GET OUT OF GOD’S WAY
(7-minute read)
Whether we admit it or not, we all have our opinion about many things. There is no shortage of opinions (or POV) on social media platforms like YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook, where people are talking endlessly about this or that, presenting their narratives on different issues, and floating their persuasions and counter-arguments in various echo chambers. On social media, anyone can become an opinion leader with the power to disseminate information quickly, shape opinions, spark conversations, as well as perpetuate false narratives and fake news.
In the time of Jesus, the opinion leaders were generally the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law who were quick to air their opposing opinions about the Lord’s teachings and everything He did that they saw as a threat to their beliefs and traditions. Ultimately, their hostility culminated in Jesus’ arrest, public trial and horrific crucifixion.
Within His own camp, Jesus had the habit of asking His twelve disciples what they thought about this or that. “Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:15) and “Do you want to leave too?” (John 6:67). Peter was usually the first to respond. To each question, he answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16) and “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69). While Peter was mostly on point in his response, there were times when he famously let his emotions do the talking. Matthew 16:21-23 describes one such conversation when Jesus shared with His disciples in confidence about the persecution that He would have to endure in the days ahead:
“From then on Jesus began to tell His disciples plainly that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem, and that He would suffer many terrible things at the hands of” the opinion leaders of the day, namely prominent elders, priests and teachers of the religious law. “But Peter took Him aside and began to reprimand Him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”
In modern parlance, he might say something like: Nonsense! There’s no way this is going to happen under my watch!
There is really nothing odd about Peter having a private word with Jesus; he wasn’t out of line. Healthy friendships have a level of openness and honesty that permits a more direct way of speaking to each other. Being protective of Jesus, Peter spoke discreetly with the Lord to avoid any possible embarrassment.
In reciprocal manner, Jesus replied, “You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
In plain language, it might sound like this: Your emotions are getting the better of you, Peter. You are reading this all wrong and missing God’s big picture! (Remember, this was a private conversation between close friends.)
When someone we care deeply about is in a quagmire, we want them to have their breakthroughs without delay. Part of the reason is that supporting people through prolonged difficulties and hardship can result in compassion fatigue on our part. And like Peter, many of us are poorly equipped to deal with uncomfortable emotions, so we want a resolution that gives everyone a break. It also does not help that as Christians, we are often guilty of being quick to assign blame to the devil for all the trials and challenges that are common in human life.
As a result, we can miss 2 pertinent truths about God, and let our good intentions turn into roadblocks that stand in the way of God’s divine plans.
Truth 1: God’s Plans Are Clear and Intentional
Life may sometimes lead us to think that God is holding up our experience of miracles and breakthroughs, when in fact, we could be standing in His way instead. Nothing God does is by happenstance or random, even if things appear to coincide in such a way as though one thing causes another to happen. There is no ambiguity with God; but unambiguity does not mean the absence of adversities and unfavourable conditions.
In an age of expediency and efficiency, what slows down and impedes God’s planned best for us is our tendency to make overhasty pre-emptive moves, over-estimating our resourcefulness and abilities, and prematurely exiting from unfavourable situations. We want to end the long spell of loneliness, career setbacks, sickness and crisis after crisis, so we turn to quick and questionable alternatives for relief instead of sticking it out with God.
In Jeremiah 29:10, we read that God revealed to the Israelites that they would need to remain in captivity in Babylon and life would continue to be hard for 70 years before God would restore all His goodness to them. However, they would be greatly rewarded for their endurance, “For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11). Notice that verse 11 (the promise of a permanent change for the better) is contingent on verse 10 (the hard realities to be endured). Unfortunately, many of us like to embrace the promise in verse 11, and write off verse 10 as being irrelevant to our situation.
God’s instructions are always clear and unambiguous though not necessarily as detailed as we would like. We need to practise letting go of pursuing certainty and the false sense of security it gives us. We need to learn to hold onto God’s promises so we may face all uncertainties with Him. God’s plan for each of us is unique. So, it pays to trust His timing and His plan even if it takes longer than we would like, and even though He works in ways that do not align with conventional human wisdom.
Truth 2: God’s Ways Are Higher Than Our Ways
From the human point of view, God’s ways are always bewildering and literally out-of-this-world. The Bible abounds with evidence of this. We, however, want things to be straightforward, to follow precedent, to always make sense, but that is not how God rolls.
The exchange between Peter and Jesus demonstrated a sharp difference in their perceptions. To Peter, the dire reality that Jesus said He must go through contradicted his humanistic belief that there are only good outcomes with God. By talking about being killed and raised from the dead, Jesus was being overly negative. Jesus, on the other hand, was acutely aware that Satan was using this friend to dissuade Him from fulfilling His God-given mission. Hence, He addressed the Enemy’s influence directly, “Get away from Me, Satan!”
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT) speaks of the superiority of God’s thinking and His ways; and its distinction from human thinking and way of dealing with problems. “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” [Re-read, pause and meditate on this].
This is not to devalue human intelligence and thinking which are given to us by God. But it suggests that we ought always to revalue our POV against the Word and character of God, and let our minds be constantly renewed as we let God show us His ‘good, pleasing and perfect will’. (Romans 12:2).
The opinion leaders who opposed Jesus were likely good people but their resistance to change and to accept a different point of view – including Jesus’s – excluded them from Kingdom building. Instead, they became adversaries of the Good News of God’s salvation through Jesus, without even leaving their religious buildings.
Similarly, when we become so set in our reasoning, argument and thinking that we stop letting the Holy Spirit reveal new things to us, our rigidity and resistance to change create roadblocks in God’s plans for ourselves and others. Instead, we ought to always remain malleable to what the Holy Spirit will teach us, and habitually be in awe of what God wants to do in our lives and for our loved ones.
Romans 11:33 reminds us, “How great are God's riches! How deep are His wisdom and knowledge! Who can explain His decisions? Who can understand His ways?”
God is always in motion. When we get out of His way while also watching and following Him closely, our ‘location tracker’ will only detect God because we will be off-grid (or out of the way!). So let the Holy Spirit remove any mental blocks and emotional immaturity that stand in God’s way so that you may fully live out His plans now and in the future!
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 23 March 2024.
