Welcome to a firm foundation presented by Princeton ministries with Dr. Ken Smith. This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife. Please enjoy.

It’s perhaps the greatest struggle that any follower of Jesus Christ has. And yet I believe it is seldom, if ever, discussed in the church. The question, whose will should I live by, my will or God’s will? And that’s what I want to talk with you about today, the question of will. And trying to understand what happens when I consistently live by my will. Did you know, as a Christian, that’s possible? Did you know, as a follower of Christ, you can be living by your will, no matter how much you think that you’re living by God’s will? But more importantly, how will you know the difference? The Jews had been in bondage for 400 years under the Egyptians. Finally, Moses comes, and he says, let my people go. And after a great struggle, finally the people are released.

They stand on this side of the Red Sea. Moses, knowing that they’re in pursuit by Pharaoh’s army. Then, with his staff, commands the waters to open, and the people cross on dry ground. They get to the other side, and Miriam sings a song of thanksgiving to the Lord. And the people all gather together, thankful that the Lord had delivered them. And then they begin their trek going through the desert. They have no provisions. And the Lord says, I’m going to do something for you. I am going to give you manna bread. You’re going to find it out on the bushes. When you wake up in the morning, you’re to gather it. These people became so adept at using manna that they had main meals of mana. They were able to prepare it in a certain biscuit form so that it was a dessert.

And the days go by, and the weeks go by, and the months go by. And then they say, lord, we remember Egypt. We remember how good it was in Egypt. Do you know what we remember most? We remember the onions and the garlic and the leeks, Lord, we remember the melons. Those things tasted good. As a matter of fact, Lord, it was much better for us back in Egypt than it is for us in the wilderness. Lord, you know what we want more than anything else? We want some meat. Moses hears the cry of the people, and he goes. And the Lord says, Moses, you know too much is happening. There is too much pressure on you.

And what I want you to do is to get 70 men, faithful men, good men, trustworthy men, and you let them start administering and taking off of your back the pressures of every day leading these people. And I want you to take those 70 men. And you bring them to me, and I’m going to anoint them. So Moses does it, and the people continue to complain. The Lord says, I want you to go back to the people who I set free from Egypt, the ones who were slaves for 400 years. And I want you to tell them that I am going to send meat. I’m going to send quails, and I’m going to send so many quails that the people are going to be able to eat not for one day. They’re not going to be able to eat for two days.

As a matter of fact, not five or ten, not even 20. I’m going to give so much meat that every day for a month, you’re going to eat this stuff until it comes out your nose. You want your will? I’ll give your will. We’re told in scripture that a wind came sent from the Lord and it brought quails from the sea. So many quails fell within the vicinity of that camp that we’re told that one day’s journey, any side of the camp, you could find the quails and you could find them 3ft deep. And the man who collected the least number of quails had 100 bushels of them. And the Lord heard the will of the people, the will which was in direct conflict with where the Lord had placed them and with what the Lord had given them.

In psalm 106, we’re told about this incident from the Lord’s perspective, not from man’s perspective. Boy, look at all these birds. Boy, we’ve got enough meat here to last us forever. But from the Lord’s perspective, we read in psalm 106, verse 15 of this particular experience, the Lord God gave them their request, but he put a leanness in their soul. Meaning what? That as men and women, they had earthly desires. They weren’t happy with what the Lord had done. They took their will. They exerted it to the point that the Lord heard it. And the Lord said, I’m going to give your will, and it’s going to happen just the way you want it. But know this, you get your will in contrast to my will, and this is what’s going to happen to you. Your spirit is going to dry up.

Your spirit will be lacking. Which one do you want? The people say, give us the quail. As Christians, we often are placed in the same situation. What is it that troubles you most about living? What problem is the greatest? That if you had your way, God should change it today so that your will be done, as opposed to the will of God that you’re currently living in. We’re told in the book where we read about King Hezekiah. Hezekiah was one of three godly kings of the nation of Judah. Hezekiah, as a king, brought back the worship of God. And in the worship of God to the nation of Judah, he spoke clearly to the nation because they were worshipping the bronze serpent that Moses had brought out into the desert. And the people worshipped that serpent.

Hezekiah knew that they had gotten out of priority. And he went and he took that serpent and he destroyed it. He was a godly man. He was a godly king. He destroyed the Philistines. He made the nation safe. And in every way. Hezekiah followed the Lord at the close of his life as Hezekiah was at the point of seeing all of his ministry succeed and his kingdom succeed. Prophet comes to him. He says, Hezekiah, it’s time for you to get your house in order. Why? Because you’re going to die. And at that moment, Hezekiah knew what the will of God was by way of that prophet. And what did Hezekiah do? He began to weep. He cried and he said, God, give me more time.

And the Lord heard his prayer and he’s told that prophet, go back and tell Hezekiah, I’m going to give him 15 more years. It’s interesting. Hezekiah got his will. He got his desire. But what happened during those 15 years, nothing is recorded of the reign of Hezekiah that was of any significance during those 15 years, except for one thing. Some messengers came from the nation of Babylon and they came in and talked with Hezekiah. And they said, we’d like to see your storehouse. We’d like to see your munitions, your Armor. We’d like to know exactly what the power of your country is. And Hezekiah took these foreigners, brought them into the storehouse, showed them all of his armory so that they knew exactly the power of the nation. And in doing that, the prophet returns and asks, Hezekiah, why did you do that?

What was your reason for showing them the strength of the nation? Hezekiah has no reply. Then the prophet says, because you have done this and you have shown these things to these people, behold, the days come and all that is in your house and all that which your fathers have laid up in store unto this day, all of it will be carried into Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the lord. And of your sons, Hezekiah, they shall issue from you. And they shall begotten but they shall be taken away and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. Do you know what Hezekiah’s response to this was in verse 19 of two kings, chapter 20. Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken.

