Are you fighting God?
None of us would be so foolish as to pick a fight with God. But I’ve discovered there are ways that we can unwittingly resist Him and thus set ourselves up for failure. The key is the principle of agreement. Conflicting thoughts and desires will put our lives in disagreement with God then it’s like we’re in a tug of war. God is pulling one way and we can be pulling against Him and wondering why things aren’t working out.
Unmet expectations, disappointments, repressed emotions, and inner conflicts – these are all areas of disagreement with God that hinder His working in our lives.
Let me give a few simple examples.
Some years ago I was working in my accounting job. I wasn’t really happy in it and wanted to be somewhere else. I’m not sure where else – I just didn’t want to be there. By my actions I chose to stay in that job but according to my heart I was choosing to be somewhat absent. I was double minded, and with a divided heart. I had to resolve the question “if God wants me here then I have to be all here, but if He doesn’t want me here then I need to take some action steps to move on”. My life in this respect was not in agreement with God and there was no blessing – clearly I did not have peace of mind. Eventually I gained the right perspective, stopped trying to subconsciously escape, and came to love my job.
This can apply to any area of life – church, social setting, waiting in line. If you don’t want to be there – leave! If you do want to be there – stay, but be all in! You can’t say to yourself “Thankyou Lord that I have the mind of Christ – I have the half of you that wants to stay and I also have the other half of You that wants to leave.” For goodness sake – don’t be double minded, face up to the sources of conflict and resolve them. In doing so you’ll flick the lever of blessing from OFF to ON as your life comes into agreement with God’s purposes.
At the moment we have to vacate our rented home early May after having been here over 5 years. I find I’m having to deal with worry, in other words “I’m not sure of the likelihood of provision”. Then there’s the aspect of timing “I’m not sure your timing is very good on this one God.” When I restate the issues like this then it’s obvious that I’m in disagreement with God. I’ve become like that rascal that James is addressing:
But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:6-8
I guess when you’ve grown up (as James did) with Jesus as your older brother you learn to say things as they are and not beat around the bush.
How about King Saul, who said to Samuel: “Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favour of the LORD. So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” (1 Sam13:12). Really Saul?? Who forced you?? Come on mate – you made a bad decision based on character weakness and now you’re trying to justify yourself with the prophet.
Aaron tried the same approach with little brother Moses when Moses asked him about the golden calf. Aaron responded “they gave me their gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” Yeah, right. Blameshifting, lying, irrational excuses, and disagreement with truth – all in one package.
A word on procrastination. This is an irrational decision to not do a necessary action because of an overriding emotion. Delay can be a wise choice but procrastination is inner conflict and disagreement. Jesus didn’t put off the cross till later because it was a painful choice but set His face to go to Jerusalem because it was the Father’s timing.
Let’s say what we mean, mean what we say, and let our actions fully display what we’ve decided in our heart. When any of these things are out of alignment, then we’ve allowed a stronghold of disagreement in our lives and have therefore shut out the blessing of God.
The way forward is through prayerful searching of our heart, repentance of any internal conflicts, and declarations such as “Lord I come into complete agreement with Your purposes in this area.”