It's easy to rationalize

A few Sundays ago I said something that I believe is worth repeating here in this blog.  We’ve been studying Abraham in the book of Genesis and one thing I’m pretty convinced of is that when he took Hagar as his second wife, he knew that was not what God intended for the fulfillment of his promise to Abraham that he would have a son.  I continue to believe that Abraham knew in his heart all along that God intended to give Sarah a child.  So why did he do it?  Maybe he wanted to support Sarah in her plan—to give her some relief in how she was feeling as a woman who had not been able to give him a son.  Maybe the prospect of having another wife was enticing to Abraham’s lust.  Maybe at the end of the day, he convinced himself this might work but whatever his ultimate motivation, I believe he knew this was not what God wanted him to do.

            But thirteen years go by and he has a son.  His wives have learned to live with the situation so things seem a bit better at home but during this time something happens to Abraham.  He begins to believe that he must have been right in his decision to take Hagar as his wife.  So much so that after thirteen years he doesn’t even think about Sarah having a son anymore.  God had promised him a son and by his own ingenuity he had brought it about—through Hagar.  So when God shows up in person to talk with Abraham and tells him that Sarah’s going to have a son next year, his immediate response is to laugh to himself at the impossibility of such a thing.  Yet God is patient and his rebuke is gentle.  God will bless Ishmael but the promise God made long ago would be fulfilled in Sarah’s son, a boy to be named Isaac.

            When I read that and saw what happened to Abraham, I immediately saw a corollary between what happened to him and what happens to us.   We often do things that in our hearts we know are wrong.  We know God doesn’t approve but we convince ourselves it’s ok.  And as time goes on, and nothing really bad seems to happen, we convince ourselves that not only is it not wrong, it’s what God wanted us to do.  I think we’re particularly susceptible to this in relationships with others but really it can happen in almost any area of life. 

Here’s a couple of “for instances” that I see often.  Walking with God demands a daily personal time of prayer and fellowship in God’s Word but because we know we can talk to God always and everywhere, and because we’ve read the Bible before, we rationalize that walking with God doesn’t need that daily, focused time of meeting with Him.  In fact, we convince ourselves that God would rather have the “on the go prayers” than the disciplined time with Him. 

Commitment to your church family is a command from God but people rationalize that they can worship anywhere.  Before long we have forsaken the church gathered for worship for fishing on the river.  We convince ourselves this is the will of God because God is everywhere in nature and we pray before we launch.  And besides, we’re spending time with our children. 

I could go on but my point is simply this; let’s stop rationalizing our disobedience and submit our selves to God.  For some of you, you’ve been so long ignoring the prompting of the Holy Spirit, it may be hard for you to even hear His voice still.  I’m praying for revival because in revival we all hear Him clearly once more. 

But let this be my challenge to us in the days ahead.  Heed his voice.  Listen to His Spirit.  When you know something is wrong in your heart, when you have that check in your spirit, obey God.  Stop doing what you are doing.  Start doing what you need to be doing.  The old song says, “Trust and obey for there is no other way…”  Trust the Lord Jesus will see you through.  He will help you.  And obey those promptings, obey His voice.  There is no other way for us to walk before him blamelessly than to trust in Jesus and obey His will.

One final word, walking in obedience is not easy.  It often hurts.  It often cost you.  There can be a huge sacrifice in not living for your self.  The world says, “You fool!  This is all there is—why are you wasting your life?”  But we know better.  This is not all there is.  Jim Elliot once said, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he can not lose.”  Christ died for our obedience—now by His grace let’s live in it.