1st Thessalonians 5
Prayer Connect
TM
Always Pray
"Don't Cease"
5/20/26
Author: Dr. S. Edwards
God, "SAY WHAT?!"...
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God, "SAY WHAT?!"...
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"God says to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh
all the wonders I have given you the power to do.
But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go"
-Exodus 4:21 (NIV)
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On last week we expounded on the importance of rooting our supplication to God in faith as well as the importance of accepting God's peace regarding whatever it is that we have prayed for. We expressed the need to understand that trusting God and accepting His peace does not mean that we then have the power to orchestrate things how we want them to go or to automatically make happen for us what we want to happen. God's peace helps us to remain firm amidst what we are enduring as we wait for what we have asked Him for.
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Accepting God's peace takes the burdens of worry and stress off our trying to make happen that which we don't have the power to. Accepting God's peace is having assurance that what we have taken to God is in His more than capable hands and that He will work it out. It is finding comfort in the fact that Jesus overcame therefore, nothing that we endure is stronger than His ability to both carry and see us through. God's peace allows us to rest in the assurance of His grace and mercy that we have not earned but that He has freely given us because of His love for us. God's peace puts us in a place in which we recognize that NOTHING IS BIGGER, GREATER THAN, EQUAL TO, OR TOO HARD FOR GOD!
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In order to make us better understand that accepting God's peace does not mean that we then receive the power to turn everything in our favor when, where, and how we want to, we highlighted Exodus 4:21 in which God commands Moses to return to Egypt telling him that He was going to give him the "POWER" to perform wonders before Pharaoh. But at the same time, God tells Moses that He is going to harden Pharaoh's heart. God gave Moses "POWER", but Moses still could not orchestrate things how he wanted to in a way that pleased or brought glory and satisfaction to himself. God was still calling the shots. God was sending Moses to Egypt to tell Pharoah to "let [His] people go" and yet God was also going to harden Pharaoh's heart so that Pharaoh would not "let [His] people go". God most definitely gives us the power to overcome, the power to create change, the power to transform both ourselves and the things around us, but the "POWER" remains in His hands, under His control.
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We might quite often become weary and think that God did not keep His word when we make up our minds to trust Him, taking our prayers to Him, letting go, and accepting His peace, and then days, weeks, months, or even years pass and this thing that we prayed for has not showed any tangible signs that anything is working in our favor or to our liking. We start to question, "How is it that God said I had the victory but I'm still being attacked in battle?", "How is it that God said that He would provide but it feels like I'm still lacking?", "How is it that God said that He was going to give me the power to turn things around but it feels like I'm being pushed back?", and that one that we all have or will at some point ponder, "GOD WHY HASN'T IT HAPPENED YET?!"
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And the answers to these questions are, "You do have the victory!". "God is providing!", "You do have the power!", and "YOU MUST WAIT YOUR APPOINTED TIME!". We have God's promises of victory, provision, and power, but it is all going to be given to us according to God's will, plan, and the purposes that He has for our lives.
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God gave Moses the power to perform wonders that many of us cannot phantom. God made known to Moses that He was going to give Him power and even told Him in detail the works that He would have him to perform before Pharaoh, before he sent him to perform them. And while Moses might have understood the wonders that God was telling him to go and perform, there is that all important detail that Moses just DID NOT GET! It is very important that when God speaks to us, we really listen to what it is that He is saying. Perhaps those oh so important details went right over Moses' head.
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Many of us might have become familiar with the Sunday School and VBS versions of the Israelites exodus out of Egypt that only summarize the major events. And in becoming familiar with these illustrative versions of the story, even when reading scripture, we tend to miss a lot of moments of significance because we read while reflecting on the stories that we were taught and might tend to skip over or miss other facets and details presented within the Word of God.
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There are many of us who at some point, probably had to take a step back, reflect, and have a 'wait a minute' moment because we realized that important and puzzling detail that Moses probably allowed to go over his head as well. Why would God send Moses to do something and then make it hard for him to do what He sent him to do? "SAY WHAT?!".
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Why would God harden Pharoah's heart?! Did God not want Pharaoh to free the Israelites? And this is most definitely one of those scriptures in the bible that really show us the intricacies, complexity, mystery, awe, and wonder of God. This is definitely that moment in which many of us have had to stop and scratch our heads because if we were to be honest, based on our natural understanding, "IT MAKES NO SENSE". And apparently Moses missed the memo as well because in Exodus 5, we read the following, "Moses returned to the Lord and said, 'Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all' (vs. 22-23, NIV).
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Here it was in Exodus 4:21, God clearly telling Moses that He was sending him to Egypt to perform these wonders before Pharaoh but that He was going to harden Pharaoh's heart so that Pharoah would not let the people go and in the very next chapter, Moses after his first encounter, that to him seems unsuccessful, he is already faulting God, inquiring why God has not rescued His people.
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Yep, Moses definitely missed the memo and so do many of us. We hear some of the things that God says, but we might often neglect or overlook all the details which causes us much like Moses to both fault God and question what the world He is doing. If we learn one thing from Moses' journey, we definitely learn that God will give us "SAY WHAT" moments so we better both pay attention and take heed, because our survival might be in the details.
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"Huh?!"- For His Glory
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God may often tell us to do things that cause us to question both His and our sanity. There are so many moments throughout scripture that shows just how unorthodox God is. And at times, the best thing that we can do for ourselves is not to question or try to understand what God does or why He does it, but to just simply trust that God has a plan and that He knows what He is doing. And most importantly, OBEY!
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"The Lord said to Gideon, 'With the three hundred men that lapped
I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands.
Let all the others go home.”
