Compliments of the Season and Merry Christmas in advance.
Many thanks to Pastor Mayowa for last week’s write-up on numbering our year (taking stock and reflecting on the year as it comes to an end). If you haven’t read or listened to it, please do and ensure that you implement it appropriately.
For today’s write-up, let’s take a walk; come with me.
Scripture calls us to walk with the Lord and it tells us that the just shall live by faith. This means the life of the righteous is a walk of faith- ongoing, responsive and dependent on God.
One thing we must understand is that we cannot claim to have God figured out. We cannot say,
“This is how God always operates,” or “This is the only way God will act.” God is consistent in His nature and character, but He is not limited to one method. Throughout Scripture, we see that God often uses different approaches to achieve the same outcome. The result is consistent but the method varies. So, we cannot insist that if God does not act in a particular way, then it is not Him.
● At one point, God says, “We are fighting with 300 men.”
● At another time, He says, “Walk around Jericho.”
● Elsewhere He asks, “What is that rod in your hand? Stretch it.”
● Sometimes He says, “Go to so-and-so; I have commanded them to feed you.”
● At other times, He says, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word.”
● Yet still in another place, “the angel of the LORD went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand.”
●At times, He comes in a still, small voice.
● At other times, He reveals Himself as a mighty warrior.
God cannot be boxed in.
This is precisely why we have the Holy Spirit within us, to bear witness and help us discern what aligns with God’s will. Faith is not mechanical or formulaic; it is relational and responds to God’s present leading. Yet discernment is never detached from Scripture. While God’s methods may change, His Word and character do not. The Holy Spirit does not contradict what God has already revealed. He illuminates it.
This is evident in the choosing of the apostle to replace Judas. Despite the weight of the decision, isn’t it interesting that God did not speak audibly or dramatically? He had already spoken through Scripture. The apostles prayed, searched the Word, reasoned together and acted in faith, within the boundaries of what God had revealed.
20. “For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it’; and, ‘Let another take his office.’
21. “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
22. beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” Acts 1:20–22 (NKJV).
Scripture tells us that it is the glory of God to conceal a matter but the honour of kings to search it out. One way we step into spiritual maturity and kingship is through Spirit-led searching, disciplined inquiry and obedience to what God has already said in His Word. If we are always waiting for God to speak audibly or dramatically, we may miss many divine instructions. Revelation often comes through study, prayer, discernment and obedience, guided by the witness of the Holy Spirit.
● Faith walks.
● Faith searches.
● Faith discerns.
And faith refuses to box God in.
From Scripture, we also see that God can be dealing with a person on many matters, interacting with them in various ways, yet on a specific issue He may remain silent- not because He is absent, but because He expects us to apply wisdom, seek counsel or use what has already been revealed.
Moses spoke with God directly and frequently, yet it was Jethro, his father-in-law, who advised him to delegate leadership so he would not wear himself out (Exodus 18). God never addressed that issue directly, even though Moses was in close fellowship with Him.
Similarly, Paul spoke of a thorn in the flesh and said he pleaded with the Lord three times to remove it, until God finally responded, “My grace is sufficient for you”
7. And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
8. Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
9. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. II Corinthians 12:7–9 (NKJV).
These examples show that when we ask, “Why didn’t God tell me this?” the answer may simply be that He does not need to tell us everything directly. God has already given us His Word and placed teachers, apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors in the body for the equipping of the saints.
11. And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12. for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11–12 (NKJV).
So while God can and does speak, He also expects us to draw from Scripture, the wisdom of others and the counsel He has placed around us. His Word remains the primary tool for transforming and guiding the believer and faith learns to walk faithfully within what God has already revealed.
Faith matures when we learn to walk with God as He leads, trusting His character, obeying His Word and refusing to limit Him to our expectations.
Have a Blessed Week and a Merry Christmas.
Grace, Growth and Glory.
Ayomide Arowele
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Push Buttons is a weekly devotional of the Powerpoint Tribe.