(71) Process Theology & Open Theism

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There are two prevalent and growing heresies relating to the undermining of the immutability of God that we should all be aware of.

Process Theology and Open Theism are kindred beliefs that begin with the fundamental thesis that reality is changing. All reality. And so, God is changing. There is an interdependance in all of reality and so God is dependant on other reality and must change in response to those other realities. God is in process, processing new situations and knowledge as they come into being.

Those who promote these beliefs say that they do not deny that God is all-powerful and sovereign and that He can ordain and control future events, He just chooses not to do so and leaves the future open to the choice of man. They say God is all-knowing but the future does not exist yet so God cannot know it yet. God, for example only knows all that can be known at the moment. So, God responds and has to change plans due to the changes in history as it unfolds.

Some of these thoughts may not seem to be that radical and it is in it’s subtle undermining of the character of God that these beliefs can be successful. It is an undermining and in many statements, an outright denial that God is in fact all-knowing of the past, present, and future as scripture clearely declares Him to be. It is a denial of the sovereignty of God and the biblical statements that He does have an immutable and eternal plan that He is working out in time. It is a denial of the infinity of God and the perfection of God. Matt Slick, serving with the Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry explains:

In Open Theism God can make mistakes because He does not know all things that will occur in the future . . . If God cannot know the future, then does it not follow logically that God is limited by time, the very thing He created? According to them, God also takes risks and adapts to the free-will choices of people. . . God can change His mind on issues depending on what He learns and what He discovers people do. Usually, God's change of mind is due to Him being surprised by something for which He didn't plan or expect. . . . My opinion is that openness is a dangerous teaching that undermines the sovereignty, majesty, infinitude, knowledge, existence, and glory of God and exalts the nature and condition of man's own free will. . . . This is absolutely and definitely a reduction in the quality, nature, and majesty of God. It is a bedrock for further heresy. And only time will tell what sort of depraved and twisted lies will come out of that fertile ground of heresy. (Excerpts from several pages at http://www.carm.org/open-theism)

Note: For a more complete and excellent study on Open Theism, please see http://www.carm.org/open-theism or the book, What Does God Know and When Does He Know It? The Current Controversy over Divine Foreknowledge by Millard Erickson


Next (72) The Immutability of God - Conclusion

(70) Apparent Change

(Note:  This post is part of a series on the immutability of God.  If your have not read the previous two posts, "What About God Repenting" and "Understanding Anthropopathisms" I encourage you to read them as they are important to understanding this post.)


 "But, don’t we see God changing His mind and actions based on man’s rebellion or repentance? Didn’t God change His mind when He told Moses He was going to destroy Israel? Didn’t God change His mind and decide not to destroy Nineveh?

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. (Jonah 3:10 ESV)

Certainly, these look like genuine changes of God’s mind and plans. We could or course view these as anthropopathisms and to some degree, they are. But there is another principle at work in these situations in scripture also. Spiros Zodhiates explains:

Sometimes, there is a change in His purported (believed) course of action based upon man's change of heart. This does not mean that the exercise of God's sovereign will is contingent (dependant) upon man's behavior. Jehovah is not whimsical or fickle. God is consistent. He is morally bound not to change His stance if man continues to travel on an evil path. Yet, if man turns from his wicked ways, God, in His graciousness, exercises mercy in withholding judgment. Though it might appear that God's purposes had changed, according to God's perspective, nothing had changed.

Because God is omniscient, He knows how man will respond, all this is part of His eternal plan and there is in reality, in the mind and plan of God, no real change.

We look at these things and we see a change in God’s mind and action. But it is only an apparent change. Most often, when scripture says that God “relented” or “changed His mind” this is what is happening. This apparent change is actually, in keeping with what God had declared from the time of Moses in Deuteronomy. It is stated most clearly in the prophecies of Jeremiah and Joel.

"At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; 8if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. 9"Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; 10if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it. (Jeremiah 18:7-10 NAU)

Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, "The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. "Now therefore amend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will change His mind about the misfortune which He has pronounced against you. "But as for me, behold, I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your sight. "Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city and on its inhabitants; for truly the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing."

Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets, "No death sentence for this man! For he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God." Then some of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying, "Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, 'Thus the LORD of hosts has said, "Zion will be plowed as a field, And Jerusalem will become ruins, And the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest."' "Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the LORD and entreat the favor of the LORD, and the LORD changed His mind about the misfortune which He had pronounced against them? But we are committing a great evil against ourselves." (Jeremiah 26:12-19 NAU)

The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And who can endure it? "Yet even now," declares the LORD, "Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments." Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil. Who knows whether He will not turn and relent And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God? (Joel 2:11-14 NAU)

Jonah fully understood these truths about how God operates. That is why he fled to Tarshish the first time God called Him to go to Nineveh. He knew the pronouncement of judgement was conditional and he didn’t want the Ninevites to be spared by God.

He prayed to the LORD and said, "Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. (Jonah 4:2 NAU)

Since it is God who changes hearts (Eze. 36:26) and gives the gifts of repentance (2 Tim. 2:54) and faith (Eph. 2:8), and because God is all-knowing and has an eternal plan for His creation, it is clear that all this takes place according to His sovereign will. God pronounces judgement contingent on man’s rebellion or repentance. Man continues to rebel and faces that judgement or he responds to God’s gift of repentance and is spared from judgement. And all of this takes place according to God’s permission and plan, according to His sovereign will. Nothing changes in God or in His plans. It only appears to be a change from man’s perspective and is expressed that way to accommodate man’s finite understanding of God as an anthropopathism.

Next: (71) Process Theology & Open Theism

(69) Understanding Anthropopathisms

"God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Numbers 23:19)

"I am the LORD, and I do not change.

(Malachi 3:6)

“. . . there is no variation or the slightest hint of change.”

(James 1:17)

Scripture makes it very clear that God does not change or repent. Yet, it also describes God as repenting. Both cannot be true. So how do we make sense of this? We have already seen the unfortunate translation of the Hebrew word that has created confusion, but need to look further at how this word is actually used.

In most cases, when the term nacham “repented” is used of God, it reflects a common figure of speech known as anthropopathism (literally, man feelings). This is a figure of speech where God’s actions are described symbolically in terms of human emotion. Essentially, human characteristics are used to help us understand God in a way that we would otherwise not understand. It is similar to another figure of speach, anthropomorphism (man form). This is a figure of speech where God is described as having physical parts (e.g., eyes, hands, etc.) even though he is not a physical being and does not have these parts.

Anthropopathism, is a figure of speech where human feelings or emotions are ascribed to God, in order to accommodate finite man’s inability to fully understand the complex and infinite intentions, plans, and actions of God.

Because God is infinite, perfect, and holy, He cannot change His mind as this change of mind in regard to thought or action as this would involve a move from one thought to one that is better or worse. Because God’s knowledge of the past, present, and future is perfect, He cannot change His mind or plans because He comes to learn something new. Even man’s actions are fully known by God and so, God will not change His mind because of seeing man’s actions. He always knew those actions.


Next: (70)  Apparent Change

(68) What About God “Repenting?”

One of the questions that always comes up when we talk about the immutability of God regards passages in scripture that speak of God “repenting” or “relenting” of something.

Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, "I regret [KJV= “repent”] that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands." (1 Samuel 15:10-11)

If God is immutable and does not change, how do we make sense of these verses? How can God be immutable and also “repent” for doing something?

There are three main explanations for this confusing question. First, it is important to understand the Hebrew word behind the English translation. The Hebrew word used in the passages that speak of God “repenting” is nacham. This word has several meanings, including "to be sorry or grieved," "console oneself," "repent," "regret," and "be comforted." The actual meaning is determined from the context where it is used.

Unfortunately, the archaic, if not inaccurate translation of this Hebrew word in the King James Version has caused the most confusion. The KJV often translates this Hebrew word with the English word “repent” making it seam that God has recognized that something He did was wrong. But, there is actually another Hebrew word that is used in reference to repentance from sin, shub and it is never used of God. In many of the passages where nacham is used, it would be far more accurate to translate it as sorrow of grief. This only means that God is grieved by something – by man’s actions and how man has fallen into evil. God has not, does not, and cannot do anything that is not perfectly right. Therefore, God cannot repent of doing something wrong or even less than perfect.

