October 5 – Suspicion of God (Isaiah 48:17-19)
“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”(Isaiah 48:17)

IN WORD:
A rich young man came to Jesus one day and asked Him some spiritually sensitive questions. He wanted to be right with God. Jesus gave him an answer, but in the end it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He would have had to let go of his idols — his wealth, his agenda, his will (Matthew 19:16-22). Underlying his refusal to accept the call of Jesus was a suspicion that perhaps God didn’t have his best in mind. He would have to look after himself.
This verse in Isaiah only becomes relevant when there’s a conflict between our desires and God’s. When we and God want the same thing, we have no trouble walking His way. But when obedience contradicts the leaning of our heart, we have a heart problem. We find it difficult to conform to the will of God. Underlying that difficulty is the same suspicion the rich man had — the thought that perhaps God’s way will not actually work out to our advantage in the end.
We must sacrifice a lot of good theology to believe that. We must reject the love of God or the wisdom of His will if we are to place our own agenda above His. But how easily we do that! It is imperceptible to us when we are making our decisions, but it is a prominent eyesore in the spiritual realm. Disobedience implies that we’re more concerned about our well-being than God is. Such thin ice is a dangerous place to be.

IN DEED:
God doesn’t want us to consider His will as an option. He wants us to pursue it as an imperative. But He doesn’t want us to pursue it with suspicion in our hearts. He’d rather we understand: Even when His will is hard, it really will lead to the best possible outcome for us.
How the heart of God grieves when His people will not follow His wise direction! It is like a father watching his child harm them-self. It isn’t rational, but sin never is. We must replace our irrational behavior with a deep belief in the goodness of God. His teaching is always the right one.

“There are no disappointments to those whose wills are buried in the will of God.” -Frederick William Faber-