Bible Message – Week 33. Don’t Become Desperate When God Seems Silent. Pst. Johan Venter

• Week 33
• Scripture Reading: – 1 Sam 28:⁵
• Topic: – Don’t Become Desperate When God Seems Silent.

I have a PLAN, -Do you trust Me?

1 Sam 28:⁵ 

When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. ⁶ And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. 

⁷ Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at En-dor.” 

⁸ So Saul disguised himself [Hiding behind a mask] and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night.

The enemy wants you to become and act DESPERATELY! 

That is when you make the wrong decisions and choices. God ALWAYS has a PLAN, you can trust Him! We are either moved by God or by our fears! Based your future on the words [lies] of the enemy!

Saul never consulted with God or Samuel while being the king of Israel! Deut 18:¹⁰ There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, [Idol worship] or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 

¹¹ or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. ¹² For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. 

But, there is a major difference between having a spiritual experience with God through prayer and having one with other spirits (Satan, fallen angels, demons) through witchcraft. Another difference is this — with God, He chooses you, but with the devil, you choose him. 

Ephesians 6:¹² 

“our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, 

Familiar spirits

“⁸ Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin and was humble at the beginning of his reign, but soon became very proud and was disobedient to God’s instructions.” We ALL have to SUBMIT and LIVE according to the WILL of God! Lev 19:³¹ ‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; 

Do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. Isa 8:¹⁹ and when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? 

• Abraham’s Plan [Ishmael, Arabic Islamic Nations] When our plans and God’s plans don’t match up, we often try to kick down the door. Then things get worse.
  • Failure
  • Disaster for him and for Generations
  • Death

• God’s Plan [Isaac, prosperity, etc.]
  • Protection
  • Liberty to ask
  • Help

Just ask Jonah. He learned the hard way how to respond when God’s plans and his plans didn’t match. God told Jonah to warn the people of Nineveh that they needed to repent from their evil ways. 

But Jonah ran from God and ended up in the belly of a big fish, so God had to rescue him. Jonah then did what God had said to do, but when the people of Nineveh repented and God didn’t punish them, the prophet was extremely disappointed. 2 Kings 14:^24-25

1. God can see things you can’t. He can see the past and the present and the future all at the same time. He created time, so He is not subject to time.
2. God is good to you even when you miss it. You may have been going the opposite direction from God, and He still covers you. God cares about you because that’s the kind of God He is. He loves you even when you’re unlovable.
3. God is in control of every detail of your life. Your plans don’t fail randomly. God has a purpose in everything in your life. Jonah shows us that God uses both the big (a large fish) and the small (a worm) to direct our lives, but He is in control of it all. 
4. God wants you to focus on what will last. Most of what worries you won’t be around tomorrow. God wanted Jonah to care about the salvation of the people of Nineveh, not a plant that would die the next day. Above all else, focus on getting God’s Word into your heart and bringing people into His family.

Things happen to all of us. 

We all know that. Sometimes it’s good, other times it’s horrible. When it’s good we don’t spend too much time analysing it – we just enjoy it! But when it’s bad we ask questions, we want answers. “Why did this happen?” Or more likely, “Why did this happen to me?” 

If we’re of a philosophical frame of mind, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” It seems to me that the Bible is clear that God is in charge. Rom 12:² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 

Rom 8:²⁸ and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Psalm 50:¹⁵ then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.”(NLT) 

James 4:^13-17 come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. 

What is your life? 

For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (ESV)

• Prov 3:⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
• Isaiah 14:²⁴ The Lord of hosts has sworn: “as I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand” 
• Jeremiah 29:¹¹ for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope
• Psalm 32:⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you
• Proverbs 19:²¹ Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails

A GOOD plan versus a GODLY plan! Even Jesus said these words, Father, “Not My will, but Thine be done.” 

1 Cor 10:¹³ But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so you can stand up under it”.

Next time God’s will and yours don’t see eye to eye, and before you get horribly bent out of shape, remind yourself that you don’t know all the circumstances so you can’t make a definitive assessment of the situation as to whether it is ultimately good or bad. 

Then remember that God’s will is “good, acceptable and perfect”.

Submit & Surrender to God!

Just because your plans aren’t turning out the way you want doesn’t mean God isn’t intimately involved in every step. Ask God to help you see his hand in your broken plans, and trust him in his goodness as he shows you the way forward. 

Ephesians 1:¹¹ says, “because we are united with Christ we have received an inheritance from God, For He chose us in advance and He makes everything work out according to His plan”. 

God has the WHOLE MAP!

May God bless His Word