Good Ideas Are Not Always God Ideas

A lot of junk is going on in this broken world; in our government; in our schools; in our churches; in our homes; and all around us! We must be on guard!!! The devil loves to hide out in all of these places. We must be able to discern between a "GOOD" idea and a "GOD" idea.

Yesterday in church, our pastor talked some about the biblical standards a church leader should follow. When he mentioned credibility he gave a very good analogy. Ex. Bill Clinton is a very good speaker, but has no credibility. Think about it....If you have a daughter, would you want her working for Bill Clinton? Really???

A church leader must not be a new believer because he may become proud. He may be more focused on how many people he can get to attend his church rather than focusing on the people and their needs. He will draw more attention to himself rather than to our Lord and Savior. Spiritual maturity only comes with time and suffering.

Sometimes good ideas are not always God ideas.

This makes me wonder how many "solutions" I've come up with in my past that were good ideas but not GOD ideas. Seriously, I always have the answer to tough problems. I sit and think about all the possibilities, weigh the options and consider every scenario. By the time I have a plan, you can be sure it's the best answer humanly possible. And right THERE is where I run into trouble. I come up with the best answer HUMANLY possible, but my heavenly Father has the plan that is MORE than humanly possible. In fact, His plans are only SUPERNATURALLY possible.

Knowing this, I have to wonder why we humans spend so much time scheming, dreaming and leading instead of praying, listening and following. I call it running ahead of God. It's much like King Saul in 1 Samuel 13. Saul was in such a hurry to please God, He offered a sacrifice without waiting for Samuel as he was instructed.

Here are a few questions to help you discover if you have GOOD ideas or GOD ideas: What ideas do I have
that I haven't cleared with the Almighty?
- What ideas do we have that we haven't cleared with the Almighty?
- What instructions from God are we willing to ignore to have things our way?

The leaders of Samuel's day got stuck in their "good idea." Even after Samuel shared all the consequences of their request, they wanted to move ahead. As you make decisions this week, consider Samuel and the Israelite elders. Pray about your ideas and get the opinion of an "elder" who isn't afraid to speak the unpopular truth to you. The Almighty King will help us learn the difference between our "Good" ideas and the better "God" ideas.

We must remember that as believers we are to be gospel carriers and light shiners. But when we do not treat each other with love, we are neither.

Blessings,
Dalinda