This does not completely solve our problem. While it is clear that God never “repents” of doing something wrong, it is not clear yet if scripture is indicating that God changed His mind, intentions, or actions because of some event or due to the actions of man or some other influence.

To understand scripture when it speaks of God relenting or changing His mind, we need to understand how the Bible speaks in a way to help finite human beings make sense of an infinite God.


Next:  (69) Understanding Anthropopathisms

(67) The Immutable Future

Future shock or even moderate anxiety over the future will disappear when we have a firm understanding of the immutability of God. As we have seen, the promises of God assure that those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ have absolute assurance of a glorious future with God in Heaven that is unalterable because of God’s immutability.

In the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago . . . (Titus 1:2 NAU)

So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. (Hebrews 6:18 NLT)

These verses and several others give us firm, personal confidence for the future that is rooted in the immutability of God. God said that His purpose is to save us forever and make us like Christ. In fact, according to Romans 8:29-30 this is completed before it is even started.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30 ESV)

Not only are we assured that we will spend eternity with God, but also that we will be made like Christ, free from sin and suffering. This is forever settled for every believer from before creation based on the decree and immutability of God.

But there is a negative side as well. As much as the immutability of God is a great comfort to believers, it will be a great terror to unbelievers. Those who continue to reject and rebel against Christ also have an immutable future. Those who refuse to confess and repent of their sin and turn in faith to Jesus for forgiveness and redemption will face an eternity separated from the presence of God in extreme torment in Hell.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. (John 3:36 NIV)

God showed the apostle John the future of all those who don’t place their faith in Christ alone for forgiveness and righteousness.

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. (Revelation 20:14 NIV)

The immutability of God is a sobering and critical warning that God will fulfill His Word regarding judgment for sin. There’s no point in trying to deny these truths or hope that God will change His mind and give a break to any who do not accept Christ. The future is decreed and it is unalterably settled in the immutability of God.

If you have never admitted your sin and guilt before God and your inability to satisfy His righteousness and justice, turning by faith alone in Christ alone for your forgiveness and salvation, you will face the wrath of God for eternity. This is immutable.

Secure your future today. Admit that you sinned and deserve to face God’s wrath for eternity. Confess your sin to God. Then, recognize that Jesus died to pay the penalty for your sin. Put your faith in Jesus, relying 100% on what He did for you on the Cross.


Next: (68) What About God “Repenting?”

(66) Finding Peace in an Immutable God

Forty years ago, Alvin Toffler wrote the book Future Shock about how intimidating change can be. Toffler defined future shock as a personal perception that there is too much change in too short a time. He argued that science an technology were producing so much change so quickly that people would become disconnected from one another, disoriented and even overwhelmed by a world they could not keep up with. He even talked about people feeling a sense of “information overload.” Forty years latter, we can really identify with what Toffler was talking about.
On top of all the technological and scientific changes are the rapid changes in morality and social norms. Then, there is global instability and change through wars, revolutions, ethnic cleansing, economic competition and treaties. Even countries are being redefined.

Just try keeping up with all that is going on in the world in medicine, science, technology and current events, and it will make your head spin. In fact, it is impossible. And so, the world can be a pretty scary place at times. Things change at such an amazing pace that it can be downright intimidating. Where do you find peace in the midst of all this stressful change? In an immutable God!

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. (Isaiah 26:3-4 ESV)

Peace in the most unstable, constantly changing circumstances, peace in the chaos of a rapidly changing world, perfect peace comes when we keep our minds focused on God. Why? Because God is an everlasting rock. He is stable, solid, firm. He always has been and He always will be.

Because God’s person, purposes, plans, and promises are immutable, we can have rock solid stability and confident, restful peace no matter how chaotic or confusing the world around us becomes. Peace in confusion and chaos is found by focusing on, meditating on and reminding ourselves of the glorious character of our glorious and immutable God.

So, who’s your God? Perhaps you can answer that question more accurately by evaluating your level of peace and confidence. Unrest and anxiety over the confusion of a world in chaotic flux or fear of a rapidly changing future will be present whenever there is an absence of focus on God, the perfect, infinite, immutable God of glory. And there will be an absence of peace and confidence.

So what do you do when you experience this unrest, anxiety and fear over change? Get into the Word and saturate your mind with the glories of a rock-solid, immutable God.


