Naivety (Impulses)

"Beware of settling for what looks good at the expense of what's best."

This was the quote I read today as a result of doing a daily devotional by Erin Keeley Marshall.

Deep, right? I would say so. It is sometimes amazing/disturbing how we can make hasty decisions just based on what WE feel is best for us. We lack the patience and the discipline to wait for God's direction. We don't want to wait for what God has for us, because waiting is just not "fun" and in many aspects it is very uncomfortable. I know I have made decisions based on loneliness, accomdation, and impulses. To summarize it, we make decisions based on impulses when we take God out of the equation. Let's refer to Judges 14.

Samson, known as the strongest man in history. Although he had great strength, and although God used him, Samson thrived and lived on his impulses. Great strength in one area of life, does not make up for great weaknesses in other areas in our life.

So Judges 14:1-3, a Philistine women immediately caught Samson's eye. He told his father and mother that he wanted to marry her:

 ¹ One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. ² When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me.”

 ³ His father and mother objected. “Isn’t there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?” they asked. “Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?”

   But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She looks good to me.”

This was not the first woman Samson was attracted to which ultimately led him to destruction (Delilah: Judges 16). I would advise you all to continue reading Judges 14, to see the end result of this "marriage." However, to briefly sum it up:

Naivety + Sudden Impulses + Lust X Our Understanding - God = Bad Decisions/Results.

However, Samson's story does not end up in tradegy. His story teaches us that even though we have failed in the past, it is not to late for us to put our complete trust in God. Despite Samson's decisions, God was still able to use them to fulfill His purpose. To counteract against Naivity: Discernment (Wisdom). James 1:5-6 says,

"If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. ⁶ But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind."

Ask God to help us in areas that we may lack wisdom in, but be confident and sure that when we ask, our faith is completely in Him! Discernment in God will help us to consider whether something merely "appears good" or is God's ultimate paramount.

"Know that when you seek anything of your own, you will never find God, because you do not seek God purely. You are seeking something along with God, and you are acting just as if you were to make a candle out of God in order to look for something with it. Once one finds the things one is looking for, one throws the candle away. --Meister Eckhart.