Trusting God’s Leadership
There was a poll taken a few years back in the Ladies Home Journal magazine that asked, "In whom do you trust?" Responses were:
· 40% - Walter Cronkite
· 26% - Pope John Paul
· 6% - Billy Graham
· 3% - God [1]
We make choices every day over what to trust and whom to trust.
- Is this leftover meatloaf in the refrigerator still good to eat or not (it’s only been two weeks…)?
- Can I cut through this lane of traffic because the driver in the car is waving me on, saying the opposite lane is clear?
It is the most crucial choice we make whether or not to trust God’s leadership in our lives. He is the one true God who created all things, rules all things, and directs all things. So why is it so hard to trust His direction?
We will examine this question today as we study His leadership in the life of three very different people: a woman with a family, a young prophet of God, and a soldier.
Scripture: 2 Kings 8-10
Main Point:
Never doubt that God will lead you along the path He desires for your life. Following His leadership simply requires your deliberate trust and obedience.
Outline:
1. You must trust that God will provide as He leads.
2. You must trust that God’s specific instructions have a purpose.
3. You must trust God in things great and small.
1. You must trust that God will provide as He leads.
1 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, "Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the LORD has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years." 2 The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years. (2 Kings 8:1-2, NIV)
There was a childless Shunammite woman who was granted a child from God late in life. When her young son became sick and died, she went to Elisha for help. God raised him from the dead through the prophet Elisha (see 2 Kings 4:8-37, use the BACK button on your browser to return here).
Elisha now tells the woman to leave her home and take her family to another place because of an impending famine. God mercifully provided a warning of difficult times ahead to this family just as He did to Joseph’s family a thousand years earlier (Genesis 41:25-32, 45:4-11).
Now Elisha commands her to leave her home. What would you say if a prophet of God came up to you today and asked you to leave your home and go to Mexico for seven years because of an impending disaster? Would you pack up and go or stay to see if it would really happen?
The Shunammite woman heard and obeyed God’s command through the prophet. By the account, she obeyed the LORD at once. Such obedience is what God looks for in our lives because He knows what is best for us. I believe this Shunammite woman understood that trusting God’s leadership means trusting He will provide for you as He leads you to new things. Jesus said:
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek
and
you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For
everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks,
the door
will be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a
stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If
you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children,
how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who
ask him!
(Matthew 7:7-11, NIV)
I’m sure this woman and her family did not want to move to the land of the Philistines. Often the Philistines were at war with Israel – this continues even in today’s times. Yet she packed up and moved without a fuss.
Do you think that God blesses those who trust His leadership enough to follow where He leads? Look what happened to this dear woman:
3 At the end of the seven years she
came back
from the land of the Philistines and went to the king to beg for her
house and
land. 4 The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the
man of
God, and had said, "Tell me about all the great things Elisha has
done." 5 Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had
restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back
to life
came to beg the king for her house and land.
Gehazi said, "This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son
whom Elisha restored to life." 6 The king asked the woman
about
it, and she told him.
Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, "Give back
everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land
from
the day she left the country until now." (2 Kings 8:3-6, NIV)
So the Shunammite woman and her family came back to their home. The king of Israel even gave them the equivalent of seven years of income from what their land produced.
Did God provide abundantly for this woman and her family? Was this a blessing for her obedience to His word?
- Yes, God opened up the windows of heaven and provided for her needs and even more.
- Note that God even used a wicked king to bless one of His children – God can and has used both believer and unbeliever to provide for the needs of His people.
Or look at it this way, would God have provided so abundantly for this woman had she ignored Elisha’s command?
- She might possibly have lived through seven years of famine. Possibly not.
The point is clear. Trusting God’s leadership requires that we trust His ability to provide and His willingness to do so. Are you trusting God’s leadership in your own life or are you wavering in doubt?