Next : (67) The Immutable Future

(65) Finding Stability in an Immutable God

Times change. People change. Methods change. Practices changes. Rules change. And they should. And many times they come around full circle.

People change. We’ve already discussed how we change physically over time. But people also change in beliefs and character and in many other ways. Sometimes these changes are for the good, sometimes bad, but people change.

Methods change. New technology and ways of doing things come along. Often these new methods are an improvement. Sometimes we aren’t so sure. New medical and scientific methods like artificial insemination, stem cell harvesting and cloning raise serious ethical issues. Just because we can do something due to new technology does not mean we should do it ethically or biblically. Where’s solid footing in the midst of dramatic change?

Practices change. The infant church met every day in homes. Soon, they met once a week for one long service. Latter, the church added services including Sunday School and mid-week services. Now, many churches have gone back to fewer services and meeting in homes for some of these.

Rules change. I remember when I was a child, there were a number of things that were considered wrong by the Christians I knew. One I remember was the belief that blue jeans were worldly and should not be worn by Christians. I an bewildered today (actually I always have been) as to where this idea came from. This rule is pretty much gone from Christian circles. Rules change.

We live in a world that is changing in many different ways. We live out our relationship with Christ in a Church that is changing locally and globally. It can make your head spin at times trying to make sense of the change and determine what is good change and what is bad change.

Where to we go for answers? How do we find solid footing? We turn to the timeless and unchanging principles of the scriptures.

Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.

(Psalm 119:89)

The grass withers, the flower fades,

but the word of our God will stand forever.

(Isaiah 40:8)

The Word of God never changes. People will try to tear down the value of the Word by saying it is outdated and irrelevant. But the truth is that the Word of God transcends time. The Word of God is the most relevant book there is. Man’s thinking, ideas, methods, practices and rules change. And they should. But God’s Word does not change. God’s Word remains the single unchanging standard of truth and principles to guide us in judging our thinking, ideas, methods, practices and rules. We must always go back to the scriptures. We must always ask, “What does the Bible say about this?” Because the truth and principles of the Bible never change and stand as the authoritative and governing judge over all our choices in all our methods, practices and rules.

The closer we stay to the scriptures, the more we will have stability in our standards. This does not mean our rules and practices and methods won’t change. They will change when we follow the truth and principles of scripture. But, all the while, we stand on the solid foundation of God’s Word, not on the shaky ground of popular opinion.

God’s Word is forever settled. It will stand forever. Stand, settled on the Word of God and you will have stability.

Next:  (66) Finding Peace in an Immutable God

(64) God: Immutable in His Promises

Much of the confidence and stability we find in the immutability of God’s purposes and plans is also rooted in the immutable promises of God. God’s purposes and plans are expressed in prophecies, but also in promises.

"I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. (Malachi 3:6)

In the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago . . . (Titus 1:2 NAU)

So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. (Hebrews 6:18NLT)

In Malachi, God declares that the only reason why Israel has not been totally wiped out is because He is immutable. It is not because they are something special, have been so good, or in some way deserve it. Just the opposite. They are not destroyed because God made a promise that the descendants of Jacob would always be His covenant people and, because His promises are immutable, they are not destroyed.

Our hope of eternal life is also not based on our goodness, merit, or future faithfulness. Our security is based on the promises of a God “who cannot lie.” In fact, just to make it doubly secure, He added an oath to His promise. When you stand on the promises of God, you are standing on the rock-solid foundation of the immutability of God.

Ah! we love to speak about the sweet promises of God; but if we could ever suppose that one of them could be changed, we would not talk anything more about them. If I thought that the notes of the bank of England could not be cashed next week, I should decline to take them; and if I thought that God's promises would never be fulfilled—if I thought that God would see it right to alter some word in his promises—farewell Scriptures! I want immutable things: and I find that I have immutable promises when I turn to the Bible: for, "by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie," he hath signed, confirmed, and sealed every promise of his.  (Charles Spurgeon)

Next: (65) Finding Stability in an Immutable God

(63) God: Immutable in His Purpose & Plans

I make known the end from the beginning,

from ancient times, what is still to come.

I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.

(Isaiah 46:10 NIV)

But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,

the purposes of his heart through all generations.