-Judges 7:7 (NIV)
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We have discussed the story of Gideon throughout many of our posts. God had called Gideon to save the Israelites out of the hands of the Midianites. Gideon was no warrior in the eyes of man neither was he a warrior in his own eyes. And when Gideon questioned God's choosing him to take the lead in defeating the Midianites, God responded saying, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive” (Judges 6:16, NIV). Gideon's story does not only show us the power and glory of God, but it is also a perfect example of what Paul expresses in Romans 8:31 when he says, "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us" (NIV)? Understand that Gideon was up against a battle like no other. God had commanded him to go attack the Midianites whose army was described as being so vast that their camels could be counted no more than could sand on the shore.
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Gideon already lacked the confidence that he could do what God had called him to do which God was more than fully aware of. And then God tells him something that makes us all go, "HUH?!"
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God tells Gideon to reduce the size of his army causing him to go from 32,000 men to only 300. You would think it natural to have as many men fighting with you as possible, but God had other plans. God wanted Gideon to fight with as few men as possible so that the Israelites could not say that they did it on their own. God had to allow them to be delivered in a way that the glory could only be given to Him. And of even more significance is that God called Gideon to help save the Israelites while he himself was amidst oppression and suffering of his own as he too was an Israelite. Gideon was at a place of trying to understand his own sufferings when God called him to bring the Israelites out of theirs. Gideon had become weary and of little hope after suffering at the hands of the Midianites for so long. When it seems like everything is working against us, it can make it hard to trust that God is for us, which were Gideon's initial sentiments. When God initially sent the angel to Gideon saying, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." Gideon responds saying, "Pardon me, my lord,' … 'but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian (Judges 6:13, NIV).
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And as a response, God in all His omnipotence and omnipresence says, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?" (Judges 6:14, NIV). AM I NOT SENDING YOU?! Despite Gideon's past or present circumstances, this battle that God was sending him into was secure. It was God who was sending him, and it was God who would deliver him. It was God who would see him through.
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Gideon did not have to worry about his war skills, how many men he had fighting with him, or the amount or condition of the weapons that they had, because IT WAS ALL IN GOD'S HANDS. Because God was for him, nothing could come against him. In other words, nothing and no one was capable of destroying him because GOD WAS ON HIS SIDE! There was no way he could come out of this battle defeated.
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In God stating to Gideon, "Am I not sending you?" it was a statement more than it was a question. In God stating this, He was (1) making Gideon aware that He was fully aware of what He was doing and that He had made no mistake in choosing him. God was fully aware of who He had chosen to send into battle and what he was sending him to do. God was not without knowing any details of who Gideon was, who his family was, what tribe he was a part of, and all that he had endured up to the point that God called him. (2) God was also letting Gideon know that He had come to rescue them. Gideon expressing to God that He had abandoned them and given them into the Midianites hands and God stating, "Am I not sending you?" is also expressing to Gideon, "Is that not what I'm doing now?" It was as if God was also telling Gideon, "Why do you think I'm here?". God was there to send Gideon to do the very thing that he was accusing God of not doing. (3) God's "Am I not sending you?" was also God's was of reminding Gideon of who He was. It was God's way of reminding Gideon of His power and authority. It was God's way of reminding Gideon that His plan was both assured and without flaw. God was saying to Gideon, "Get Up and go save Israel as you are, because I know what I'm doing. I got you."
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What is awe-inspiring is that Gideon initially lacked confidence. Gideon found it hard to trust God. He even had some "Give me a sign" moments to make sure that God was really going to do what He had promised. However, GIDEON WAS OBEDIENT! Even if he might have been fearful, when God told him to reduce the size of his army and gave him instructions as to how to go about doing so, Gideon did not question God neither did he interject. He simply followed God's instructions.
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How many of us would have been able to do the same? It is hard for many of us to let go of one person even if it's for our own good. So, imagine going up to battle a mighty army and God telling you to take your 32.000 men and reduce them down to 300. After laughing to ourselves and then realizing that God was serious, we probably would've really had to stand there and think about what to do although God had already told us what to do. Obeying God is not always easy and as long as we try to make sense of the instructions that God gives us, it will remain difficult.
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We must grasp the fact that God never gives us instructions or sends us into battle based on who we are. He always does it based on who He is, which becomes challenging for us because we automatically look at what God is calling us to do, consider it too big a thing for us to take on, and forget that GOD IS CAPABLE!
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The same way that we "Huh?!" God is probably the same way that he "Duh's!!" us. We respond to God as if He's not making sense and He replies back either clarifying or assuring us of what He told us to do, but never ever giving us a pass to choose "OUT"! We can cry, kick, scream, yell, run, be afraid, and God will listen to us, allow us to go through all the motions, and when we finish, He'll just reiterate, "GO FORTH!"
Because God IS FULLY AWARE and ASSURED OF WHO HE IS, He is never going to be concerned about anything that we feel that we are lacking that is hindering us from doing what He has called us to do. He will be patient, give us assurance and confidence, and help us to get rid of our fear, but He is not going to switch partners just because we feel like we have two left feet, no rhythm, or little dance experience. God is going to make us dance.
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"Did I Hear Right?!"- To Increase Our Faith, Test Our Obedience, and Enlarge Our Territory
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"Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah.
Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
-Genesis 22:2
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Many of us are familiar with the story of Abraham and Isaac. It is through Abraham, our forefather that we became heirs to the promise. God had called Abram and instructed him to leave his father's household and the place that he was familiar with and travel to a land that He would show him, promising that He would make a great nation out of him and that He would bless him.
God promises to bless those who blessed him and to curse those who cursed him. God promises Abram that all the people on the earth would be blessed through him. Abram obeys God. Abram is not perfect. He at times struggles with trusting God and even finds himself occasionally trying to make things happen by his own hands, through his own strength. However, Abram obeys God. He keeps at it and learns to fully trust God in ALL THINGS.
