust in the Lord, not concern myself with whether I understand what the Lord wants, and lovingly yield myself to Him.

Know what happened? Less than a day passed before a woman I met years ago read the devotional and was moved by the message. Not moved by me. Not moved by my writing. Moved by God. Who knew she needed that message. And had used me to deliver it to her. Now if I had followed my flesh instead of the Lord, and not submitted to Him because I didn’t understand why He was leading me to write that and to send it out when I did, I would have missed the opportunity to serve the Lord in writing that message for Him to use to give to one of His precious children.

The first scripture above is well known and often used and fairly easily understood. We need to trust the Lord no matter what. With or without understanding Him. Why? Because He is Lord! The second scripture I have rarely heard preached, and it is unfathomably immeasurably indescribably vitally important and should be preached incessantly. Too many of us, I am afraid, call Jesus Lord, and call ourselves believers in Christ, and followers of Christ, and yet when it comes right down to it the reality is that we consider ourselves lords of our own lives.

If we call Jesus Christ Lord, and believe Jesus Christ is Lord, and have repented and placed our trust in Him as Lord, and have turned over our lives to Him, and follow Him, and thereby are born again and promised eternal life, we need to live our lives accordingly. And, when we find we are not, which we in our humanness and sinfulness will from time to time find, we need to repent and return to surrendering ourselves to Christ as Lord of all.

What a wonderful reminder I got that day that my job isn’t to question, debate, resist, rebel, refuse, or reject the Lord and His instructions, but instead to seek Him, listen to Him, hear Him, and say yes to Him, in reverence and honor, adoration, and thanksgiving.