Quite often we try to present ourselves in the best possible manner to those we believe are able to determine the course of our lives. However, we do not recognize that people do not hold the keys to our destiny but it is the Lord who determines the next steps in our lives.
While this is hardly intuitive, we can see numerous examples of the Lord being the author of the destiny of countless people. Even those people who thought their lives were very very secure ended up in complete and total ruin. Take the case of the Pharaoh of Egypt — he possessed great power and untold riches. In spite of all that he possessed as king over the wealthiest nation on earth, he still lost his first born. We would not have in his wildest dreams thought this possible. That is how secure he felt in the gods that he had established over Egypt. The Lord gave him sign after sign indicating the powerlessness of the Egyptian gods when He overturned them one by one by turning the Nile into a bloody pool and darkening the sun and so on. It was clear that the gods were ineffective and useless. Yet he decided to pursue the Israelites after he had permitted them to leave. He acted in haste and had little time to think that he would lose his life. Of course, he did not expect to die but that one final act of disobedience led him to his watery grave. Man’s ways lead to ruin. His path seems right to him but ultimately leads to death. Our plans can only go so far but the Lord God is the one who ultimately decides what will happen to us.
The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts. — Prov 21:1-2 KJV
God exalts those who humble themselves to his ways even when they are surrounded by enemies. David for example was surrounded by enemies most of his life. But he exalted the Lord and praised His holy name, and determined in his heart that he was going to follow the Lord through all the testing and through all the hardships he was facing. He had understood a vital fact that his life could only be secure in the hands of the Lord. No one could take his life unless the Lord permitted it. We see Saul getting so close to nabbing David but at the last second, he escaped from getting caught and killed. Saul was burning with such intense anger that he had deployed 3000 of his best fighting warriors to nab David. It is unbelievable that Saul used his entire army to get hold of just one man.
It is evident that David could not have done away with his life unless the Lord was his armor of protection around him. This is the reason he composed all his songs praising the Lord singing, “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” — Psalm 18:2 NIV. He had had numerous experiences when the Lord was his only true refuge and fortress. No one could break into the shield that God had established around David’s life. And David worshiped and praised the Lord on every occasion and sang in Psalms 27:4 KJV:
“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.”
What a wonderful example of seeking God! No wonder David was called by God as a man after God’s own heart. He had wisdom and understanding into the ways of God. David was indeed so wise to understand that every time he stepped outside the will of God, he ventured into danger and peril. He had to go through some hard knocks to learn from his life that in order to rest in the shadow of the Almighty, he ought to dwell in the shelter of the Most High. (Psalm 91:1)
We too must learn from David and acknowledge that it is the Lord’s protection that we need day in and day out. There is no virus or variant that can catch us off-guard if we are trusting in the Lord and being obedient to His ways. If we go through hard things in life, it is because we need to be trained by the trials of life and be purified through our sufferings. So the best thing to do to avoid having to go through hard things is to submit to the Lord and let his glory and his wisdom reign in your life.
Jesus said, “Anyone who falls on this stone (the rock of Christ) will be broken to pieces (made new); anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” — Mat 21:44. Jesus spoke this verse in the context of producing fruit for the kingdom of God. He said in verse 43: “I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” God expects that we continually abide in Him by meditating on His word and obeying His Spirit so that we will bear fruit to the glory of the Father. If the stone falls on us means when God judges the sin of unbelievers because they have not believed in His Son, they will be crushed. They will not attain the eternal life they seek.
We are told that we are not to lean on our own understanding but seek God’s wisdom in all that we do so that we may be prosperous in everything we do. It is with good intention that God requires that we serve him with a cheerful heart. He is a loving father who does not intend to do us any harm but we are often confused when difficulties arrive.
If we find that we are encountering more and more difficulties each day, we must cry out to God for His Mercy and ask Him to forgive us our mistakes and faults. Having grieved in our souls for having erred and lived a life of sin, we must seek God’s forgiveness through the precious blood of Jesus. It is only then that God will enable us to turn a new leaf and decide to live for righteousness and the Kingdom of God.
We must follow the entire word of God and be diligent to seek God’s truth. Even the king’s heart is in the hands of the Lord (Prov 21:1). Those who do the will of the Lord alone will be blessed. The world and its desires will pass away but he who does the will of the Lord will remain forever. All these verses indicate the fact that everything is going to be destroyed — the cravings of sinful people, the lust of their eyes and their boasting about what they have and do will one day come to an entire end (1 John 2:16). Only holiness and purity will remain.
In the light of these truths, should we not examine our lives for whether we’re living holy and pure? If you have allowed sin into your life, repent about it. The Lord will forgive you and lead you into the waters of life. You can then drink of His love and be at peace. He is a wonderful loving Father who cares for you. So determine that you will serve the Lord and like David enjoy good days all the rest of your life. Amen.