RESOLVE

There will be moments in our lives when we will make decisions that can become great turning points, changing almost everything.

In history, the Israelites needed to make a choice when they were about to enter into the promises of God. After seeing the challenges that they were going to have to face to conquer their inheritance from God, their hearts melted and they wanted to turn back.

They hesitated to believe the promises that God gave to them. Even after entering into the Promised Land, they found themselves against walled cities and giants and faced the same question - do they turn back or move forward with God?

Do you have any promise from God that you believe He will fulfill?

God has resolved it in His heart to do what is good, to do what He has promised.

But have you also resolved it in your heart to believe that it will happen? We cannot turn back just because Jericho has walls. We cannot fail to believe on the promises of God just because we think they are impossible to happen now. It is not for us to make it happen, because God can make it happen.

Resolve is the determination to take a certain path and stay on it. None of what God wants to do in our lives is ever done with just a single step. It takes a succession of steps for His plans to be accomplished. We will need resolve all the way through. However, resolve can be lost along the way. Our resolve will be tested. Through the study of three prophets we will look into the possible tests on our resolve:

1. Resolve will be tested by the enemy's attempts to cast doubt on God's word.

In 1 Kings 13, we are introduced to an unnamed man of God. God told him to declare a word that Israel will be judged because of King Jeroboam’s and the nation’s idolatry. He was also given the instruction not to eat, drink or go the same way in his travel to Israel.

This man of God obeyed and prophesied accurately and made a display of God's power against King Jeroboam. He was offered refreshments by the evil king which he refused. However, although he obeyed the Lord initially, he came to a point where his resolve was lost and he was deceived.

When an old prophet of Israel came to him and lied saying that he heard from an angel that the man of God was to return with him and eat, he gave in and disobeyed the command of God.

The enemy will do everything to try to stop us from obeying God. But even when he cannot deter us from following God, he will try to stop us from fully obeying the Word of God.

The Word of God will be tested by the deceiver and we must prevail. 

There will be many voices that will pull us to other directions but we must not entertain them. Instead, we must maintain that resolve of obeying God. We can have a solid resolve but when the enemy gets a slice of it, the rest of it easily dissolves. We have to carefully and completely heed the voice of God to the end.

2. Resolve will be tested by upstream currents.

In 1 Kings 22, there is a prophet named Micaiah. King Ahab of Israel wanted to reclaim Ramoth Gilead from Syria. He sought the help of King Jehoshaphat of Judah. While King Jehoshaphat agreed, he requested that they inquire the word of the Lord.

King Ahab summoned four hundred prophets who falsely prophesied of victory yet the godly King Jehoshaphat discerned and asked for a man of God who will truly prophesy God's Word, and they summoned Micaiah. Micaiah told the truth amidst the multitude of false voices. He prophesied defeat. In doing so, he was attacked by a false prophet and sent to prison.

When we resolve to follow God, oftentimes we will gain the ire of the world. We will face difficulties for obeying the Lord. It is not easy swimming upstream. We see people get rewarded even without having God in their lives.

But we must remember that the rewards we get may not be instantaneous, but it will certainly be eternal.

3. Resolve will be tested by discouragement.

In 2 Kings 2, Elijah, when he is about to be taken by the Lord, tells Elisha multiple times to stay and not go with him. But in Elisha's resolve, he pursued to go with his master until the end. In his final destination, Elijah asked Elisha what he may do for him.

Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. When Elisha initially met Elijah, he committed himself to follow the prophet and that resolve did not wane until Elijah departed. Because he persevered, he received a double portion of Elijah's anointing.

Even the Lord Jesus encountered the same in his disciples. In John 6:66 after telling the truth, many of His disciples' resolve ebbed and they turned back. But Peter and the others persevered and resolved to follow the Lord. They resolved in their heart that there is no other option for them but to follow Jesus.

One characteristic of having a firm resolve is to not have any other option. We may not be perfect, we may fall but we need to have the godly resolve to rise up again and continue to walk with the Lord. We are to be like the Lord who set His face as a flint in following the will of God (Isaiah 50:7).

We need to have the heart and determination of a finisher. As we press in to the Lord, we will receive this resolve that only God can give. We can ask the Lord to have the resolve to finish our race without turning back.