Acts 16: 6-8: “Now when they (Paul and Silas) had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.”
There is a song that says, “When God says ‘Yes,’ nobody should say ‘No’. Some people rarely pray before they lay their hand in their projects, or step onto the road for their journey. And those who drive put their trust more in the GPS and SATNAV. They are all good and useful, but they are all made to direct you visually and not spiritually. Prayer is irreplaceable in our journeys on earth, despite all the available technologies. This Bible passage writes, “They tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.” This indicates that they have prayed and sought God’s guidance before moving out. This happened definitely for their good; otherwise, the Spirit would have allowed them. The Bible writes, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” Isaiah 26: 3. Though one thing is to seek God’s consent on any issue, it is another thing for a Believer to accept God’s directive. The story of Balaam in the Bible teaches Believers the importance of allowing God to have the final say. Balaam was sent for by Balak, his father, when he was terrified by the presence of the children of Israel near his domain. The Bible writes, “Then he sent messengers saying: ‘Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” Balaam asked the emissaries to remain to stay around for him to contact the Lord. The Bible writes, “And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed” Numbers 22: 1-41. But because Balaam was more enticed and motivated by the material promise from Balak, he insisted on asking God for permission. And God later gave him what could be called a ‘conditional permission’ for him to go. This Balaam’s action made his life end ingloriously – Joshua 13: 22.
When you permit God to always have the last say on any matter is glorious beyond comparison. The Bible writes in Isaiah 30: 21, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it, whenever you turn to the right hand, or whenever you turn to the left.” Don’t ever despise God’s command because you believe that you know what is best; allow God to have the final say. When you wait on God by praying continually and seeking His face, it is then that you will become bound with Him; and it will make you always desirous to do His will. The Bible writes, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your ways” Proverbs 3: 5-6. Acknowledging God means giving Him the chance to guide you; letting Him have the final say. When we do this, He says in the Bible, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” The Book of Psalms writes, “Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which has no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you” Psalm 32: 8-9. The Bible writes the story of David and his followers arriving from a warfront and discovering that their wives and children had been kidnapped from their base. The Bible says that David ignored all the hues and cries around him; he prayed and asked God for the step to take for them to recover all their kidnapped wives, children, and animals. He ruled over his temper, and he did not allow his temper to rise or be distracted by the insulting words from his war men. The Bible writes. “So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.” – 1 Samuel 30: 1-19. David went ahead after he had received God’s assurance. The story ended well; the Bible writes, “So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, rescued his two wives. And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons and daughters, spoils or anything which they had taken from them. David recovered all.”
The Lord takes pleasure in those who trust Him, and hope in His mercy. The Bible writes, “Do not put trust in princes, nor in a son of man; in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish” Isaiah 46: 3-4. When a Believer allows God to have the final say on any matter, it is nothing but a sort of “Comprehensive Spiritual Insurance.” The Epistle of James writes, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubt, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his way” James 1: 4-7. Whenever you allow God to have the final say in your life, you no longer need to panic. It is helpful for every Believer to rely completely upon the Spirit of God for direction concerning things that are meant to give glory to Him. The story about the first Missionary journey of the apostles teaches Believers to always seek God’s directive; the Missionaries were praying, seeking the face of God before they set out, and the Holy Spirit gave them direction. The Bible writes, “As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Paul for the work which I have called them. Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away” Acts 13: 2-3. Had it been that they did not pray to ask God for His directives, they would probably have chosen the wrong people for the work. The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, especially those who always seek His face for direction. The Bible writes, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord” Jeremiah 17: 7. This will be hard for the unredeemed to do; the Bible writes, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” 1 Corinthians 2: 14.
