When God Doesn't Act Like God -- Part 5

The patriarch Job summed up the mysterious ways of God as, "Whatever His soul desires, that He does."(Job 28:13), or simply "God does what He pleases". God doing what He pleases means He is free to move and act in and out of character. The ultimate test for us can be when God is acting out of character, in an unexpected and strange way. When God doesn't act like Himself, or do what we'd expect from Him, it ultimately motivates us and moves us to seek after Him and find Him in a new way. It also helps us to see what is really in our own hearts, which may not always be evident, since the heart of man is deceiving and difficult to know(Jeremiah 17:9).

In times like this we also learn to stand in faith. If we are going to walk this great path, and walk with Jesus to the end, and with a God Who at times doesn't act like Himself, we're going to have to learn how to stand. Remember, we can never walk well until first we've learned to stand! Every parent knows their child must learn to stand before they can learn to walk. Perhaps the reason some find it difficult to walk consistently with Jesus is they've never learned to really stand. Finishing strong and finishing well require having to stand when it appears as if God's promise, His word, and His intentions are not trustworthy or valid.

King Saul was told by the prophet Samuel that if he ever needed to hear from God, to go to Gilgal(the place of the altar) and "Wait for seven days, until I arrive and tell you what to do."(1 Samuel 10:8 NET). These were the agreed-upon instructions, his promise or word to Saul. Two years later Saul followed that word to the letter and "he waited for seven days, the time period indicated by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal."(1 Samuel 13:8 NET). So Saul acted presumptuously in his absence and ended up losing his destiny in the process. His reasoning obviously was..."You didn't do what you said you would, when you said you would". As a representative of God, Samuel was acting out of character as he did not do what was expected of him. (Note: you will want to read on your own how this story resolves itself, for just when Saul thought Samuel had abandoned him and was not to be trusted, Samuel appeared to him.)

David returned to his town Ziklag only to discover it had been plundered and burned by his enemy, with his entire family taken prisoner and all his possessions stolen. Suddenly David was in even worse trouble. There was talk among the men, bitter over the loss of their families, of stoning him. But David strengthened himself with trust in his God(1 Samuel 30:6). Where was his trust? It was in this..."Our God is in heaven and He does what He pleases."(Psalm 115:2-3). David stood upon the integrity and veracity of his God. That devastating disappointment was more than enough to finish him off, but from a place of renewed faith he sought God in that moment and then rose up to go after all that belonged to him in God. In the end he recovered all.

Job said, "Even if He slays me, I will still trust Him."(Job 13:15). When God Doesn't Act Like God, He is teaching us how to stand and trust Him no matter what may come. Will you stand in your place of faith even when your God is silent, distant, mysterious or unaccounted for at that moment? It's the right response. Oh, and don't forget, even When God Doesn't Act Like God, He is still God!...He's still your God!