When I was in school, like most kids, we were always finding odd ways to amuse ourselves. One of the things I remember was the arm-push thing. We would push our arm up as hard as we could while somebody else pushed down on it as hard as they could. After holding that position for about a minute or two, the other person would move their hands, and our arm would feel weightless. It was a pretty cool feeling. (I told you it was odd ☺)
If you think about it, we often push against God's hands. A lot of times, we don't agree with what He's got planned, so we rebel. Sometimes, we're scared, so we push His intentions away. And sometimes, our faith is too weak to handle what God wants us to do, so we push against Him.
It would make more sense for our lives if we stopped pushing against the Lord. We can't change His plans, anyway. All that exertion we're using trying to push against His will for us could be used carrying out His will for us. We'd be happier, and we'd be contributing to the Kingdom. But it can be so hard to give up that struggle easily. There's so much we want to experience that is *of* this world, and that alone is a push against God's hands.
2 Kings 18:20 says, “You say you have the counsel and the might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me?” Isn't that funny? Just like the ones He was addressing, we think we've got everything we need to go to “war” against God...who do we think gives us our strength? And you know He's not going to empower us to fight *Him*! He gives us the free will, yes, but not the strength.
Pushing against God's hand is showing our disobedience, and we know that nothing good ever immediately follows disobedience where God's concerned. The Bible is full of examples, but the first that comes to my mind is Jonah. All Jonah had to do was go preach. (OK, maybe it was a bit more involved than that, but still...) Instead, He started pushing his puny little arm against God's hands. Unfortunately, when someone starts up an arm-pushing game with God, He usually doesn't move His hands to give us a weightless feeling. First of all, old Jonah got thrown overboard in the midst of a violent storm. Then, he spent three days and three nights in the stomach of a fish (altogether now, “Gross!!!”) After that, he got upset with God's compassion on Nineveh and said he wanted to die. Add to that God sending a plant to shield Jonah from the sun but then sending a worm to eat the plant so that Jonah almost died from a heat stroke! That tells me that I should avoid arm-pushing matches with the Lord, because He's gonna win! And by the way, that's one reason He puts these stories in the Bible :)
The big picture here is that pushing against God's plan for our lives puts us under some very unnecessary weight. Because God is sovereign in our lives (El Elyon), He is in control. To just trust that completely gives us the freedom to be obedient! Knowing that He's in charge of mapping out our lives takes that burden off of our shoulders. So, just like the arm-push thing from school, the only way to get that “weightless” feeling from pushing against God's arm is to STOP PUSHING!
If you think about it, we often push against God's hands. A lot of times, we don't agree with what He's got planned, so we rebel. Sometimes, we're scared, so we push His intentions away. And sometimes, our faith is too weak to handle what God wants us to do, so we push against Him.
It would make more sense for our lives if we stopped pushing against the Lord. We can't change His plans, anyway. All that exertion we're using trying to push against His will for us could be used carrying out His will for us. We'd be happier, and we'd be contributing to the Kingdom. But it can be so hard to give up that struggle easily. There's so much we want to experience that is *of* this world, and that alone is a push against God's hands.
2 Kings 18:20 says, “You say you have the counsel and the might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me?” Isn't that funny? Just like the ones He was addressing, we think we've got everything we need to go to “war” against God...who do we think gives us our strength? And you know He's not going to empower us to fight *Him*! He gives us the free will, yes, but not the strength.
Pushing against God's hand is showing our disobedience, and we know that nothing good ever immediately follows disobedience where God's concerned. The Bible is full of examples, but the first that comes to my mind is Jonah. All Jonah had to do was go preach. (OK, maybe it was a bit more involved than that, but still...) Instead, He started pushing his puny little arm against God's hands. Unfortunately, when someone starts up an arm-pushing game with God, He usually doesn't move His hands to give us a weightless feeling. First of all, old Jonah got thrown overboard in the midst of a violent storm. Then, he spent three days and three nights in the stomach of a fish (altogether now, “Gross!!!”) After that, he got upset with God's compassion on Nineveh and said he wanted to die. Add to that God sending a plant to shield Jonah from the sun but then sending a worm to eat the plant so that Jonah almost died from a heat stroke! That tells me that I should avoid arm-pushing matches with the Lord, because He's gonna win! And by the way, that's one reason He puts these stories in the Bible :)
The big picture here is that pushing against God's plan for our lives puts us under some very unnecessary weight. Because God is sovereign in our lives (El Elyon), He is in control. To just trust that completely gives us the freedom to be obedient! Knowing that He's in charge of mapping out our lives takes that burden off of our shoulders. So, just like the arm-push thing from school, the only way to get that “weightless” feeling from pushing against God's arm is to STOP PUSHING!