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Seeing as though Abram had no children, he at some point finds himself trying to understand how this promise could possibly come about. He was wrestling thinking that since he had no children, Eliezer, his chief assistant, would inherit his estate. God reassures Abram that Eliezer would not be his heir, that He would give him a son of his own flesh and blood to be his heir, and that his offspring would be numerous. Abram believes God and God credits his belief as righteousness. In Genesis 17:2-8, we in part read:
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I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and
you and will greatly increase your numbers.' Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 'As for me, this is my
covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and
kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God (NIV).
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God indeed blesses Abraham with a son just as He had promised, and then God makes that infamous command to Abraham that would have had many of us making sure we heard Him right. God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. "Wait, did we hear that right?!" Yep, we did!
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God promises Abraham a son. God fulfills that promise and blesses Abraham with Isaac. God then tells Abraham to take Isaac and sacrifice him. And just as with Moses, Gideon, and now with Abraham, God had a plan, although to us it appears that maybe God meant to say something else. Did God forget that He promised Abraham this son?
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GOD DOES NOT FORGET! HE DOES NOT SLIP! HE DOES NOT MISS A BEAT! GOD WAS FULLY AWARE OF WHAT HE HAD PROMISED ABRAHAM! And He is always aware of what He has promised us as well, when He commands us to do things that seem liking they're working against the very thing that He has promised us. And if you are still trying to FIGURE GOD OUT, STOP WHILE YOU'RE AHEAD! YOU NEVER WILL!
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When God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham does not follow in the footsteps of Moses and ask God why He was creating such trouble and not doing as He had promised (Exodus 5:22-23). Abraham does not follow in the footsteps of Gideon and ask God to give him a sign, or two, or three (Judges 6:17-24, 36-40). Abraham gets up early the very next morning, loads up his donkey, his two servants, and Isaac, and head for the place that God had instructed him to go.
Abraham finds the place that God had instructed him to go. He puts everything in order and prepares to carry out what seems to us, 'a hard to believe command'. And in carrying out these instructions given to him by God, just as he is about to slay Isaac, Genesis 22:11-12 reads, "But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, 'Abraham! Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he replied. 'Do not lay a hand on the boy,' he said. 'Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son" (NIV).​ And Genesis 22:15-18 reads:
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The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, 'I swear by myself, declares
the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless
you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth
will be blessed, because you have obeyed me (NIV).
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While this might seem an odd command, God in His omniscience could make this odd command to Abraham because He already knew what Abraham would do. And because He knew what Abraham would do, He also knew that He had all the power, control, and authority to stop Abraham from fully carrying this act out.
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God was not only testing Abraham's faith, but He was increasing it. God was not only testing Abraham's obedience to Him, but He was increasing it. And because Abraham had faith, and obeyed, we are all benefactors of that promise. Abraham's faith and obedience brought Him increase, but what about us? Could we have done the same? It is something that many of us don't want to have to think about, neither can we phantom. God asked Abraham to sacrifice, his only son, and Abraham DID NOT HESITATE!
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God may be asking us to sacrifice our time, energy, money, and things that don't equate to slaying human flesh, and we at times, in all truth, FIND IT DIFFICULT!
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Our mindsets when faced with having to sacrifice anything becomes, "Do I have to do it now?", "Does it have to be that much?", "Do they have to be the one?", "Can you ask someone else?". Yet our prayer requests are, "Can you do it now God?", "Can you give me more God?", "Can you give me that one God?", and "Can you do it for me too?". We don't want to sacrifice but we want God to constantly lay an offering on our superficial, judgmental, materialistic, and self-absorbed altars called self.
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At times it is hard for us to give up anything for God but easy to ask things of Him because our truth is that to us, it seems easy for God to give us what we want because He has all power and all things in His hands whereas when He asks us to sacrifice things for Him, it is usually something that we already feel we lack, something that is valuable to us, or something that in our eyes is our source, strength, or thing that we are dependent on.
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Our truth is that at times, God asking us to sacrifice anything seems both inconvenient and bizarre when we already feel like we're both lacking and struggling. Our truth is that at times, the financial sacrifices drain us physically. The physical sacrifices drain us emotionally. The emotional sacrifices drain us mentally. And the mental sacrifices drain us spiritually. And by the time we wrestle with whether or not we want to do what God has told us to do, we are already too tired to recognize that God telling us to do it was never a request. IT WAS ALWAYS A COMMAND!
When our faith is not there and we can't see the benefit, or how we could possibly do this thing that God wants us to do that seems so hard, it is easier to convince ourselves that it is okay to "CHOOSE". And while God does give us free will, not following His instructions can cause us to lead ourselves into unseen and unwanted bondage that we are not prepared for.
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"But God, Are You Sure?!"- To Trust His Plan, Teach Us Mercy, and Win Souls
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"The Lord told him, 'Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying."
-Acts 9:11
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Before we ever knew him as the Apostle Paul, many knew him as Saul, the one who was infamous for persecuting the saints and boy was he was passionate about it. Saul did not just persecute the saints, but he was so bent on doing so that he went to the high priest and requested that he be given letters for the synagogues in Damascus so that if he found any who belonged to "the way" (followers of Christ), he could take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
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However, Saul did not realize that instead of continuing to imprison those who followed Christ, he would himself become a prisoner for Christ. To show just how in control He is of all of our plans, whether we believe in Him or not, before Saul could reach Damascus, Jesus changed his route.
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Jesus called out to him saying, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). Saul had no idea that his response to an inquiry as to who was speaking to him, would forever change his path. In inquiring who was speaking to him, Jesus replies, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' 'Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do" (Acts 9:5-6, NIV). Saul follows Jesus' instructions and goes into the city. If we continue reading Acts 9, through a vision, the Lord calls a disciple by the name of Ananias and tells him to go to Judas' house on straight street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. And Ananias being fully aware of who this Saul was says to God, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name” (Acts 9:13-14). In other words, "Lord, are you sure about this? I heard he be killing people like us up in these streets!?"