5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. (James 1:5-8, NIV)
Unstable and unblessed I might add…
2. You must trust that God’s specific instructions have a purpose.
1 The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company of the prophets and said to him, "Tuck your cloak into your belt, take this flask of oil with you and go to Ramoth Gilead. 2 When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to him, get him away from his companions and take him into an inner room. 3 Then take the flask and pour the oil on his head and declare, 'This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.' Then open the door and run; don't delay!" (2 Kings 9:1-3, NIV)
These were pretty specific instructions for how this young prophet should deliver the message from God.
“Tuck your cloak into your belt” – this meant the prophet was to run fast to his destination. In order to run fast, you had to lift up the long cloak so that you would not trip on it as you ran.
“take this flask of oil with you” – he was to anoint Jehu with this particular oil from Elisha. It was not magic oil but it had been set apart for God’s purposes by Elisha. That made this particular oil special.
“look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi” – again, God gives very specific instructions to the young prophet so that he does not anoint the wrong man.
“Then open the door and run; don't delay!” – Take note of the last words given to this man from God through the prophet Elisha. He was not to wait around for instructions or to even see the reaction of Jehu or his friends.
God gives specific instructions to us sometimes. When He does so, you and I need to listen carefully and obey specifically.
However, we are often like the man who got a new hearing aid. He was so proud of it and bragged about it to his friend. His friend asked him, “What kind is it?” The man gleefully replied, “Oh about 3:30.”
Now see – half of you weren’t listening and did not get the punch line!
Good listening skills are crucial to your success in life. Whether it is listening to your spouse or listening to your boss at work, good listening is critical. This is particularly true in your walk with God. God wants to lead us along the path He desires. We must actively listen to clearly discern His will.
What would have happened to the young prophet if he had only half-listened to God?
- He might have anointed the wrong man as the new king!
- Friends of Jehu might have cornered him into anointing them.
- Consider what the present king’s friends would have thought of the young prophet – a traitor to his king.
The young prophet was in great danger by delivering God’s message to Jehu. God provided specific instructions not to hold the prophet back or constrain him in any way. God simply loved him and wanted him to be protected from what He knew was certain danger.
Do you ever consider God’s commands to be too restrictive? Do you half-listen to some of His commands so that you can still do what you want to do?
This is a recipe for disaster. Disaster for you, disaster for your family, disaster for your church – because we need you in our congregation to get God’s work done.
Trust God’s leadership by paying attention to the
details –
those specific instructions we find in His word. God never gave
us a command
that was not for our provision or protection.
3. You must trust God in things great and small.
6 Jehu got up and went into the house. Then the prophet poured the oil on Jehu's head and declared, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anoint you king over the LORD's people Israel. 7 You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the LORD's servants shed by Jezebel. 8 The whole house of Ahab will perish. I will cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel-slave or free. 9 I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah. 10 As for Jezebel, dogs will devour her on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and no one will bury her.' “Then he opened the door and ran. (2 Kings 9:6-10, NIV)
God anointed Jehu as the new king of Israel (the northern kingdom) and commissioned him with a specific charge: execute God’s judgment on the Ahab’s family.
Ahab was one of the kings of Israel. The northern kingdom of Israel never had a God-fearing king. Ahab was one of the worst. It was under Ahab’s reign that the prophet Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal – and God won! Here is how the Bible summarizes the life of Ahab:
29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD , the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. (1 Kings 16:29-33, NIV)
Take a bad king, give him a wife named Jezebel, mix them together, and you have a dangerous throne. His wife was the original “Jezebel” – that was her name and she was even worse than her husband! The two of them together inflicted more harm, both physical and spiritual, than any other couple I know. As a result, God determined an awesome judgment on them.
Jehu was to be the instrument of God’s judgment. This was not an easy assignment. Jehu was a soldier to be sure. Yet to turn against your own king was treason. He could not be sure how his fellow soldiers would respond to this news.
Look at how Jehu responded publicly to this call:
11 When Jehu went out to his fellow
officers, one
of them asked him, "Is everything all right? Why did this madman come
to
you?"
"You know the man and the sort of things he says," Jehu replied.
12 "That's not true!" they said. "Tell us."
