John Bevere - The Paradox of Faith (Fear and Obedience to God)
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To tremble at God’s Word is to obey Him, even if it doesn’t make sense. You just read Chapter 24, and I am so proud of you for your progress. Way to stick with it! Now, this chapter is very important. What does it mean to tremble at God’s Word? Number one, we obey Him immediately. We saw that in Chapter 23. In this chapter, it illustrates the following point: to tremble at God’s Word is to obey Him even if it doesn’t make sense. Has God ever asked you to do something that didn’t make sense?
If you’ve been saved for more than a few months, your answer will likely be yes. We need to look in Scripture: does it make sense to spit on the ground, make mud, and put it in a man’s eyes? Does it make sense to put water into wine containers at a wedding when they needed more wine? Does it make sense to tell a bunch of experienced sailors to stay with the ship when it’s sinking and they have lifeboats? The sailors said, «Wait a minute, I’m just going to get in the lifeboats; that’s what will save my life.» But the word of the Lord was to stay with the ship. That didn’t make sense at all. Does it make sense to forgive someone who has hurt you or your family? Does it make sense to love those who hate you? Does it make sense to love and bless those who have mistreated you?
Often, the things God tells us to do don’t make sense to our natural reasoning. One reason is that we are raised in a world caught in the flow of darkness. The course of this world, the Bible talks about, is according to the prince of the power of the air, or the spirits of darkness that are at work in the sons and daughters of disobedience. In other words, what makes sense to the world often makes no sense to the kingdom. There are even times when God tells you to do something, and you’ll say, «Wait a minute, that really doesn’t make sense.» I remember when my son asked me to do something, and he said, «Dad, I am a millennial. You’ve got to give me the 'why' behind your request.»
I remember he was about 19 years old, and I said, «Okay, I’ll make you a deal. Let me tell you a story. There’s a prophet in 1 Kings 13. God tells this prophet from Judah, 'I want you to go to Bethel, prophesy to the king of Israel, and then I want you to come back a different route. And by the way, don’t eat anything the entire time.'» The prophet disobeyed, and he ended up getting struck by a lion. I asked him, «Now will you tell me the 'why' behind God telling him to go a different path and not to eat anything? The day you tell me the 'why' is the day I will tell you why I’m asking you to do this.»
To this day, and he is now in his late 30s, he still can’t tell me the 'why.' In fact, I can’t tell you the 'why' of why God told that prophet to take two different routes and not eat anything. But we see that wisdom was justified by her children. What do I mean by that? The wisdom of God was justified. The prophet paid a dear price for not obeying and trembling at God’s Word. Let me tell you something: it is always best for you when you tremble at God’s Word, which means you obey what He says, even if it doesn’t make sense.