Did God Really Say?

1 Now the serpent said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
Genesis 3:1-3

There are some questions we have no business trying to answer.

The first sin in human history wasn’t just pride. That’s the common interpretation, and it’s partially true, but it’s not the whole story. The first sin was disbelief in something God had said. A promise He had made. And it all started with an innocent question.

Satan implanted four simple words in Eve’s mind: Did God really say? An innocent question. But a question she had no business trying to answer. He got her to scrutinize something she was simply called to believe. She fell for it. Ate the fruit. And people have now been scrutinizing God and His promises ever since.

Satan’s strategy towards us is still the same today. His primary question is still: Did God really say…? If he can get us to innocently question God’s promises or His character, the rest will take care of itself. Just ask the Israelites who listened to the 10 spies’ negative report of the Promised Land.

Now of course there’s room to ask tough questions about God. You’d have a mindless faith if you didn’t. Of course there’s room for wondering how we navigate the tensions of this world that we live in that’s so often a waiting room between the promises God has made and their fulfillment. You wouldn’t live in reality if you didn’t.

Nevertheless, we always have to remember:
Like the Israelites in the Promised Land, you’re called to explore God’s promises, not scrutinize them.

There really are some questions you have no business trying to answer. Questions whose only answer can ever really be, “God has said.”

Is God really good if people are dying in Japan and from tornadoes?
Can God really heal people?
Has God really forgiven me?

That’s not land you’re supposed to scrutinize. Not because it isn’t important. But because God hasn’t called you to validate His promise of His goodness. His healing power. His forgiveness. Or any other promise He has made. He’s called you to believe it.

Is it difficult? Of course. But since when has faith ever been easy?

Don’t waste time trying to validate a promise that God has simply called you to believe.

Some people will say that just means you’re brainwashed.
I say it just means you’re born again.
And you don’t want to repeat the mistakes of Adam and Eve again.

To us, Through us

Samuel’s word came to all Israel.
1 Samuel 4:1

That’s what we all want.

Sometimes for the right reasons. To build the Church.
Sometimes for the wrong ones. To build a crowd.

But I believe that ultimately, like Samuel, we should all want to see the Word of God flow through us to every possible person within our sphere of influence. Our entire city. Our entire country. Even the entire world.

If you’re a pastor and that’s not the desire of your soul, it’s time to find another line of work. If you’re not a pastor and it’s not the desire of your soul, it’s time to realign your perspective. Or your heart. Your profession is your pulpit. And it’s one that God wants to use to reach the people in your workplace that your pastor may never have an opportunity to preach to.

But there’s necessary groundwork that needs to be done first before God’s Word can flow through us. In the immediately preceding verse in chapter 3, it says:

The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.
1 Samuel 3:21

Samuel’s preparation was getting God’s Word to flow to him. God’s Word has to flow to us before it can flow through us. Before we reveal God to others, it’s essential to get a revelation of God for ourselves. And it has to happen through His Word. There are no shortcuts to 1 Samuel 4:1. You have to go through 1 Samuel 3:21 first.

Some people try. They skip to and try to go to through immediately. Their impact is minimal. Even if sometimes their numbers are great. Because then it’s just their word. And no one needs that.

In 4:1, it says that it was Samuel’s word that went out to all Israel. It sounds appealing. But it’s actually horrifying. Israel did not need Samuel’s word. They needed God’s.

And that’s just what they got. Samuel’s word was God’s Word. But only because 3:21 had happened. That’s why Samuel reached and changed the entire nation.

No ministry of any eternal significance throughout history has ever thrived without the Word flowing to it. None. Whether you’re a pastor, a business executive, or a temp, yours isn’t going to be the first.

So before you try to get the Word to flow through you, get it to flow to you. Do whatever you have to do.

Read your Bible for fifteen minutes a day.
Memorize the passage you’re preaching.
Go crazy and read through the Bible in 90 days.

Let the Word flow to you. You’ll be amazed at what happens when it then flows through you.

Steven Furtick

Specific Instruction, Immediate Obedience

There’s power in specific instructions from God followed by immediate obedience by us. In fact, I think this is one of the most overlooked and underappreciated parts of our faith. And it’s also one of the most powerful dynamics that can either thwart your potential and intimacy with God, or take it to whole new heights.

Examples of specific instructions that require immediate obedience are littered throughout the Bible.

• God gave specific instructions to Noah to build an ark. Noah obeyed and God used it to save the family that would repopulate the world after the flood.
• God told Abraham to leave his country and go to the land God would show him. He did and it was through his descendants that the Savior of the world would come.
• An angel of the Lord told Joseph to take Mary as his wife. Joseph obeyed and became the adopted father to Jesus.

And those are just three instances. I didn’t even mention Moses and the Tabernacle, Joshua at Jericho, Gideon’s instructions to reduce his army, Peter walking on water, or any of the crazy things the prophets were told to do.

I’ve found that it’s often the simplest commands and the simplest acts of obedience that have the deepest and longest lasting results. And become the foundation for larger assignments of faith later (Luke 16:10). Great opportunities later necessitate immediate obedience now.

So what specific instruction has God given you recently? Maybe even today?

Regarding your family? Your job? Your church? Your circle of influence? Your possessions? Your future? Your relationship with Him?

Don’t calculate. Don’t second-guess. And don’t delay. Just do it now.

Don’t ever make the mistake of thinking that your life is too big for you to obey a simple instruction from God. You will never outgrow the need to immediately obey anything God tells you to do.

And you might as well obey God now. Delaying won’t make it any easier…only more complicated.

Steven Furtick