Nov 12 – God’s Permissive Will!

“Indeed now, O Lord, … I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die” (Genesis 19:18–19).

The Lord does not take back what He has spoken, nor does He change His word. Therefore, even after the Lord has told you to do something, do not argue with Him, saying, “Not so, Lord.” Do not suggest that He should allow you to do something else. Remaining at the centre of His perfect will is what brings the greatest blessing into your life.

When the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were about to be destroyed, the Lord spoke to Lot, saying, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed” (Genesis 19:17).

Lot’s wife was unwilling to obey the Lord’s command not to look back. She turned around and became a pillar of salt. Lot, too, was unwilling to go to the mountains as the Lord had instructed him. Instead, he preferred to go to the nearby town of Zoar. Although the Lord permitted him to do so at that time, that place did not prove to be a blessing to Lot.

There is God’s perfect will, and there is His permissive will. When we remain in the centre of God’s perfect will, we experience peace and joy. Sometimes, however, we refuse to surrender to His perfect will and insist on our own preferences, saying, “Not so, Lord.” When we do this, we will not experience peace and joy in that matter.

God’s perfect will was for the Israelites to eat manna, the food of the angels in heaven, grow strong like mighty warriors, and conquer all thirty-one kings in Canaan. But the Israelites failed to understand the Lord’s will and purpose. They despised the manna—the food provided by God—and wept as they remembered the cucumbers, garlic, and fish they had eaten in Egypt. They craved meat. Although the Lord gave them meat according to their desire, He became exceedingly angry with those who greedily indulged themselves in it and struck them with a severe plague.

The Lord commanded the prophet Jonah to go to Nineveh, but Jonah’s eyes were set on Tarshish. Perhaps, when Jonah arrived at the harbour, a ship bound for Tarshish was ready to depart. But as he travelled in it, a storm arose and the sea became turbulent. Eventually, Jonah endured great suffering in the belly of the fish before he repented.

Children of God, when the Lord tells you to do something, obey Him completely, without offering any resistance or hesitating. This is the way to inherit His blessings.

Verse for further meditation: “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? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19).