God can make you do it!
There are some things God chooses not to do but there is nothing that He can’t do.
May 31
Then Absalom and all the leaders of Israel said, “Hushai’s advice is better than Ahithophel’s.” For the LORD had arranged to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel, which was really the better plan, so that he could bring disaster upon Absalom!
2 Samuel 17:4
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God can make you do it!
Absalom, King David’s son has rebelled against his father and is attempting to take David’s throne from him. So far, he has been successful. David has evacuated the City of David so that Absalom will not come and besiege it. To cement his hold upon the throne, Absalom believes he must destroy his father. So, he calls in his advisors to determine the best way to do that.
Ahithophel is loyal to Absalom and suggests that Absalom attack David immediately before David has a chance to gather troops or get into a fortified city. Hushai is loyal to King David and suggests that Absalom wait and gather the whole army of Israel together before attacking David. Absalom rejects Ahithophel’s plan and accepts the plan Hushai proposed.
All of that seems like pretty normal stuff until you get to the verse for the day. According to today’s verse Absalom picked the wrong plan, and not because he wasn’t wise enough but because God had arranged it so he would choose the wrong plan. God had determined to ‘bring disaster upon Absalom.’ Part of God’s plan to accomplish that was to defeat Ahithophel’s advice.
We sometimes forget that God is God and that there is nothing that He can’t do. There are some things God chooses not to do but there is nothing that He can’t do. We often think God is not going to make my choices for me; He gives me the freewill to choose for myself. That is true but that doesn’t mean that God can’t cause us to choose what He wants rather than what we want.
Today’s text is a great example of that. Absalom was outside of the will of God. Absalom wanted to destroy his father and the best plan presented to him was Ahithophel’s. God’s plan was to bring disaster upon Absalom, and He caused Absalom to pick Hushai’s plan which was the inferior plan. The LORD influenced Absalom’s decision to accomplish His plan.
We might wonder why God doesn’t do that all the time so that we are always doing what He desires rather than making some of the foolish decisions we do. If He did do that our will would not come into the picture and we would not have the kind of relationship with Him that He desires. It is often because of the poor choices and bad decisions that we grow to recognize our great need for a close relationship with Him. If the LORD always influenced us to make only the right choices, then there would be no choice at all. God chooses to let us choose, but there are times when God influences the choice according to His will and plan. Understanding when that is happening is one of the great mysteries of life. Jesus, teach us to look for You in all our choices.
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