You Can't Manipulate God...

We as children of God, and mostly in the charismatic church, have perpetuated a lie.  We have taught and believed that we could do things and it would get God to move.   Some of you just about started to throw things at my computer so let me try to explain this better.  I have found myself in seasons of frustration, so badly where I really wanted to bang my head against a wall and cry out to God, “What are you thinking?”  So when my situation and circumstance doesn’t change I think, “I have to do something?  I know I’ll go on a fast.”  So I try to fast, and because God didn’t tell me to fast there is no grace on it.  I just end up getting really hungry and more frustrated. 

         

 The lie we’ve perpetuated is if our circumstances aren’t lining up with what God has said then somehow it’s our fault and we have to “do” something to fix it.  So we try to fast, we try to pray harder, we try to give more, and we just continue on that spiral of frustration.  I believe in fasting, praying, giving, and doing what God tells you to do…but I don’t believe in it as a way to try to justify attempting to manipulate God.  Trying to fast in our own ability is like a three-year-old child refusing to eat until they get their way.  God is NOT moved by this!  This kind of thinking just causes bondage and more frustration because you keep thinking there is something wrong with you and it’s your fault things are moving. It’s not God’s fault either.  It may be a timing issue.   

             

One of my favorite things to preach on is Rachel in Genesis 30.  I don’t have time to go into all the details of this, but earlier in the chapter she does the exact same thing.  She is throwing a fit at her husband…but in essence she’s throwing a fit at God.  In verse 1 she yells, “Give me a child lest I die!”  She’s saying I’m going to die if you don’t move right now God.  It’s my husband’s fault and everyone’s fault around me.  Why oh why God have you left me here?   So later she is so desperate to MAKE the will of God happen that she asks her sister in verse 14 for mandrakes.  What is a mandrake?  It’s a root, but the significance of this is that it’s also considered witchcraft of the day.  They would hang it in their tent.  It had something to do with fertility.  What she’s saying is “Since God hasn’t come through for me; I’m going to take control and make it happen!”  In order to pay for the mandrake her and Leah strike a deal that Leah gets to sleep with their shared husband.  Ummmm am I the only one that finds this odd.  She’s trading the very thing that will make her pregnant for the thing that won’t because she wants the control.  We don’t know how long this bright idea lasts but it says her sister has 4 more kids…duh!  It’s not until verse 22 that it says, “God remembered Rachel”.  I looked up that remembered and it literally means that He made her ready.  Then she has Joseph and later Benjamin. 

             

Rachel’s issue wasn’t solved by her fit!  It wasn’t solved because of a mandrake.  Her situation was solved because she stopped fighting God, she stopped trying to manipulate Him, and she allowed herself to be MADE READY.

 
God is moved by faith yes, but he is not moved by self-imposed restrictions, fit throwing, or holding your breath until you turn blue.   There is a timing issue involved in this process.  God has order and plans lined up for your life.  When you hook up with what He is saying, He promises those things will manifest.  They may not manifest tomorrow.  It may not be for months or years.  When it’s the kairos time.  It will manifest. 

Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

 
Due season is the divine time.  You have got to be free from thinking you are going to make the will of God happen.  Yes, you have to do your part, but you also need to trust God to do His.  He doesn’t look at you struggling in your circumstance and laughs at you.  He wants to bring you into your destiny.  He wants you to see fulfillment in your life.  Throwing a temper tantrum because things aren’t going your way just exposes your maturity.  I don’t mean to sound all ‘holier than thou’ on this topic.  I can preach this because I’ve found myself falling into this pattern.  I’ve tried stopping my feet at God, and you know what…it doesn’t work.  You have to stop fighting Him, and start trusting Him.  

 Remember, God has awesome plans for your life.  Get excited!