You would think King Zedekiah would know better by the examples of others that telling God to do things your way and not following His directions only leads to destruction. God has said several times up to Jeremiah chapter twenty-one just exactly what King Zedekiah needed to do to stop the coming invasion. Yet, he thought because he was king he could tell God how things are going down.
Let’s look at some of those who chose to not follow the directions God gave them and the results, starting with Adam and Eve. God gave them just one NO, which was not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They could eat of all the other trees but just one. They had it good, fellowship with God, everything they needed was provided, and more. Because they did not follow God they lost everything. Food no longer provided they had to work for it. Clothes became a necessity which means laundry, thanks Eve for that never-ending chore. A shelter was needed. Most important was the change of lack of fellowship with God.
Abram and Sari took things into their own hands and failed to trust God in His plan when Sari gave Abram her maidservant so he could have a child by her. The beginning of two warring factions. One was beloved by the father the other felt rejection.
Jonah most defiantly didn’t follow God’s directions, as a matter of fact, he went in the opposite direction of where God told him to go. His actions brought danger to others. He was swallowed up by his sin, literally, where he couldn’t see what God was doing. He suffered depression because God didn’t work the way he thought God should and lost out on the blessing of what God had done.
Job let God have his way with him. He didn’t run from what happened. He didn’t curse God even after he lost everything. He patiently trusted that God had a plan and Job could do nothing but to sit back a see what God was going to do. I like the way the New Living Translation put Job 42:2, “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you.”
This is what King Zedekiah should have learned. If he wanted God to stop his plan then he should have done what God wanted him to do and not tell God how it should be done.
If we try to do things our way instead of how God wants us to do it will end up in disaster for us. We may not understand His way at the time but He sees the whole plan at work the whole time. We can trust Him for the outcome. Cling to the promise in Romans 8:28 ESV, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Bonnie Sue Writes 