Jehu said, "Here is what he told me: 'This is what the LORD says: I
anoint
you king over Israel.'"
13 They hurried and took their cloaks and spread them under
him on
the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, "Jehu is
king!" (2 Kings 9: 11-13, NIV)
Notice that Jehu did not reveal his full mission. Why do you think he hid the plan from his officers?
- Some may have been loyal to the present king.
- Did not want anyone to tell the king what God had commanded Jehu to do (see 2 Kings 9:16). The king would have immediately raised an army against Jehu and put him to death.
God provided the leadership and direction for his life. Jehu had to make the crucial choice to trust God’s leadership, believing that God would bless his obedience.
At this point, Jehu swiftly obeyed God. Here are some of his exploits:
- Tricked King Joram (Israel) and King Ahaziah (Jerusalem, son of Ahab) so that he could kill the two wicked kings (2 Kings 9:14-29). Joram’s bloody corpse was tossed onto Naboth’s field – the one King Ahab had stolen from humble Naboth. This was in fulfillment of God’s prophecy concerning Ahab’s wickedness in this matter (1 Kings 21:19,29).
- Commanded the servants of Jezebel to toss her out of a high window and then trampled her under the horses that drove his chariot. Then Jehu went to eat lunch (2 Kings 9:30-37). While this was brutal and seemingly callous, it fulfilled God’s prophecy about Jezebel’s death exactly (1 Kings 21:23).
- Ordered the beheading of seventy sons of Ahab’s family in Jezreel (2 Kings 10:1-8).
- Killed the family of Ahab, his chief officers, close friends, and his priests in Jezreel (2 Kings 10:9-11).
- Killed relatives of Ahaziah in Samaria (2 Kings 10:12-14).
- Killed the remaining family of Ahab in Samaria (2 Kings 10:15-17). As he was heading this way, he picked up a friend named Jehonadab and proclaimed: “Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD” (2 Kings 10:16, NIV).
- Deceived the prophets of Baal so that he could kill them all at once in their own temple (2 Kings 10:18-27).
It was a brutal work that God commanded Jehu to do. But no more so than when the Israelites were to take possession of the Promised Land. They were ordered to kill the Canaanites -- man, woman, girl, boy, even babies -- because of their great sins of idolatry and lust. Here is how God responded to Jehu’s trust and obedience:
30 The LORD said to Jehu, "Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation." 31 Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit. … 36 The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years. (2 Kings 10:30-31,36, NIV)
Jehu had zeal for the LORD in the great things he was commanded to do. Yet in the day-to-day issues, he failed to trust God’s leadership by allowing the “sins of Jeroboam” – this was the worship of golden calves set up in Dan and Bethel (2 Kings 10:29).
It was this sin of idolatry that was the ultimate downfall of Israel: “11 For this is what Amos is saying: 'Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.'" (Amos 7:11, NIV).
Are you trusting that God will bless your obedience in only the great things? What about those small things that He commands us:
- A forgiving attitude (Ephesians 4:32)?
- Faithfulness in hard work (Proverbs 14:23)?
- Strong in the LORD instead of fretting (Ephesians 6:10)?
- Remembering all of God’s blessings (Psalm 103:2)?
- Putting away or walking away from temptations (Matthew 6:13)?
Conclusion:
Dwight D. Eisenhower, former President of the United States, once said:
In order to be a leader a man must have followers. And to have followers, a man must have their confidence. Hence the supreme quality of a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, on a football field, in an army, or in an office. If a man's associates find him guilty of phoniness, if they find that he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail. His teachings and actions must square with each other. The first great need, therefore, is integrity and high purpose. [2]
It was Jesus who said:
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. (Mark 8:34-35, NIV)
It was the same Jesus who said:
18"We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!" (Matthew 20:18-20, NIV)
On the third day, Jesus did indeed rise from the dead, never to die again! Jesus is a leader with integrity and high purpose – a leader worth following.
So never doubt that God will lead you along the path He desires for your life. Following His leadership simply requires your deliberate trust and obedience.
© Copyright 2004, Randy Lariscy.