If God Told You To Do Something, How Can You Fail?
God told Joshua what to do, and then God said to Joshua:
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:9
This is the critical factor in each our lives.
“Is it God who commanded me to do that?”
If God told me to do that, how can I fail? Can I really feel with assurance that what I am doing was authored by God HIMSELF? Do I really have evidence to support my faith?
When we have sound evidence we were “commanded” by God to do what we are doing, we have the anchor necessary for faith to be able to hold on in trials of this life. For when you are told by God to do something, it is not at all unusual for Satan to come to try to convince you it wasn’t God who told you to do that.
Genesis 3 … 1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
The devil comes to try to make us question whether or not God “really” told us to do what we are doing or to do what we are thinking of doing.
So you better have strong evidence inside you upon which you build your faith that it was God speaking to you. Otherwise you are likely to allow the Word given you on the matter to be reasoned away by devil and your own flesh.
When I was a new Christian, I owned a business in Dallas, Texas. A woman bought from our shop a book concerning Turquoise.
Within about 15 days, she returned wanting a refund. (We were not a library. We did not give refunds on books.)
Everything happened pretty fast as is often the case when there are confrontations.
It ended up this young woman pushed me all the way to the back of the shop. Then she said, “I’m sorry … I’m so sorry.” And she left the store.
A few days later, I received a registered letter from the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department. It was notice of a “criminal charge” filed against me for “assault”. This young woman had filed it with police department!
I was ordered to appear in court.
At the time, I had a lawyer. He assured me we had a very strong case and he expected to win the case with the testimony of Flo, who worked in the store and witnessed what happened, and with my testimony.
After all, the woman pushed me to the back of the shop.
The court date was scheduled. We were preparing for the trial. I heard what I believe to be instruction from God saying,
“Don’t testify.”
(This word came into my mind like a thought comes into one’s mind but I believed with all my heart the word was from God.)
I’m sure God also gave me scripture to uphold me but at this point I can’t recall what I was given in scripture.
I talked to my lawyer and told him he might not want to represent me in this case because I wasn’t going to be able to testify. I explained to him that I am a Christian and God had told me, “Don’t testify…”
Gordon said he would represent me anyway. He said Flo would be testifying and he thought with her testimony we would win. Although he said it would be a “certain” thing if I would testify.
The case continued forward toward the trial date …
People around me, my own people, became upset with me because I was not testifying.
Flo felt all the pressure of the trial was now on her shoulders since I was not testifying.
I said, “What can I do? God told me Don’t Testify … I’m not testifying.”
The man I was dating at the time tried to reason with me. Bob said, “Joan, you aren’t doing this girl any good by not testifying.”
I explained I wasn’t trying to do this girl any good. I was just trying to obey God.
We went to court. This was a “criminal” case. But it was such a low level criminal charge that we had the right to choose trial by jury or we could allow the judge to rule. My lawyer recommended we let the judge set the verdict.
The court proceeding began. My lawyer declared to the judge I would not be testifying. The judge was very shocked! He turned to me abruptly and said, “You’re not testifying?”
I confirmed that I would not be testifying.
The trial began on a Friday… Flo testified. Gordon came to me saying Flo’s testimony wasn’t as strong as he would have liked it to be. He said if I would testify, he knew we would win … but if I didn’t testify he didn’t know what would happen.
I said to Gordon, “I’ll see …” I went into the rest room and prayed, asking God what I was to do. I heard, “Don’t testify.”
I returned to the courtroom and shook my head “No” to Gordon.
The judge ruled for us to present a sale document over the book transaction. Judge continued the case over to the following Monday.
Bob, Flo, myself, and the other two woman who worked for me and their husbands went back to my business to hunt the required document.
I was terrible about paper work and this sale was only a $15 book. No telling what I would have done with that copy of the receipt.
Everyone started hunting.
Bob insisted that I go back to my apartment and let everyone else hunt. I did this. And of course I was fervently praying.
At one point, I remember saying to God, “I hope YOU know what we are doing. We’re going to lose this case.”
(My faith level had gotten pretty low … I had only been a Christian for a few weeks and had no real spiritual weapons at that point except that I had believed it was God speaking to me and God’s word, instruction, was sacred to me and not to be changed.)
The people searching found the bill of sale stuffed inside a piece of black pottery!
We presented the required document. The judge looked at the piece of paper and dismissed the case against me, declaring me “NOT guilty.”
I feel pretty certain that God had said to me:
“I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” (Joshua 1:5 / Hebrews 13:5)
After I was found “Not guilty,” this young woman filed a civil case against me.
At that point, my insurance company became involved and the representative said to me, “Don’t worry. We will ‘fix’ that young woman.”
It seemed she planned to use the criminal case as a foundation for a civil suit and even though she lost the criminal case she was going to try to get money through a civil case.
I never heard another word about this.
It was simply over.
This trial was used very strongly by God to help me to learn to trust HIM to care for me and protect me … and to believe what HE said to me.
Isaiah 54:17
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper;
and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.
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