In the Old Testament, when the priests were to serve the Lord,
there were very specific instructions given and the Lord has His reasons.
Eli was a priest and his sons served with him and Eli did not correct them.
Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord. 1 Samuel 2:12
The sons of Eli did not honor the Lord and disdained His directives,
including the detailed instructions with regard to the offerings to the Lord.
Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord:
for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. 1 Samuel 2:17
According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle
and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it. Exodus 25:9
God gave them the pattern, as it was,
an earthly duplicate of His throne in Heaven, in the spiritual realm.
Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things,
as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern
shewed to thee in the mount. Hebrews 8:5
If we substitute what God asks of us,
we might find ourselves talking to a donkey or maybe swallowed by a fish.
God has His particular desires and they make sense to Him.
Sometimes He tells us why, other times, we just need to obey.
One time a friend of mine was watching my pup who was about a year old.
I had gone on a long journey and I had never left him before.
On the day I returned I asked her not to let him stay longer
than a half day at daycare because he was always so tired after a full day,
and I knew he would just fall asleep when he got home
and I wanted to spend time with him.
Well, he fell asleep pretty soon after he got home.
He died not too long ago. So did my friend.
As I remembered this instance, I was asking the Lord
to make sure I forgave her from the bottom of my heart.
I guess I had because He taught me this lesson instead.
Maybe nobody else would have considered that important, but to me,
it was very important and she did what she thought was best,
not realizing what difference it meant to me.
I was talking to the Lord to make sure I forgave her,
from the bottom of my heart.
I guess I had because He taught me this lesson instead.
Maybe you don’t have a dog, maybe you don’t even like dogs.
My guess is you can think of a circumstance in your life,
where someone important to you disregarded what you wanted,
either because they were too busy to care or too lazy to care,
or just had no idea how important it was to you and how much it meant to you.
Everything God asks us to do is important to Him.
Jesus knows what He’s doing and His ways are far above ours.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9
We might not know why or how and maybe never will,
but if we trust Him and remember He is God
and He knows every single little tiny detail and why He wants it that way,
it is so very pleasing to Him if we do what He asks.
No Substitutions to God. Give Him what He asks of you.