Stepped Out of His Will, but Not His Care

“I stepped out of His will, I’ve never been out of His care.”

This song Lyrics by “Michael Booth” and sung by Dave & Darlene Murdoch when they were with us on November 23 rd has a good message – especially the words: “I stepped out of His will, I’ve never been out of His care.” Meaning that when we ‘fall short’ (sin), God is still there and caring for us. He is calling us to return to his loving arms. Example would be the “prodigal son” told by Jesus to show the father’s love for His chosen ones. Please read the lyrics through.

    The eyes of God are upon me
They see everything I do
The arms of God are around me
They keep me safe and secure

And He knows where I am
Every hour of every day
He knows each thought I think
He knows each word that I might say
And although there were times
I stepped out of His will
I’ve never been out of His care

This changing world alarms me
With war, with sin, with strife
But my loving Father, He charms me
With joy, with peace, with life
And He knows where I am
Every hour of every day
He knows each thought I think
He knows each word that I might say
And although there were times
I stepped out of His will
I’ve never been out of His care

And although there were times
I stepped out of His will
I’m never out of His care

I’m never out of His care    

Isaiah 49:14–16 (ESV) – But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” 15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

Brother Mike Peck has been giving us the illustration that God holds the world in His fingers, but He keeps us in the Palm of His Hands. This illustration is fittingly supporting that illustration from the above scripture of Isaiah 49:16. Repeating the words from the song: “ And although there were times
I stepped out of His will. I’m never out of His care.”

None of us are looking to sin or transgress against God’s decrees and directives. However, it has and may happen again we just don’t know the time or place. We need to consistently pray for God’s direction and protective hand around us to guide, protect and lead us.

This scripture in Isaiah is where Zion is portrayed as feeling that her ‘Lord has forgotten’ her. God’s answer is that a mother may forget her nursing baby, but He will never forget His city. Zion. This city is as if in His hands for His protection and watchful eye. We compare ourselves in the “palms” of God’s hands. A poet, Augustus Toplady, so expresses it:

My name from the palms of His hands
Eternity will not erase;
Imprest on His heart it remains
In marks of indelible grace.
— Augustus Toplady
MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997). Believer’s Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments (Is 49:14–16). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

1 P e t e r 1 : 2 ( E S V ) … 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. 1 Peter 1:3-5 (ESV) Born Again to a Living Hope 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

V.2 – “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father” – God acting in a fatherly care as He knows the pains we suffer. Yet in the mist of pain and sorrow He is shaping and growing believers. The Holy Spirit turns the circumstances into a tool of spiritual maturing. The next sentence Paul mentions to be “obedient to Christ” which would tells us that we need to be listening and submitting to what God is saying to us. This involves a change of attitude that Christ so emphatically stated in the Sermon on the Mountain. (Matthew 5:2+) THUS, since we are chosen of God we are therefore objects of his fatherly care. The care is demonstrated by the words of Isaiah that we are in the ‘palms of His hands’.

Think of that since we are there, then we are in a position for Him to be designing us to fit His purpose. He will be guiding us so we’d have a measure of ‘spiritual growth’ granted by his spirit. As God’s being children of Him we find ourselves in a personal relationship with him each day.

Peter links our salvation relationship with the term: “a living hope” as he is an apostle of hope. Like Peter we can be confident and eager for the life of eternity with God. Our hope is focused in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Peter uses the word “inheritance” describing our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. By using that word will emphasize that as a believer we have an ‘eternal home in heaven’. We know this: “ an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you .” The way it is worded it shows that our inheritance already exists and is being preserved for ‘believers’.

Note these “Principles” and “Applications” from the source: Walls, D., & Anders, M. (1999) – Holman New Testament Commentary:

PRINCIPLES

• Believers are chosen of God and are objects of his care, and therefore are never out of his plan, even when this plan includes difficulties and pain.

• The believer’s eternal inheritance of heaven is reserved by God.

• The Christian life does not exempt a believer from experiencing difficulties.

• The trials of the Christian life are designed to produce Christlike character in the believer and to demonstrate the sincerity of our faith.

• The prophets of the Old Testament desperately wanted to experience the visible, historical presence of Jesus the Messiah, something all Christians are to appreciate and value.

• The doctrine of the second coming of Jesus Christ is to impact positively the behavior of Christians in the present moment.

• Obedience and holiness are to mark the believer’s life in Christ.

• God is the final and ultimate judge of humankind.

• The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ form the bedrock of the believer’s salvation.

• The Word of God is central in the life of the believer.

APPLICATIONS

• Whatever your past may include, God is in the business of giving you a future with a hope.

• Do not resist or resent the trials of your life, but view them as God-designed instruments of spiritual growth.

• Any sound theology of the Second Coming must emphasize the positive behavior that is to mark the Christian’s way of life today.

• Continue to examine your life for true marks of holiness and obedience to Jesus Christ.

• Cultivate a “reverential awe” toward God.

• Regularly personalize the benefit of Christ’s death for you.

• Consider ways that you can demonstrate a sincere and deep love for other Christians.

     LW