(Psalm 33:11 NIV)

God’s purposes and plans are unchanging. What God decreed remains the same, unchanged and unchangeable. In fact, scripture repeatedly speaks of God’s purposes and plans as existing and being initiated in eternity past. They are called His “eternal purpose.” God has set His-story in motion from before creation stating that He has made the end known from the very beginning. The purposes and plans for His-story remain exactly the same from creation to eternity future. God finishes what He starts.

This is critical if we are to have any confidence for the future. If God can change His plans then the future plans He has declared in His Word are meaningless. Prophecy becomes maybe, we’ll see. Paul could not comfort the Thessalonian believers regarding the future if God could change plans at any time. We would be left with instability, fear, uncertainty and anxiety.

But, God has a plan; a plan He has set forth from before creation. He is working that plan and He will never stop working that plan. This is a great comfort for us. It is peace, strength and confidence.

Human beings change plans, begin something and then stop, fail to plan ahead and then fail. Man changes his mind about what matters in life and in the world and what causes man should invest his energies into. This will never happen with God. We don’t have to worry about whether God will change His mind and decide to move in a different direction with a new plan.

We can find stability in the immutability of God’s plans and purpose. Rather than devising our own insignificant man-sized plans dreamed up in our futile thinking, we can join God in His God-sized, eternal, all-wise plans. Investing our lives into furthering God’s purposes and plans leads to a life of meaning, significance and stability. Don’t be blown about by the winds of change. Find rock-solid stability in the eternal, unchanging purposes and plans of God.


Next: (64) God: Immutable in His Promises

(62) God: Immutable in His Person & Perfections

"I am the LORD, and I do not change.

(Malachi 3:6)

“. . . there is no variation or the slightest hint of change.”

(James 1:17)

God does not and cannot change in His nature. He is perfect and infinite in every aspect of His being. There is no quantitative change in God. This means there will never be more of God and never less of God. There has never been a time when there was more of God or less of God and there never will be. God has not and cannot grow, God has not and cannot decay.

There is no qualitative change in God. Change implies improvement or decline in some way. But, God is perfect, He cannot become more perfect or less perfect. God is infinite. He cannot become more or less infinite or He would not be infinite in the first place.

God’s perfections or attributes are intrinsic to His essence or nature. All of God’s attributes, all that He is in His essence or nature remain exactly the same from eternity past to eternity future. God hasn’t become more or less gracious, kind, loving, merciful. He has not and will not change in any way in who He is in His character.

Arthur Pink points out,

God is immutable in His attributes. Whatever the attributes of God were before the universe was called into existence, they are precisely the same now, and will remain so forever. Necessarily so; for they are the very perfections, the essential qualities of His being. Semper idem (always the same) is written across every one of them. His power is unabated, His wisdom undiminished, His holiness unsullied. The attributes of God can no more change than deity can cease to be.

All that God is in His nature, He always has been and always will be. The God of the Old Testament is the same God as the God of the New Testament and the God of today. Any view of change in the nature of God is the result of the misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the scriptures and the true nature of God. At its foundations, the way God has dealt with His creation has, and will never change. It is always an outworking and result of the totality of His divine, unchanging nature.


Next: (63) God: Immutable in His Purpose & Plans

(61) The Immutability of God -Introduction

One thing in life is certain: Change. Of course we see it and feel in our bodies as we age and face physical deterioration. We see change all around us in nature in the changing of the seasons and global cooling over the past ten years. Oceans evaporate at a rate of about 110.736 inches each year (Descriptive Physical Oceanography by William J. Emery, Lynne D. Talley and George L. Pickard). This means a total annual evaporation from ocean of abut 96,519 cubic miles. There is a total annual global precipitation of about 137,856 cubic miles.

Nanga Parbat is the fastest growing mountain on earth and it is still growing. Standing at the extreme western end of the 1,500 mile long Himalayan Range - just beyond the deep Indus Valley, it culminates in an ice crest, 26,600 feet high. No other peak within 60 miles comes anywhere near to it's size. It's incomparable Rupal Face on the southern side is one of the greatest precipices in the world with a sheer drop of 16,404 feet.