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And it's almost as if the Lord disregards Ananias' attempt to inform him of what he already knew about Saul. The Lord does not respond to Ananias' claim of who he and others knew Saul to be, but the Lord instead tells him, "GO!". Despite who Ananias or anyone else said that Saul was, the Lord had chosen him to proclaim his name to the gentiles, their kings, and all of Israel.
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Jesus was going to show Saul what it meant to suffer for his name. Jesus was going to put Saul in the same place of persecution that Saul had put so many others. We must be careful who and what we persecute and what we co-sign, because God can most definitely flip the script to teach us a lesson in "do unto others as you would have them to do unto you".
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While Ananias respectfully tried to remind the Lord of who Saul was perhaps as a means of trying to make sure that the Lord was sure of what he was sending him to do, the Lord did not need nor ask for a breakdown. He knows all. And while it is easy for us to read the reactions of individuals like Moses, Gideon, and Ananias in moments of their uncertainty and even judge how they could question God, let's be real, we do the SAME THING!
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God might not be sending us to befriend someone who is persecuting the saints on the level that Saul was, but He could be telling us to go pray for a friend or family member who betrayed us, slandered our name, deceived us, judged both our Christianity and our character, and we would probably have to pray on it quite a few times reminding God of everything that person said or did. We would probably wrestle with doing it because we would start to ponder what further damage it could possibly cause us.
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"But it would make people think that I accept what they said about me if I go visit them!", "They'll think I need them!", "They'll go around telling everyone how I came crawling back!", "It'll make me seem needy or weak!" And while all of these thoughts that we might ponder might be true, the thought that we will probably forget to ponder is, "Maybe my going to visit despite what they did to me will bring glory to God!". Maybe our going to pray for that individual will make them do a self-check and go to God in repentance and we'll never have to interact with that individual again. We simply don't know. And it is never for us to figure out. As long as we are obeying exactly what God told us to do, the outcome is not our concern. God will at times instruct us to bless our enemies so that His name can be glorified. It was not for nothing that in Luke 6:27-31, Jesus instructs us saying:
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But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who
curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also.
If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if
anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you (NIV).
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The Lord will often present us with "But God, Are You Sure?!" moments because He is using us to be an example of His love. He is using us to be an example of His mercy. He is using us to be an example of His power. God will often test us by instructing us to humble ourselves to our enemies. It might feel like defeat but humbling ourselves to our enemies for God's sake, will always be a 'WIN WIN' for us. Jesus had to give up his life so that the very ones that slandered his name and crucified him could find life through him by repentance receiving the same gift as those who followed, honored, and believed in him. There are those who even today slander the name of God and the children of God yet if they confess of their sins and receive salvation, HE WON'T EVER DENY THEM THE OPPORTUNITY! God sent His Son FOR US ALL!
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Jesus humbly broke bread with the very disciple who would betray him. And because of it, HIS FATHER WAS GLORIFIED! God had Joseph to save from famine, the very brothers that threw him in a pit and sold him, and GOD WAS GLORIFIED! Paul and Silas led the jailer who guarded them to salvation, and GOD WAS GLORIFIED!
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Is it easy to go forth in doing the things that God has called us to do when it involves the very ones that attempted to bring harm or destruction upon us, NO IT'S NOT! BUT GOD WILL BE RIGHT THERE and SO WILL OUR REWARD IF WE SIMPLY OBEY!
"???"- For Clarity and Manifestation
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"Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry,
For the land has committed great harlotry By departing from the Lord.”
-Hosea 1:2 (NIV).
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Now we've spoken of Moses, Gideon, Abraham, and Ananias, and then here come's a man that many of us might not have heard of or don't know much about. The prophecies that God spoke through him were powerful and we might even know of some of these prophesies even if we are not aware that he is the one that they were spoken through. And while the things that God called Moses, Gideon, Abraham, and Ananias to do might have caused us to have some "Say What?!", "Huh?!", "Did I Hear Right?!", and "But God, Are You Sure?!" moments, what God instructs Hosea to do is "???"…just that, a bunch of question marks, because one is not sure how to label this one. There is a reason that God says that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts and Hosea's story is indeed one that makes us grasp the fullness of why God says such. We don't know much about Hosea aside from who his father was and who reigned during the time in which God called him to be a prophet.
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God used Hosea during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and Jeroboam, king of Israel. In order to understand God's 'unorthodox' instructions to Hosea, it helps to understand the kings that reigned during this timeframe. Let's briefly review a few highlights about these kings.
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Uzziah started off doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord and God was with him prospering him in all that he did, but his pride caused him to fall short. He was unfaithful to God. 2 Chronicles 2616 states that he, "entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense" (NIV). God was not pleased with what Uzziah had done and he paid the price for such.
While Jotham did not remove the high places and the people continued burning incense and offering sacrifices there, Jotham did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and followed God much like his father Uzziah had done prior to Uzziah's downfall.
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And then along comes Ahaz, who most definitely did not follow in his father Jotham's footsteps. Ahaz was wicked. He followed in the practices of the kings of Israel. He made false idols for the people to worship. He even sacrificed his own child. Ahaz acted wickedly so much so that God brought judgment upon Judah due to Ahaz's decision to root his faith in Assyria more than he did God. Ahaz was prideful, stiff-necked, and hard-headed. Ahaz was self-absorbed. He delighted in whatever delighted in him. He was wholeheartedly unfaithful to God. He led the people astray. However, his son Hezekiah, who succeeded him, did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Hezekiah followed God with his whole heart. The scriptures even tell us that:
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Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah,
either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands
the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He
rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him (2 Kings 18:5-7, NIV).
