“I WILL GO OUT AS AT OTHER TIMES”
When We Assume God Is With Us Without Asking Whether We Are Still With Him
“And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.” — Judges 16:20
There may be few sentences in Scripture more frightening than these:
“…and he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.”
Samson got up expecting everything to work exactly as it had worked before.
He had been in trouble before.
He had escaped before.
He had overcome enemies before.
He had experienced supernatural strength before.
God had used him before.
So when Delilah cried, “The Philistines be upon thee, Samson,” Samson apparently saw no reason to panic.
His response was essentially:
I know what to do. I've done this before.
“I will go out as at other times before.”
There was only one problem.
This was not “other times.”
Something had changed.
Tragically, Samson did not know it.
And therein lies a warning for every Christian.
IT IS POSSIBLE TO ASSUME GOD IS IN SOMETHING HE NEVER AUTHORIZED
We Christians sometimes make a dangerous mistake.
We assume that because something sounds spiritual, it must be God's will.
We pray about it.
We attach Scripture to it.
We tell people God is leading us.
We may even say:
“The Lord told me.”
But did He?
That question deserves more attention than we sometimes give it.
Because if we are not genuinely seeking God with our whole heart, desiring His will above our own, we can make some of the most foolish—yes, even downright idiotic—choices imaginable and somehow convince ourselves that we are doing it in the name of the Lord.
That sounds harsh.
But look through Scripture.
Look through Church history.
And, if we are courageous enough, look through our own lives.
How many decisions have Christians made after first deciding what they wanted—and then asking God to approve it?
There is a tremendous difference between:
“Lord, what do You want?”
and:
“Lord, this is what I want. Please bless it.”
Those prayers may sound similar.
They are worlds apart.
SAMSON'S PROBLEM DID NOT BEGIN WHEN HIS HAIR WAS CUT
We often remember Judges 16 as the story of Samson and Delilah.
But Samson's downfall did not suddenly begin while he was asleep on Delilah's knees.
The haircut was not the beginning.
It was the culmination.
Long before the Philistines seized him, Samson had been playing dangerously close to the edge.
Compromise rarely announces itself by saying:
“I have come to destroy you.”
It usually whispers:
This isn't that serious.
You can handle it.
You've gotten away with it before.
God understands.
You're still anointed.
You're still blessed.
You're still being used.
And perhaps the most dangerous:
“Nothing happened last time.”
Samson had escaped before.
That became part of his problem.
Previous deliverance apparently produced presumption rather than deeper reverence.
So he arose and said:
“I will go out as at other times before.”
But this time, he couldn't.
YESTERDAY'S VICTORY DOES NOT REPLACE TODAY'S OBEDIENCE
This is where Judges 16:20 walks right out of ancient Israel and into the twenty-first-century Church.
We cannot live indefinitely on yesterday's prayer.
Yesterday's obedience.
Yesterday's revelation.
Yesterday's consecration.
Yesterday's anointing.
Yesterday's victory.
Or yesterday's relationship with God.
Perhaps God blessed something you did twenty years ago.
Praise God.
But what is He saying today?
Perhaps God opened a particular door before.
Wonderful.
But has He opened this one?
Perhaps a certain ministry method worked before.
Fine.
But is God directing it now?
Perhaps you made a decision years ago and God wonderfully carried you through it.
That does not mean every decision you make afterward automatically carries His endorsement.
Our confidence must never move from God to our previous experiences with God.
Samson's confidence seems to have done exactly that.
“I will go out as at other times before.”
He knew the routine.
He remembered the victories.
He expected the power.
But he failed to recognize that something fundamental had changed.
SOMETIMES OUR BIGGEST PROBLEM IS THAT WE HAVE ALREADY MADE UP OUR MINDS
Have you ever prayed about something you had already decided to do?
Most of us probably have.
We say:
“Lord, show me Your will.”
But somewhere beneath those words is another sentence:
“As long as Your will agrees with mine.”
That is not surrender.
That is negotiation.
There are times when we don't really want God's direction.
We want God's permission.
And if we cannot find His permission, we may go looking for somebody who will confirm what we already want.
We ask another Christian.
Then another.
Then another.
We watch sermons.
We search Scripture.
We look for signs.
We interpret circumstances.
