Ever feel like God is asking you to do one thing, and in order to do it, you'll have to miss out on something else that could glorify Him? It happens all the time- you simply cannot do everything. You may be wanting to go with the youth out to a baseball game on Friday, but God may be asking you to stay home instead and meet with a friend for some discipleship. You may be wanting to start a new Bible study on Wednesday nights, but God is asking you to get involved with the children's ministry instead. We often don't understand the reasoning at the moment, but it happens all the time in this busy world. The problem with finding what God is asking for happened in the Bible, too. Let's look in 1 Samuel.
In the book of 1 Samuel, King Saul of Israel has been told by God through the prophet Samuel to attack the Amalekites. The Amalekites are a group of nomads that roamed into Israel's land and caused problems for the locals. God tells Saul to lead the troops against the Amalekites, and destroy them. No one is to be left alive, and no stuff is to be kept.
Saul leads the men into battle, and they follow God's orders... for the most part. They kill all but one person, the king, and then they destroy all the enemy people's stuff except their best livestock.
Samuel learns that Saul didn't follow directions, and confronts him. Saul says that the reason the animals were kept for sacrifice for God, and is confused as to why Samuel is calling him out for sacrificing. That's when Samuel says this:
"22 Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king." -1 Samuel 15:22-23, NIV
Samuel doesn't say that the sacrifices were bad things to do. He says that sacrifices become bad and sinful when they go against what God tells you to do. When you do something that is against what God tells you to do, you are sinning and rebelling against the God of the universe. You are being arrogant enough to tell God that you know better what He wants you to do for Him than He does. That doesn't even make good sense, and it is often costly. Look at Saul: due to his rebellion and arrogance, he became rejected by God as the king of Israel. In the next chapter, Samuel would anoint David as king, and Saul's reign would deteriorate until his death in the ensuing years.
You see, you can think that you are doing something that God wants you to do, but if that something gets in the way of doing something that you know God wants you to do, the price can be costly.
Are you willing to listen to what God wants you to do, no matter what that may keep you from doing? Even if it keeps you from doing something that is a good thing, and perhaps even a godly thing?
For more on obedience when two good things present themselves, check out David Platt's new book, Radical Together.
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