Because You Say So

He [Jesus] said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken
Luke 5:4-9

Has God told you to do something that seems to go against obvious indicators for success, or maybe you just don't see how it could ever work?

When God challenges us to trust His word to undertake something, even when it fails a feasibility assessment from a human perspective, He is allowing us to discover more and more of His personality and power. Peter had only recently met Jesus when He had the experience described above. This show of Christ's wisdom and power to pull off the most successful fishing expedition ever, without hardly trying, brought a holy fear upon Peter. He realized he was in the presence of no ordinary man, and saw himself in stark contrast, as he really was. In the same way, God wants us to know Him. In continually acting upon His word we will become increasingly confident that His plan always works. Peter had the opportunity to see an immediate reward in taking Jesus at His word despite the 'facts' that surrounded his situation. In our own lives we may have to wait a little while depending on the situation, but whatever God asks us to do is always for our own good ultimately. As Christians we soon realize that the Lord will continually require us to trust and obey Him; and that our peace, joy, and success depends upon it.

Just like Peter dared to be in the Bible snippet above, let's make a decision to become people who always say to God "because You say so, I will."

“Whatever He says to you, do it.”

~ John 2:5

How Will Deliverance Come?

"Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me." ~ Psalm 50:15
"Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all." ~ Psalm 34:19

We have numerous promises from our God that whenever we call upon Him for help, for rescue, for deliverance in the time of trouble, He will answer. That's an astounding promise if we think about it. The God who always prevails, who is the terror of His enemies, who is mightier than all, guaranteeing us with the bond of His word to show up and deliver us.

I haven't discovered any incident in the entire Bible where someone walking with the LORD ever called upon Him and was not answered. There is the case of the rebellious king Saul seeking God for help near the end of his life, and God was silent to him. But Saul was not walking with God and not at all repentant - just very afraid of the enemy that was coming against him and his armies. On the contrary, even the most vile and evil kings of Israel, such as Manasseh, obtained mercy from the LORD and help against enemies when they called upon Him in true repentance. God's word certainly stands, and how much more for His own children who call upon Him in the day of trouble!

But how does deliverance come? What is our part in a battle that we are facing?
In Scripture there are two main patterns we see: God fights for us and we sit back and watch His work OR God fights for us and we fight. In either case victory is assured.

We have examples of God protecting and defending Daniel in the lion's den - Daniel just waited there (Daniel 6); God leading Israel out of Egypt by terrifying signs and wonders and destroying Pharaoh's armies in the middle of the sea - Israel just kept walking forward (Exodus 14); God defeating Jehoshaphat's enemy by causing the enemy alliance to become so confused that they slaughtered one another till no one was left - Judah just marched out singing praises to the LORD (2 Chronicles 20).

On the other hand, we have numerous examples of God 'giving an enemy into the hand of' the armies of Israel and Judah but they were required to send their men out to battle. In cases where they fully obeyed God, not even a single man of their armies was killed. King David habitually took every battle to God in prayer, whether he should go to war or not, and this is also when he would get strategy from God. There is no biblical record or David ever losing a battle in decades of fighting! Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon and many of the judges and kings of Israel and Judah were given great deliverances from enemies in this way. They conquered entire nations in battle - nations far mightier and greater in number - because God had given them His help, but they were required to face the enemy with their weapons.

Perhaps most of us want our deliverance to come while we watch and wait, not having to make any move of our own, not having to commit to any strategy, not even having to seek God desperately in prayer and fasting. It seems far easier. But I would point out that the biblical instances of deliverance coming in the supernatural-no-humans-involved way are far less than the number of battles that had to actually be fought.

We do not determine which way deliverance will come. But we have many, many promises from God that it will come. He will come. Until we're safely out of harm's way and trouble's surge we have in God Himself a hiding place, a rock of refuge, comfort and a shield. We stay close to Him in prayer, in praise and worship, and by filling ourselves with the wisdom of His word. Our part in the day of trouble is to call upon the Lord, trust Him implicitly, and obey whatever He says to do.

Too Little, Too Late - The Danger of Unbelief

God will always forgive the repentant sinner. But there are consequences to sin that sometimes we cannot wheedle ourselves out of, or make up for. Similarly, sometimes our disobedience and lack of faith will cause us to miss a God-thing, and no amount of crying, pleading, begging God will move Him to give us a 'second chance'. We've essentially missed the time of our visitation, or missed an appointed time. A Bible example of this is evident in the account of the Israelite nation after they were led out of Egypt and being prepared to enter their Promised Land.

In Numbers 13 we are told how a representative group of twelve chief men were sent to spy out the land they were to enter and possess, and charged with bringing back a report of the territory, including details of the agricultural produce and the people occupying the land. Ten of the men returned and because they lacked faith in God, they shared a discouraging report with the thousands of Israelites from their skewed perspective. Their unbelieving report struck terror into their hearts of the people and they denounced Moses and the God who had led them out of Egypt with unprecedented signs and wonders. They refused to enter Canaan and do battle with the people living there although God promised to give it to them. They set their hearts to choose another leader and make their way back to Egypt where they had been slaves. But then God interrupted their uprising.

After Moses interceded for them, God quickly decided to pardon them. Nevertheless, there would be severe consequences. Pronouncing judgment upon them based on the words of their own mouth, God informed Moses that none of those people twenty years and older, who had rebelled against God would ever see the Promised Land. They would wander for forty years, each year representative of each day that the unbelieving Israelite spies had been viewing Canaan. The whole group would occupy the wilderness till the time of the death of the rebels, and finally, those who were then children would be allowed to enter the Land promised to them.

After Moses shared the judgment determined for Israel, the group was terrified and remorseful. They finally decided they would believe and obey God. By that time, it was too little and too late.

Then Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly. And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned! And Moses said, Now why do you transgress the command of the Lord? For this will not succeed. Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you. But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop. Nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp.Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as Hormah (Numbers 14:39-45).

Notice the line that says 'they presumed...' even after being warned by Moses that they would not be successful. In the same way, we can't presume to continually, deliberately do our own thing and then just pick up where we left off in obeying God when we feel like it, or when we see the avalanche of consequences coming our way. There may be a high price to our waywardness. Sometimes, we are forgiven and able to continue without life-altering repercussions; sometimes (though forgiven) we are not. And we can really never tell which it is going to be.

The sin of the rebellious Israelites was clearly diagnosed in Hebrews 3:12 as an "evil heart of unbelief" that led to their departure from God. God is merciful, but let's be reminded from this account that both disbelief, and subsequently disobedience, are sins against God. Mercy keeps us standing in grace, but mercy does not necessarily trump negative consequences, delays, and detours caused by unbelief along the narrow path we are traveling. Instead, let's make use of the grace of God which will enable us to lead obedient lives, and conduct us safely into His promises for us.