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Hezekiah did all that he could to turn the people's hearts toward God.
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Now as it concerns Jeroboam, his story is an interesting one. Jeroboam was one of King Solomon's officials. King Solomon was the son of David. Solomon succeeded David as King of Israel. Solomon's reign started off as a good one. Solomon followed God according to the commands that his father, King David had given him. However, Solomon had many foreign wives and later on in his reign, he allowed his wives to turn his heart away from God. Solomon began to worship the foreign gods of his wives. It was for this reason that God tore the entire kingdom away from the house of David except for the purposed tribe of Judah, whom God had chosen. Because of God's promise to David and His plans for Jerusalem, He allowed the house of David to keep that one tribe.
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In taking the kingdom away from the house of David which he would not do during Solomon's reign due to the promise that He had made to David, during the reign of Solomon's son, Rehoboam, God gave the entire kingdom (ten tribes) over to Jeroboam and allowed Judah to stay in the hands of the house of David. In God taking the kingdom from the house of David and handing it over to Jeroboam, there was a condition attached to it which said:
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I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. If you do
whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my
decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring
as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. I will humble David’s descendants because of this,
but not forever (1Kings 11:37-39, NIV).
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While serving under Solomon, Jeroboam was a man of valor and standing. However, as king of Israel, Jeroboam acted wickedly against God and did not satisfy the decrees and commands that God had given him. Some of Jeroboam failures are highlighted in the word that God sent to him through the prophet, Ahijah, which in part reads:
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I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I tore the kingdom
away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept
my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. You have done more
evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have
aroused my anger and turned your back on me. 'Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel—slave or free (1 Kings 14:7-10, NIV).
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There is more to Jeroboam's story as well as the other kings that are mentioned above, but these highlights were mentioned just as a means of providing a snapshot of some of the issues that were arising out of the kingship of Israel and Judah. And as you can see from our discussion or by reading the books of Kings and Chronicles, the kings that ruled during the time in which God called Hosea, both Israel and Judah, had committed much wickedness against God. While Judah did have some that followed the commands of God and dedicated their hearts to Him, Israel's kings were consistent in their wickedness and idolatry against God, and God had simply had enough.
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God was sending Hosea to prophesy to Israel about the depth of their idolatry and the judgment that were due to them. Because of Israel's sins against God, God considered them fornicators. In God's eyes Israel had become harlots to false gods. God compared their idolatry to adultery, placing Him in the role as husband and Israel in that of wife. And as a means of making His anger and their actions and behaviors clear to them in a way that could be understood, instead of just speaking of this metaphorically, God was going to make it real.
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Prior to Hosea, God had also used the other prophets to speak against and warn Judah and Israel of their idolatry. When God sent Ezekiel to deliver His messages to the Israelites, He used metaphors describing Jerusalem as an adulterous wife. If we were to examine the prophecies spoken by Ezekiel, God even uses the illustration of two adulterous sisters named Oholah and Oholibah to describe Israel and Judah as harlots to idolatry. God dealt heavily with Ezekiel in visions in order to make him understand the prophecy, what he was to speak, and what was at hand.
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God referring to Israel and Judah as being harlots and fornicators is something that God had spoken through the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah as well. God had even commanded Isaiah to use his own children as a sign, symbolizing the message that God was speaking through him. Therefore, using something in the prophet's own life or something tangible that was related to the prophet that God spoke through, was not something the He hadn't done before. However, as it concerns Hosea, what makes God's instructions to him hard for some to grasp, is that God instructs him to go and marry a harlot (NKJV). ??? Exactly! And this is perhaps a lesson in why we shouldn't pass judgment.
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There are many arguments regarding this account. There are some who even argue that it was metaphorical. However, according to the scripture it does not state that this was a vision. Even more so, Hosea 1:3 states, "So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son" (NKJV). So even for those that might argue that this is metaphorical, Hosea indeed marries Gomer and has children with her.
As we read the New King James Version (NKJV) of this account, when Gomer has their first child, a son, God instructs Hosea saying, "Call his name Jezreel, For in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, And bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel" (v. 4).
We then read that Gomer conceives again, this time having a daughter in which God instructs Hosea saying, "Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, But I will utterly take them away. Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, Will save them by the Lord their God, And will not save them by bow, Nor by sword or battle, By horses or horsemen" (vs. 6-7).
Gomer has another son and the Lord instructs Hosea saying, "Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you are not My people, And I will not be your God" (v. 9). If you read the full chapter of Hosea 1, you will find that in instructing Hosea as to what to name his children, God also ties their names to how it relates to Israel and Judah.​ In then expounding on the restoration of Israel, God says:
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Yet the number of the children of Israel Shall be as the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured
or numbered. And it shall come to pass In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’
There it shall be said to them, ‘You are sons of the living God.’ Then the children of Judah and the children
of Israel Shall be gathered together, And appoint for themselves one head; And they shall come up out of
the land, For great will be the day of Jezreel! (vs. 10-11, NKJV).
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After this, God then gives Hosea the prophecy to speak concerning the punishment and restoration of Israel, which can be found in Hosea 2 .
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In Hosea 3:1, God instructs Hosea saying, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans” (NIV). Hosea obeys God's instructions and he buys his wife for "fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley" and says to her, "You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you" (Hosea 3:2-3, NKJV). Hosea 3:4-5 then reads as follows, "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days" (NKJV).
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Now let's reflect on and dissect this account. We'll use the New International Version (NIV) as a means of gaining more clarity of the scriptures presented in Hosea 1-3.
