This Message was prepared for our "Praying Over our City" meeting,
|
It is Best to Obey God |
I must needs be - - go another
way.
My friend was sharing about
getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. The normal way was to go straight from the
bedroom to the bath, but she was prompted to go through the kitchen which was
the long way. The next morning she could
see that the Lord had caused her to avoid stepping into some cat vomit if she had gone the usual way.
In the Bible there are
different ones who went another way as they were directed by dreams, angels,
prophets, or simply knowing in their heart.
God's reasons are best.
The wise men were warned in a
dream to return home by another way instead
of going back to tell the King about the baby Jesus.
On one occasion, Jesus sent
his disciples to prepare the way for him and to go through Samaria, but the people there did not receive
him. James and John said to Jesus,
"Lord shall we call down fire from heaven like Elijah did and consume
them? Jesus told them, 'You don't know
what spirit you are harboring, as I did
not come to destroy men but to save them.
And they went another way through a
different village.
I was reminded of the Old testament story
in 1 Kings 13, of a Prophet who was sent to prophesy against the altar at Bethel as Jeroboam burnt
incense there.
And he cried
against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O
altar, altar, thus says the Lord; Behold, a
child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon you shall
he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's
bones shall be burnt upon thee.
And he gave a
sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall
be torn, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
Now when king
Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar
in Bethel, that
he put forth his hand from the altar, telling his servants to Lay hold on him.
And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not
pull it in again to him.
The altar also
was torn, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which
the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.
And the king
answered and said unto the man of God, Entreat now the face of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my
hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him
again, and became as it was before.
And the king
said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will
give thee a reward.
And the man of God
said unto the king, If thou will give me half your house, I will not go in with
you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: For so was it
charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no
bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that you came. So he went
another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.
There are times
we are desirous to do certain works for God, and even plan how to manipulate
God to answer our requests, but God says, go another way.
God's way might
seem the long way around, or in some cases God's way may be the quickest
way. Always it is best to seek God and
ask for guidance before making decisions to change our path.
The story of
the man of God who prophesied at Bethel
did not end there because as he began to go another way - - obeying to the word
of the Lord, - - he was distracted. An old prophet heard about him and saddled
his donkey and caught up with him and said, are you the man who came from Judah? And he said, I am.
Then the old
prophet said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
But he said, I
may not return with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in
this place: For it was said
to me by the word of the Lord, You shall eat
no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou came.
He said unto
him, I am a prophet also as you are; and an angel spoke unto me by the word of
the Lord, saying, Bring
him back with thee into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But
he lied unto him. So he went back
with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
There may be
times in your life that a respected minister of God will give you a
"Word" or a prophesy, but it does not agree with what God is showing
you in your heart. We are to Judge
Prophesy, and in a case like this it would be good to wait and seek God.
And it came to
pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought
him back: And he cried
unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus says the Lord, Forasmuch as you have disobeyed the
mouth of the Lord, and have not
kept the commandment which the Lord thy God
commanded you; But you came
back, and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place, disobeying the Lords
commandment to you; your carcass shall not come unto the sepulcher of thy
fathers.
And it came to
pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that the old prophet
saddled for the man of God, the donkey, for his journey. And when he was
gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcass was cast in the
way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcass.
And when the
prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the
man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion,
which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke unto him.
And he spoke to
his sons, saying, Saddle me the donkey for I must go after him. And he went and
found his body cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the body: And the prophet
took up the carcass of the man of God, and laid it upon the donkey, and brought
it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him. And he laid his
carcass in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!
After this
thing Jeroboam did not repent from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of
the people priests of the high places: whosoever would,
he consecrated him, and the King became one of the priests of the high
places. And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut
it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.
In the days
ahead, our Pastor will again institute Wednesday nights as a time to prepare
and become equipped to minister. It
would be profitable to take advantage of all that is offered. Take time to perhaps go another way than you
once thought and consider going deeper into the truths that God has prepared
for you.
In life, if you
have been on a path that leads to destruction, perhaps it would be wise to
consider taking another way - - - Take the path that Leads to Jesus, for He is
the Way.