And sometimes we keep searching until somebody finally tells us:
“Yes, I believe God is in it.”
Then we stop searching.
Why?
Because we finally received the answer we wanted.
But did we receive the answer God gave?
“LORD, I WANT YOUR WILL—EVEN IF YOUR WILL IS NO”
That may be one of the hardest prayers a Christian can sincerely pray.
Lord, if the answer is no, I want Your no.
If the door needs to close, close it.
If the relationship is wrong, expose it.
If the opportunity is not from You, remove it.
If my plans are interfering with Yours, dismantle them.
If my motives are wrong, reveal them.
If my pride is speaking louder than Your Spirit, humble me.
If I am calling my desire Your will, correct me.
If I am wrong—
Lord, tell me I am wrong.
That takes spiritual maturity.
Because surrender is not merely telling God what we want.
Surrender is reaching the place where what God wants becomes more important than what we want.
Jesus gave us the perfect example in Gethsemane:
“…nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” — Luke 22:42
There is Christianity.
Not:
“My will, with God's signature underneath it.”
But:
“Not my will, but Thine.”
WE CAN EVEN DO “CHRISTIAN” THINGS OUTSIDE GOD'S WILL
This deserves serious consideration.
Something does not automatically become God's will simply because it is religious.
You can start a ministry God never told you to start.
Take a position God never told you to take.
Enter a relationship God warned you about.
Leave somewhere God told you to remain.
Remain somewhere God told you to leave.
Spend money God told you to preserve.
Reject an opportunity God provided.
Accept an opportunity He never sent.
Speak when God wanted you silent.
Remain silent when God commanded you to speak.
And throughout the entire process, you can use Christian vocabulary.
You can quote Scripture.
You can pray publicly.
You can tell everyone you are “walking by faith.”
But faith does not mean charging ahead and expecting God to follow.
Faith follows God.
There is an enormous difference.
“BUT I HAVE PEACE ABOUT IT”
Perhaps.
But peace should never become a convenient substitute for obedience to God's revealed truth.
Human beings are remarkably capable of becoming comfortable with what they desperately want.
Our emotions can mislead us.
Our ambitions can mislead us.
Our fears can mislead us.
Our pride can mislead us.
Even our previous successes can mislead us.
That is why Proverbs gives us this familiar instruction:
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” — Proverbs 3:5–6
Notice what Scripture does not say.
Trust your instincts.
Trust your experience.
Trust your feelings.
Trust what worked last time.
No.
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart.
THE MOST DANGEROUS CHRISTIAN MAY BE THE ONE WHO CANNOT BE CORRECTED
Samson's story also forces us to examine our teachability.
Can God tell us no?
Can Scripture correct us?
Can mature believers challenge us?
Can circumstances cause us to stop and pray again?
Can we admit:
“I thought God was leading me, but I was wrong”?
Those words should not embarrass us.
Sometimes they are evidence of spiritual growth.
I would rather admit that I misunderstood God's direction than spend years defending a mistake simply because I attached His name to it.
Pride says:
“I said God told me, therefore I cannot change course.”
Humility says:
“If I missed God, I want to know.”
The objective is not protecting our reputation.
The objective is obeying Him.
NEVER CONFUSE GOD'S PATIENCE WITH GOD'S APPROVAL
This may have been another danger in Samson's life.
God had delivered him repeatedly.
God had used him despite his weaknesses.
God had demonstrated extraordinary patience.
But divine patience should never be interpreted as divine endorsement of everything we are doing.
Sometimes God is merciful while simultaneously calling us to repent.
Sometimes He protects us from consequences that could have destroyed us.
Sometimes He gives another opportunity.
And another.
And another.
That mercy should drive us toward Him, not convince us that compromise does not matter.
Romans 2:4 reminds us that the goodness of God leads us to repentance.
Mercy is not permission.
Grace is not approval of disobedience.
“AND HE WIST NOT…”
Those words continue to haunt the passage.
Samson did not know.
That is perhaps the most sobering part.
Had he known, perhaps he would have fallen on his face.
Had he recognized his condition earlier, perhaps he would have cried out.
But he arose confidently.
He expected business as usual.
That raises a question worth sitting with:
Could we become so accustomed to religious activity that we fail to notice when our relationship with God has grown cold?
