Knowing God - 1 Kings 12:24

(from Pastor - you can link to his site through fellow travelers)

This thing is from me

(says the Lord)

1 Kings 12:24

This passage has a good backstory ...

God's chosen people came to their new king, Rehoboam, saying essentially, "Your father -- Solomon -- laid heavy burdens upon us. Lighten our load, and we will follow you." Rehoboam, however, thought kingship meant control, so he said, "14 I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions."

The result? Under the leadership of Jeroboam, the northern tribes of Israel seceded. The armies assembled for a civil war. "22 But the word of God came to [Rehoboam and the armies of Judah through] Shemaiah the man of God ... 24 'You shall not go up or fight against your kindred the people of Israel. Let everyone go home, for this thing is from me.'"

In my mind, one of the questions that this poses is ... When I see a problem, how often do I rush out to do battle first ... and think to listen to the things of God much later?!

In Christ's Love,

a guy who needs to strive less and listen more

----------------- (now my ramblings will follow below the line)------------------
I don't know about ya'll, but I tend to either jump in headlong and try to figure things out as I go, listening to basically no one. OR I will over analyze, over research, over think something. And give up. I need to learn to stop and listen to God. To be quiet internally. mentally. spiritually. On the other hand... "this thing is from me, declares the Lord." If we realized it was from him, we'd save ourselves a bunch of time and trouble. Why are we so stubborn and hard headed?????