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Reflect and Dissect
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What makes God's instructions to Hosea seem peculiar and perhaps even turbulent, is that without realizing it, we all approach it from a place of moral character and judgment. If God would have simply instructed Hosea, saying, "Go, find a wife, marry her, and have children.", we would not have been the least bit alarmed. But because God tells him to marry a "promiscuous woman" (NIV), "a harlot " (NKJV), we automatically go into judgment thinking how sinful it seems for a prophet to be told to marry a promiscuous woman.
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Now, while her promiscuity might have made her sinful, did it make her a bad person? Did it mean that she had no good qualities about her? Did it make her worthless? We might know one of her life choices, but do we know her heart? Does her promiscuity make her a bad person as much as it makes her defiled?
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Everybody has a past. And while it is easy for us to condemn Gomer, how many of us have dated a Gomer, married a Gomer, or once was or still is a Gomer ourselves? If we judge Gomer by this particular fault, this lifestyle choice, and consider God strange for instructing Hosea to marry Gomer, do we also consider it strange that He would sacrifice His Only Son to save us from our sins? Do we consider it strange that God saved us as a means of allowing His Spirit to dwell within us so that His Spirit would help to steer us away from our sinful nature? If we consider Gomer unworthy of being joined in marriage to a prophet of God, were any of us in our sins deserving of a chance to be forgiven and come into relationship with God?
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Furthermore, God would never cause someone to sin or become an enabler to it. He did not tell Hosea to go and fornicate or partake in any indecent acts with Gomer. He told him to marry her. If we consider it insane for God to tell Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman, then is that any different than anyone of us marrying a known liar, cheater, murderer, or thief? Better yet, if we consider God insane for what He told Hosea to do, have any of us ever committed adultery and went to God for forgiveness?
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If we have never been promiscuous or been in a relationship with anyone as such, we might completely disagree with Hosea and Gomer's relationship. We might consider it morally wrong. When we are detached from the sin and the flaw, judgment comes oh so easy!
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Better yet, if we were to think about it in our modern society, how many prophets or preachers were once promiscuous themselves before they decided to turn to God, accept Christ, and live their lives accordingly? Should they have been considered unworthy of marrying. If we reflect on our own relationships considering both who we are and who we once were as well as who we are currently with or used to be with, how would others view or have viewed our union with these individuals? Would they have scoffed at them for being in a relationship with us? Our would they have scoffed at us for being in relationship with the other person?
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Now this is not defending nor condoning promiscuity or harlotry but this is just a means of getting us to look at this account from a perspective that will allow us to explore it in a way so that (1) we don't view it as God instructing Hosea to sin, (2) we look beyond who Gomer was to focus more on the message that God was trying to illustrate, and (3) we can recognize how God instructing Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman does not just speak to His punishment and restoration of Israel, but also to His gift of salvation and love for us. When we focus solely on Gomer being promiscuous, we can easily miss our chance to recognize the significance and gift of God's grace and mercy that can so easily get lost when we read this passage. This is not condoning promiscuity, but we are considering these points to open our minds up in a way so that we can view this account from diverse perspectives.
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There are many who would not mind being in a relationship with someone who was promiscuous because perhaps they are too. There are many who would indeed become acquainted with someone who was known to be promiscuous and give them the benefit of the doubt, to see if they were both willing and capable of changing their pattern? And then there are some who would not even consider it at all. There are some who would never date or marry a promiscuous person and it is not about their being judgmental as much as it's about protecting their own safety and well-being. There are some who would disagree with being with someone who was promiscuous not because they consider that person unworthy but simply because if we were to be honest, it can be both dangerous and risky.
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Now that we've tried to take a look at Gomer outside of judgment just to get us to focus our attention on the different facets of this narrative and to think about how we would fit or would have in the past fit into this narrative whether we were once Hosea, once Gomer, or still are either of the two, let's now face the reality of Gomer's promiscuity.
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Now we can't ignore the fact that Gomer was promiscuous because her being promiscuous is why Hosea married her. God instructed him to marry a promiscuous woman to symbolize Israel's idolatry. In God's eyes, He considered Israel as an adulteress wife. Israel had worshipped and given themselves to false and foreign gods for too long. Israel had 'cheated' on God, having numerous affairs with other gods for too long. Israel had consistently served multiple gods who could do nothing for them. God felt betrayed. He had given Israel this special relationship, this sacred bond with Him, and they constantly defiled their relationship with Him by giving their love to other gods and delighting themselves in pleasures that took their hearts and obedience away from God. God was both faithful and loyal to Israel giving them His complete and sincere love, and not only did they betray Him, but they rejected Him. God had loved, protected, and provided for Israel and they turned their backs on Him and sought pleasure in false gods and corrupt and sinful practices.
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Now in our honesty, "Yes", it most definitely makes us scratch our heads as to why God chose to do it this way. If a world-renowned pastor was to marry a known harlot, the social media feeds would go into a frenzy. Everyone would have an opinion about it.
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There are many of us who, if we had a friend, parent, sibling, or child that was choosing to marry someone that was infamously known as a fornicator, cheater, or adulterer, would disapprove and probably try our best to sway their decision.
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There are many of us who 'fact check' the people that we involve ourselves with, especially as it concerns our intimate relationships. There are many of us who would decline dating or marrying someone that had such a 'lively' past. There are many of us who would not want to date better yet marry someone who had been familiar with numerous people There are many of us who would refuse being in a relationship whether dating or marriage with someone who was incapable of commitment and who constantly practiced infidelity as if it were a hobby. So, to some degree, God telling Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman is supposed to get our attention. And just as many of us would not want to date or marry someone like Gomer, these were God's sentiments.
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God did not want to keep being 'cheated' on by Israel by their idolatry of other gods. God did not want to continue His relationship with Israel because they showed no signs of wanting relationship with Him. They wanted to use Him to their benefit without wholeheartedly committing themselves to Him. They wanted the benefit of God's grace, mercy, compassion, protection, and power, along with their love of self-fulfillment that was rooted in appeasing their flesh and worshipping other gods.