And said, Hezekiah, it is not good if peace and truth be. In my days can you imagine having been God’s man of erecting altars to the living God, of being one of three godly kings of that nation, of knowing that the Lord is with you? And when the Lord says to you, my will is that your life be taken this night you cry, no, not your will. My will. My will is that I live. My will is that you give me more time. The Lord says, Hezekiah, is that what you want? More time. I hear your prayer. Is that what you want? That’s what I want. I’m going to answer your prayer. I’m going to let you live by your will rather than mine.

And Hezekiah, in these next 15 years you’re going to make errors that are going to cause the very downfall of this nation. The principle is this. Live by your will. Fight the will of God long enough and the Lord will send leanness to your spirit. A dryness. David was God’s man. He was from the family of Jesse. The prophet Samuel comes to that house. He says, somewhere in this house is a new king and I’ve come this day to point him out. And so Jesse the father gathers all of his sons. They march in review and he shows them Eliab, his biggest, strongest son. He says, this one looks like a king. I’m sure this is the one that the Lord wants to be king. Samuel looks at him. He says, nope, that’s not the one.

As a matter of fact, I’ve looked over all of your sons. He’s not here. Don’t you have any more children? Jesse says, well, I’ve got one scraggly boy out in the back who’s tending the sheep. Bring him in. And in walks David. Samuel says, he’s God’s man. He’s the one who’s going to lead the nation. David begins a life that is unlike many lives in the Old Testament because he walked with the Lord. He was God’s man. He destroyed the nation of the Philistines and the Moabites. It was David who brought back the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, danced with great excitement. It was David who led the people to worship God. The people loved him and the people followed him. But David had the same battle that he would have. The same battle that you and I have.

He knew what the will of God was. But he also knew what his own will was. And one afternoon he looked out and he saw a woman, Bathsheba. Did he not know that God said, thou shalt not commit adultery? Did he not know what God’s will was? But David looked on Bathsheba. He lay with her. He had a child by her. And then David, learning of the child said, I’ve got to get rid of the husband, Uriah. Uriah, who’s one of my men. He’s a soldier. He’s a faithful man. But he’s between this woman and my will. So David devised the plan and had Uriah killed on the field of battle. Do you know something very interesting about the life of David? Up to that point, he was effectively used by God.

Up to that point, God faithfully filled his spirit and he was God’s man. After the sin with Bathsheba the life of David becomes almost useless for the Lord. His spirit becomes dried up. And immediately after his sin with Bathsheba, we read that great revolution occurs. One of his sons commits incest with another son’s wife. And his favorite son, Absalom, goes in revolution against him. And then we read in the psalms of David whose soul dried up. It was parched. And David knew very clearly there are two wills. There’s the will of following God and trusting him at this moment for the circumstances that he’s given me. And not to complain. Not to sit back and to say, God, why didn’t you make me different? Why did you have me married to this woman? Why not that one?

God, why didn’t you give me a better mind? God, why didn’t you make me different? God, if I had my will, I’d ask for 15 more years of life. Our country is suffering from a leanness of spirit. Our churches are suffering from a leanness of spirit. And what’s the cause? Is it that we don’t know what God’s will is? You can have a seminar for come and learn the will of God and a thousand people will show up. Do you know what they’re more interested in that seminar than anything else? Help me to know what kind of job I should have. Help me to know if I should live in cranberry, New Jersey or Princeton, New Jersey. Help me to know if I should take that promotion or not to take the promotion.

Help me to know if I should buy this car or that car? Do you know something? I find nothing in scripture that says that is the will of God. The will of God is that we follow him obediently. We know what he expects of us. We know his commandments. We know the truth that he’s given to us. And every day, you and I must make a choice, my will or his will. An interesting study was done called the Manhattan study. It was done by the top counsellors and therapists and surveyists in New York City. They were interested to know the mental stability of people living in New York City. They purposefully went to people who appeared to be functioning, working people in that city. They interviewed 1600 of them. They found out that 18.5% of those people were normal.

They found out 82.5% had noticeable, highly visible, testable psychological problems. And in that city, I only know of a handful of churches that are telling anyone, you know there’s a will that is bigger than your will. And if you live by your will alone, like Hezekiah or like David, you follow that will and you’re going to have a spirit that is dried up. How is it with you? Whose will are you really living by? The will of God and the following of what you know not only in your heart, but what is written in his word. Or are you living by your own will and you can’t understand, why does my soul feel dry? Why does my spirit seem withered inside of me? And you can’t figure out, why don’t I pray to the Lord anymore like I used to?

Why don’t I read his word like I used to? Why don’t I tell people about Jesus Christ like I used to? Go inside. Whose will are you living by? Do you not accept the life that the Lord has given you, the limits that you have on your health, the limits that you have on your experience, the limits that you have with your spouse, with your children, the limits you have with your job? You say, God, my will is give me a better job. My will is give me a better family. My will is give me a better brain. My will is give me a better set of emotions. My will is that you give me a better capacity to live in life if that’s what you’re living by.

The scripture says the Lord will give you the answer to your prayer, but he’ll also give you a leanness, a dryness in your soul. Whose will do we really want to see done?

Thank you for listening to a firm foundation presented by Princeton ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listener. You may go to our website, princetonministries.org, or send your donation to Princeton Ministries post office Box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 8543. That’s Princeton Ministries post office Box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 8543. The Lord bless you, and Dr. Smith looks forward to hearing from you. We would like to thank Rones web development company for making this webcast possible. You can find their link at the bottom of our website, princetonministries.org.