And, "you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands; 11 they will perish, but you remain; and they all will become old like a garment, 12 and like a mantle you will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed. But you are the same, and your years will not come to an end." (Hebrews 1:10 -12 NAU)

All of creation is an incredible demonstration of God’s glory, and constant change. God created a constantly changing universe. God is the unchanging changer. In a world that is changing and even seems chaotic at times, God remains, unchanged.

A.W. Tozer points out that “The concept of a growing or developing God is not found in the Scriptures . . . In God no change is possible; in men change is impossible to escape” God is not capable of change in nature, but is constant, enduring, stable. God is never inconsistent with His nature or character. He never differs from himself or His promises. He cannot be changed by any thing or person. Whatever He was, He is, and He always will be. You can count on it.

Next:  (62) God: Immutable in His Person & Perfections

(60) Waiting for the Lord’s Direction

We have already thought about how important it is to earnestly seek God’s direction in decision making. But, what do we do when we earnestly seek to know God’s wisdom and direction for a life decision and God just seems to be silent?

Knowing God as the eternal God who has perfect timing means we earnestly seek God’s direction and then, we refuse to move ahead unless we are confident it is in fact under His direction. But most of us don’t like to wait and unfortunately, too many times, we get impatient and move ahead without God’s clear direction. This is no small error to fall into.

Failure to wait on God’s direction was the beginning of Saul’s downward spiral away from God. After Samuel anointed Saul as king of Israel he told Saul of very specific events that God would orchestrate in his life that day. Then, Saul was ordered, "Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do (1 Samuel 10:8)." Samuel then tells us that as Saul left Samuel, God changed his heart (1 Samuel 10:9 ).

Saul was obedient and all the things that Samuel prophesied took place that day. In the next few days, Saul led a victorious attack on the Ammonites and they prepared to retaliate against Israel. The people of Israel became very frightened because of the much larger armies of the Philistines. Saul was encamped at Gilgal waiting for Samuel to come as promised. But then he took a very wrong turn in his life. As he was waiting for Samuel, he got impatient. Instead of waiting for Samuel to come and offer the burnt offering sacrifice, he went ahead and did it on his own. And immediately, Samuel returned. Saul had been told to wait for Samuel to come, offer the burnt offering and tell him what to do. Saul got impatient waiting for direction. He disobeyed God and moved ahead on his own. Samuel rebuked him.

"You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue.”  (1 Samuel 13:13-14 ESV)

Like a ton of bricks the judgement comes down. You kingdom is over.

While it may be rare that the consequences of not waiting for God’s direction will be this severe for us, the lesson is a profound and important one. When a decision is to be made or a new direction is considered in life, it is critical that we wait on God’s direction and not move without it. Don’t get impatient and believe the thoughts that you have to make a decision. If God has not given you direction, wait. “But the sale will be over!” “But the deal will be lost!” “But I will miss this opportunity!” If God doesn’t give the go ahead to move forward, stay put! If God hasn’t given you the answer yet, He has a very good reason. Wait.

But, we ask the question, “How do I get God’s direction?” Do we just sit and wait for it to miraculously pop into our heads? No, we pray. We diligently search God’s Word for principles that apply to the decision – direction God has already given. Then, we make sure we are being obedient to the direction God has already given us in His Word. We assure that we are walking in intimate fellowship with Him, keeping in step with the Holy Spirit step by step. And we wait on God to give us clarity for the specific direction we need, remembering all the while that God has a purpose in making us wait. His timing is perfect and He will give the answer at the right time.

Now, don’t misunderstand and think that this means you have to have all the answers and know exactly how everything is going to work out. It does not mean that there will be complete confidence and the absence of all doubt, worry or fear. You can know God has given His direction and still struggle with trusting God. But, don’t move unless you are sure it is at God’s direction.

Conclusion

God is eternal. He created us for eternity. So what are you living for? Are you wasting your life or investing it?

Are you stressed out by time issues? Maybe your spending time on things God hasn’t asked you to do. You have all the time you need to do all that God wants you to do.

Are you frustrated, waiting on God to speak or act? Be still and contemplate the truth that there is a God in heaven who is indeed sovereign, and who has perfect timing, every time. Wait for His deliverance. Wait for His direction.

 Next: (61) The Immutability of God -Introduction