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God had gotten to a point in which He was making it known to Israel that He was going to end their relationship, because they had been unfaithful despite all the warnings and chances that He had given them to make it right. Even in God sending previous warnings to them, they would not relent. They took the very things that God had blessed them with and used them in corrupt and sinful ways. God was going to take His mercy away from Israel. God was divorcing them. God wanted a love from them that was sincere and that did not waver.
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God had always been both faithful and loyal to Israel, but they failed to love Him in the way that He deserved to be loved. God tried to work it out with them, but they failed to acknowledge or appreciate His attempt to make their relationship work. And how many of us have ever found ourselves there?
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If we were to put ourselves in the mindset of someone who had been mistreated, betrayed, cheated on, neglected, completely disregarded and disrespected by someone whom they loved with their whole heart, we can start to understand God's anger and disappointment toward Israel. Hosea, having to live this out in his own life, made him better able to understand this as well.
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Why did God instruct Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman? We can all dissect this narrative and come up with so many reasons as to why God did it this way. But the truth is that none of us know for sure. We will never be able to think like God or understand His thought process, but in thinking about what God instructed Hosea to do, it caused me to gravitate back to our discussion of Ananias and Saul. Although Saul's conversion takes place ages after Hosea's prophetic messages, there is something in God's instructions to Ananias that is somewhat of an a-ha moment.
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As we were discussing Ananias and the Lord sending him to the house where Saul was, and in Ananias trying to make the Lord understand who Saul was, the Lord told him, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:15-16, NIV).
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The Lord was taking someone as sinful as Saul, someone who was persecuting the saints, and using him to proclaim the very gospel that he persecuted others for proclaiming. The Lord was making Saul a witness of the gospel and in being a witness of the gospel, Saul was going to have to endure and feel what it was like to "suffer" as a disciple of Christ.
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The Lord was going to use Saul not just to spread the gospel, but if we think about it, the Lord choosing Saul to be his chosen one to proclaim his name spoke to and gave the people a very real and well-known example of what God's saving power could do. The people were very familiar with who Saul was. Therefore, if God could transform Saul and cause him to go from torturing the followers of Christ to testifying about Christ, what better example was there? Saul was helping to spread the gospel and even more so, he was helping to bring people into salvation.
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God was sending Hosea to prophesy to Israel, making their sins known to them and making them aware of the judgment that they would receive due to their having sinned against God. Although God has Hosea to prophesy to Israel making their punishment known to them, amidst prophesying to them about their being punished, God also has Hosea to prophesy concerning how He would restore Israel and bring them back into relationship with Him. Amidst judgment, God also gives them hope which shows his faithfulness to them even amidst their sins and His anger.
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God causing Hosea to have to live out in his own life what it was to be married to a promiscuous wife, perhaps made him understand why this judgment and punishment of Israel was not just needed but why it was justifiable. It is easy for us to forget that God 'loves'. We at time easily forget that God feels rejection, disappointment, betrayal, anger, wrath, vengeance, and many of the emotions that we too feel. Therefore, it is easy for us to pass judgment on the things that God does. Especially when it concerns the punishment that He inflicts upon us when we go astray.
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Much like God placing Saul in a position in which he would have to feel what it was to bear being one who proclaimed his name as a means of bringing people into both the knowledge of Christ and salvation itself, God instructing Hosea to marry a promiscuous wife put him in a place in which he had to bear what it was to carry the weight and emotions of being subjected to someone who was unfaithful. And not only unfaithful, but unremorseful and unrepentant. Hosea needed to understand the depth of the relationship between God and Israel and the process of marriage, separation, and reconciliation that they would go through. Hosea was not just made to feel this based on what he had to go through in his personal relationship with Gomer, but his children would also be a constant reminder of Israel's sins against God and God's judgment upon them. Their names represented the fact that God was going to bring an end to Israel, have no mercy toward them, and that Israel would no longer be God's people and He would no longer be their God (although this would change). Hosea was put in a position in which he had to experience this betrayal caused by infidelity and was then sent to speak to Israel about their betrayal of and infidelity against God.
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But here's the thing. In God giving Hosea this message found in Hosea 2, telling Israel of their unfaithfulness, He also speaks to restoration. Hosea 2:23 in part reads, "And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!" (NKJV). After giving Hosea this message for Israel and in the last part of this prophecy speaking about restoration, we then go to Hosea 3:1 in which God sends Hosea back to this same adulterous wife and tells him to reconcile with her. The New International Version reads, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes." OUCH! God instructs Hosea to go back to his unfaithful wife and love her as He loved Israel. And in doing so, Hosea tells her that she is to fully commit to him and that he would do the same.
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Yep, God at times, gives us those moments, when we are forced to forgive someone who has wronged us. Oh, how difficult it can certainly be. But when we are able to see God at work, and when we trust Him, following His instructions, is made easier.
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Hosea does not hesitate. He takes Gomer back and establishes some ground rules. He now puts Gomer in a place in which he has given her instructions that oblige her to fully commit herself to him. Within the prophecies of Hosea, God makes clear to Israel that when He brings them back into relationship with Him, they must fully commit to Him. He makes clear that He does not want a half-hearted love. In coming back into relationship with Him, God makes clear that Israel needed to repent of their sins.
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As it concerns Israel's repentance, Hosea 14:1-2 states, "Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: 'Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips' (NIV). Verse 9 goes on to state, "Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them" (NIV). Israel would have to confess their sins to God and bring themselves into full repentance and obedience to Him as part of their restoration and receiving His blessing. God would forgive them for their sins, and they would come back into receiving the benefit of being His children. God would once again have mercy and compassion toward Israel. His love for them would be rekindled.