We can still attend church.
Still preach.
Still sing.
Still post Scriptures.
Still say “Praise the Lord.”
Still operate a ministry.
Still write Christian books.
Still give.
Still serve.
Still have a Christian title.
And yet something inside may desperately need renewal.
Religious activity is never a substitute for communion with God.
BEFORE THE NEXT BIG DECISION, ASK AGAIN
Before you move—
ask Him.
Before you quit—
ask Him.
Before you accept—
ask Him.
Before you reject—
ask Him.
Before you spend—
ask Him.
Before you speak—
ask Him.
Before you attach God's name to your decision—
please ask Him.
And then give God permission to answer differently from what you hoped.
That last part matters.
We should not seek God merely until He appears to agree with us.
We seek Him until our hearts are prepared to agree with Him.
“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” — Jeremiah 29:13
GOD'S WILL IS SAFER THAN OUR BEST IDEA
Sometimes God's will will make perfect sense.
Sometimes it won't.
Sometimes He will say go.
Sometimes stay.
Sometimes now.
Sometimes wait.
Sometimes yes.
And sometimes the most loving answer He can give us is:
No.
The question is whether we trust Him enough to obey either answer.
Samson believed he could simply “shake himself” as before.
Christians must resist that mentality.
We do not want to presume.
We do not want to manufacture God's direction.
We do not want to put His name on our ambitions.
We do not want to mistake stubbornness for faith.
And we certainly do not want to awaken one day and discover that we have traveled miles down a road God never told us to take.
PERHAPS WE NEED A DIFFERENT PRAYER
Instead of:
“Lord, bless what I'm about to do.”
Perhaps:
“Lord, should I be doing it?”
Instead of:
“Lord, open this door.”
Perhaps:
“Lord, if this door is not Yours, lock it.”
Instead of:
“Lord, give me what I want.”
Perhaps:
“Lord, teach me to want what You want.”
And instead of:
“Lord, come with me.”
Perhaps our prayer should simply be:
“Lord, where are You going? That's where I want to go.”
There is safety there.
There is wisdom there.
There is peace there.
There is surrender there.
A WORD TO ALL OF US
Judges 16:20 has not lost its relevance.
The hairstyles have changed.
The cultures have changed.
The technology has changed.
The world has changed.
The human heart has not.
We are still capable of presumption.
Still capable of pride.
Still capable of confusing our desires with God's direction.
Still capable of making incredibly foolish decisions and placing a spiritual label over them.
So before we say:
“The Lord told me…”
perhaps we should spend enough time with Him to make certain that He did.
Before we run out “as at other times,” perhaps we should ask whether God wants us running at all.
And before making that next major decision, perhaps every one of us needs to return to a very simple place of surrender:
Father, I do not merely want You to bless my will.
I want Your will.
If it agrees with mine, I will follow You.
If it overturns mine, I will follow You.
If You say yes, I will follow You.
If You say no, I will follow You.
If You say wait, give me grace to stand still.
Because the safest place in this entire world is not where everything is easy.
It is not where everything makes sense.
It is not even where everything appears successful.
The safest place is in the center of the will of God.
A PRAYER FOR DISCERNMENT
Father, search our hearts.
Expose every place where our desires have become louder than Your voice. Forgive us for the times we have asked You to bless decisions we never truly surrendered to You.
Keep us from presumption.
Keep us from pride.
Keep us from mistaking yesterday's victories for today's direction.
Give us hearts that genuinely desire Your will—even when Your will contradicts ours.
Before we speak, teach us to listen.
Before we move, teach us to seek You.
Before we decide, teach us to surrender.
And when You answer, give us courage to obey.
We do not want merely to do something for You.
We want to walk with You.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
Pilgrim Outreach Ministries International
Your Feet to the Nations
🌍 Ministry: pomitaly.homestead.com
📖 Blog: joybells49.blogspot.com
📚 Bookstore: thewilltosucceed.homestead.com
Before you make the decision, seek Him. Before you call it God's will, surrender your own.
@YouVersion @BibleGateway @SamaritansPurse
#GodsWill #ChristianLiving #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualDiscernment #PilgrimOutreachMinistries
Comments
Post a Comment