Faith to Wait (2)

What about the people who DO choose something? Does God abandon them to do it all on their own? Not completely from what I can tell.

As I recall from the Old Testament, it was the people who didn't want to trust God to lead them because they wanted a King.

1 Sam 8:4-8
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."

God doesn't wipe out his people or forsake them even when reject Him as their king. He warns them of the consequences of their lack of faith. The verses go to describe Samuel's warning:

1 Sam 8:10-18
10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."

God allowed them to have their king, but He knew that it wasn't the best way to go. Eventually it would fail them, but their lack of faith was too great.

I wonder if its not too much of a stretch to notice this pattern in our relationships with God today. How often are we demanding something that seems good to us instead of trusting God for the best?

Yes, working with the body of Christ is good. Outreach is good in theory, but how good is good next to best? It's not good at all, in fact, it may be bad. Jesus' ministry before he was 30 would have been bad because it wasn't the right timing.

The good news is, God still works through our lack of perfect faith. Sure, He is always encouraging us to trust Him more but the existence of sin means at some point our faith is incomplete. It's ultimately not about what we can do for God, it's about what He has done for us.

Yet, we should have a spiritual drive to grow our faith to its highest potential, and never to put a leash on what God can do with our measures of faith.