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And something that speaks to the awe of God's mercy and compassion is that Hosea's children who God had instructed him to name Jezreel, Lo-Ruhamah, and Lo-Ammi, meaning that God was going to bring an end to Israel, have no mercy toward them, and that Israel would no longer be God's people and He would no longer be their God, who were once a reminder to Hosea of Israel's sins and punishment would now be a reminder to him of God's forgiveness. They would be a reminder of God's love and mercy because He was giving them another chance to get it right.
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Hosea was instructed by God to marry Gomer, a harlot. Per God's instructions, Hosea has children with her. And though she was being loved by another man, as God instructed him, he took her back, reconciling with her, and making her aware that in reconciling she was to now wholly devote herself to him as he would her.
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God's anger would not forever burn against Israel. They turned their hearts away from Him and trusted and found pleasure in other gods and corrupt practices, and He would punish them for such. However, because of His faithfulness to them, He would restore them. He would take them back as His, bringing them back into connection with Him through repentance, while making known that their full commitment was mandatory. And as He had always been, He would remain faithful to them and put them back under His covering.
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God used the prophet Hosea to prophesy to Israel concerning their sins and the judgment that He would place upon them. God used Hosea to bring Israel back into salvation with Him and Hosea had to live this experience out in his own life as well.
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There are so many phenomena in the account of Hosea and his wife that are worth exploring although we won't go into discussing them all right now. But if we look at it realistically, there are those who would say that it was easy for Hosea to take his wife back because he knew what he was getting himself into when he married her. And while there are many individuals who tolerate things in their relationship with others whether a significant other, spouse, friend, family member, co-worker, or team member, simply because they already know who they're dealing with, it does not mean that they don't get hurt, offended, or annoyed by that person's behaviors and actions just because they are already aware of the type of individual that the person is.
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And in reflecting on that facet, it brings us to this. God knows all things. Before God called Abram, promising to make a great nation out of him, God was already fully aware that Abraham's descendants would be as rebellious and stiff-necked as they come. HE ALREADY KNEW that they would turn against and betray Him. Yet, HE STILL CHOSE THEM! God still made Israel His.
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God knowing how ungrateful and disobedient we would be, STILL SENT US HIS SON! We are thankful for God's choosing us. We are thankful for His grace. We are thankful for His mercy. We are thankful for His forgiveness. However, while thankful for these gifts of grace, mercy, and forgiveness that we receive from Him, we struggle to bestow these same gifts to others when God calls us to do so, especially when we have been wounded by the very individual that God is calling us to connect or reconcile with.
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God uses some of the most unorthodox things to get our attention and while to us, what He does seems bizarre, if we take a step back and really try our best to connect with the message instead of how He sends it, who He uses to illustrate it, and who He sends it through, we would be better able to place ourselves within the context of it, as a means of not trying to think like God or figure Him out, but to learn what it is He is trying to teach us.
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Whether we are reading about these unorthodox moments or personally experiencing them, is it easy to endure the situations that God places us in that are at times confusing, turn us upside down, make us cringe, and place us in a battle of "What The World Is This and WHAT DO I DO?!"? NOT AT ALL! It can be downright difficult! But can we make it through? We most definitely can, if we can bring ourselves to trust God even when we don't understand Him, the place He has us in, or what He has instructed us to do. However, we must recognize that we can't do it without His help which is why we must constantly seek Him and take our cares and concerns to Him. We must consistently and wholeheartedly commune with God. We must make prayer and supplication a "DEMAND" and not see it as a requirement that inconveniences us and interferes with our handling the priorities of our days and living our lives.
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God is going to give us all those moments that we discussed within this week's post. He is going to give us the "Say What's", "Huh's", "Did I Hear Rights?", "But God, Are You Sure's", as well as the "???'s", you know… the ones that we don't know how to describe, we just know that they puzzle us. But amidst all these moments, God is at work. He is using these unorthodox things for His glory. He is using them to increase our faith, test our obedience, and enlarge our territories. He uses them to teach us to trust His plan. He uses them to teach us how to extend mercy, and win souls. He does these things to provide us clarity and to show us the power of prophecy and manifestation. And He does it to show us WHO HE IS because all of these moments bring us to a place in which we see the love, grace. mercy, compassion, and the GOODNESS OF GOD revealed through His omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, and sovereignty!
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Ever found yourself in an unfortunate place and God speaks to you and commands you to come forth and "FIGHT YOUR WAY OUT", but you're thinking maybe He stopped at the wrong house because clearly there is nothing about you that screams "WARRIOR"? There is nothing about your situation that yells, "CONQUERABLE"? Remember, God makes NO MISTAKES, so He didn't get it wrong when He CHOSE YOU! Fear is natural but do us both a favor, TRUST GOD, Let Him Guide You, allow your fear to be consumed by FAITH and simply ARISE! Your ability to do so affects us all!
"The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?"
-Psalm 27:1
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We believe that God is a healer, a provider, a very present help in times of trouble. We believe that God is our fortress, our rock, and our great and mighty Armor. However, what does it serve us to believe these things in our minds if we don't allow them to rest within our hearts? We must completely believe that God is: EXACTLY WHO HE SAYS HE IS!
THE APOSTLE & THE KING
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As we've been discussing grace and mercy, one thing that we must recognize is that it is God's choice and God's choice alone. We all have moments when we may question how just God is when we compare the situations and outcomes of others pondering, "Why did God do it for this person and not for that person?" However, we must realize that in most cases, we never know the full story and quite frankly, God's decisions are not ours to judge. We must recognize that God sees things that we don't see, knows things that we don't know, and most importantly, He already knows what lies ahead. And please remember that no matter what God does, even when it seems unfair, HE IS ALWAYS JUST! We just HAVE TO TRUST HIS MOVES.