Four hundred say: “Yes – don’t be a chicken. Go for it. You won’t be a loser.” But one says: “If you proceed, you’ll be sorry. You won’t get away with it.”
You say: “I sure do like what the 400 are saying, but I wish there were no dissenting voices at all. Even one person telling me ‘no’ is scary because I keep thinking, ‘What if…?’ What if it turns out to be the biggest disaster of my life? Perhaps I am indeed treading on perilous ground. Maybe I will go down to defeat.”
Have you ever experienced such a struggle within yourself? “I want to, and my friends say ‘go for it,’ but a certain wise Christian cautioned me against it.” Or, “Something deep inside keeps putting on the brakes; I wish I could ignore it and just go ahead with my plans.”
Despite pressure from within and without, ensure you have peace before proceeding. If you are unsettled and God hasn’t given you peace, do not proceed.
King Ahab of Israel was engaged in joint war planning with King Jehoshaphat of Judah. Four hundred false prophets, Ahab’s yes-men, had just told him what he wanted to hear. “Go for it, Oh King! God is with you. Hold nothing back. It’s full steam ahead, and you will crush the Syrians. You will be the big winner!”
King Jehoshaphat, on the other hand, seemed to have some spiritual discernment. He said he’d feel more comfortable if he could get some advice from even one prophet of the Lord. King Ahab’s face probably crumpled into a deep frown. “I don’t like him. That prophet always tells me bad things will happen to me.” Despite his reservations, Ahab reluctantly agrees to order Micaiah to stand before them.
Ahab’s cronies tried to rig the consultation by pressuring Micaiah into saying only what their king wanted to hear. The prophet of God responded respectfully: “As the Lord lives, even what my God says, that will I speak.” Micaiah proceeds to tell the king that it’s ‘bad news’ for him if he mobilizes his troops against the Syrians. Wham! Ahab’s man whacked Micaiah on the face, and the prophet was thrown into prison.
Ahab ignored Micaiah’s advice and went to war, but he felt unsettled and somewhat vulnerable. That one dissenting perspective was enough to make Ahab nervous. He says to King Jehoshaphat:
“I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle. 2Chronicles 18:29
Initially, the war strategy seemed to be working. The enemy focused on Jehoshaphat, not Ahab. But then — just then, a “certain man drew a bow at a venture…” and that old arrow whizzed through the air like a hi-tech satellite-guided missile, sinking into a narrow little space in the joints of Ahab’s armour. Extraordinary, incredible precision! Ahab died later that day.
Did you ever go against your conscience and what you knew to be right, and what others told you was right? Perhaps, even now, you are thinking about proceeding anyway, thinking you will be able to cover your tracks or disguise yourself and get away with it.
Dear child of God, even if 400 voices are screaming in your head to go for it if you have an unsettled feeling, don’t. If your friends are telling you they will never pester you again if you only do it this once, or if they repeatedly tell you that nothing could go wrong— even if you are feeling a powerful desire to do it, but there is one spiritual voice of reason ringing loudly in your ear or whispering in your heart: “Don’t!” — then with the Lord’s help, don’t!
Read it here: Unappreciated Beauty – Violinist Joshua Bell and the Christ People Ignored
Remember, God is the Master Archer. His arrow hits the bull’s eye no matter how well we disguise ourselves. Honour the Lord in the choice you are about to make. The word of the Lord was delivered to old Eli in the form of a warning in light of his family’s departure from the Lord: “…those who honour Me I will honour, but those who despise Me will be disdained.” (1Samuel 2:30)No one gets away with wrongdoing forever. We will reap what we sow. Our choices have consequences, either now or down the road. Please the Lord Jesus Christ today.