Whoever always delights in seeking God’s consent on important issues, issues that are meant for God’s glory, will always receive His blessing. The viability in God’s word makes it a treasure to Believers. This is as it happened in the Bible story of Gideon; he is a man who grew up to rely on God’s directives. He was called by God to fight a war with the Midianites, people who had been oppressing Israel for ages. He learnt to trust God for His directives when he took the first step; he chose many men of war to fight the Midianites. He believed in his mind that he needed a huge number of men to give him victory. In Judges 7: 2, the Bible writes, “And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, “My own hands have saved me.” Anyone who decides to allow God to have the last say must be ready to obey His directives, no matter the way you see it. The Lord still rejected the huge number of people Gideon chose the second time after he had reduced the number. It is then that God advised him to obey His directive: “But the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.” Judges 7: 4. He obeyed God’s directives by reducing the number of his men from thirty-two thousand to ten thousand. After the Lord had tested the men, only three hundred were qualified to fight the war – Judges 7: 3-7. Gideon and his three hundred men fought the war and won; had he not relied on God and obeyed His directives, he and his men would have lost the war. When God is allowed to have the final say on your battle, He will fight your battle for you, and you have already won the battle. Gideon and his men only had to blow their trumpet for them to win the battle. The Bible writes, “When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.”
King Jehoshaphat is acknowledged by God in the Bible as a reliable man who always allowed God to have the final say on his intentions. But his life was saved by God’s grace when he consented to King Ahab’s invitation to join him and fight a war. Ahab, the king of Israel, is a man who did not give God a place in his own heart. This is what the Bible writes about Jehoshaphat: “Now the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father, and walked in His commandments and not according to the acts of Israel” 2 Chronicles 17: 1-1-6. But this good record of Jehoshaphat started to diminish when he aligned with King Ahab, the king of Israel. Jehoshaphat went to King Ahab, who welcomed him with a profuse, flattering, and politically motivated reception – 2 Chronicles 18: 2. The Bible writes, “So Ahab king Ahab of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead? And he answered him, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will be with you in the war.” This is where Jehoshaphat entered the trap set by Ahab. The Bible writes, “Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire for the word of the Lord today” 2 Chronicles 18: 1-7. By this, Jehoshaphat suggested that he should seek God’s approval. But King Ahab was a man who had no place in his heart for God’s word; he placed his trust in his four hundred ‘fake’ prophets who gave him the prophecy that he loved to hear. Jehoshaphat knew that the prophecy they gave was not that of God; the Bible writes, “But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of Him?” There was one who never compromises the Word of God for anything. The Bible writes, “So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla.” This was a red flag for Jehoshaphat to flee from the palace, but he insisted in hearing from Micaiah. When he came, he gave the true prophecy from God, but Ahab rejected it, and he ordered Micaiah to be put into prison. The war ended in tragedy as Micaiah had prophesied, but God saved Jehoshaphat – 2 Chronicles 18: 8-34; 19: 1-3. This attests to what the Book of Isaiah writes, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in You” Isaiah 26: 3.
Whatever plan that God does not initiate, He will never give His direction. There are now many so-called ‘men and women of God’ who mislead their followers (who do not read their Bibles) by convincing them to believe that there is power to manipulate God to do whatever they want. God says in the Book of Isaiah, “I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images” Isaiah 42: 8. Christ is the means of receiving God’s attention, and the Cross is the source of grace, blessing, and victory. The Lord has pleasure in those who put their trust in Him; in those who wait on Him and seek Him for guidance and directives. He assures Believers in the Book of Jeremiah: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me, and I will listen to you. And you seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” Jeremiah 29: 11-13.
The advantages of allowing God to have the final say: (i) Listen to the counsel of the Holy Spirit and pray before you decide – the epistle of James, “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without hypocrisy” James 1: 5. (ii) All who forsake the way of God for their own way will fall into their own pit – Prov. 28: 6 (iii) Man’s way always ends in disappointments and confusion. God’s way always ends in righteousness and progress and rejoicing in life (iv) The best idea is that which is God-inspired – James 3:17: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without hypocrisy”
Thanks so much for the time that you have taken to read this message. The Lord God will continue to guard and guide you, and help you to achieve your vision in life. Please read your Bible to affirm the authenticity of all the Bible verses quoted in this message. Stay blessed, healthy, and safe in Jesus name, Amen!
Rev. Christopher Olalekan O. Alawode
