Right with God

Nothing is settled until it is settled right and nothing is settled right until it is settled with God.

In the beginning God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness and let us give him dominion over the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea and everything on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26)

This reminds us of three things that were part of man’s beginning. First, he was created; “Let us make man!” Second, man was created in the image of God. He bears a likeness to God. Third man was given a calling, a responsibility and that was to join Him in his creative work. However, man rebelled against God saying in essence, “I will control my own destiny and determine what is best for me to live.” When that happened man was separated from God. Man exercised his right to say no to the plan of God.

According to A. W. Tozer, “God has made us in His likeness, and one mark of that likeness is our “free will. We hear God say, “Whoever will let him come.” We know by bitter experience the woe of an un-surrendered will and the blessedness or terror which may hang upon our human choice. But behind of all this and preceding it is the sovereign right of God to call saints and determine the human destinies. The master choice is His, the secondary choice is ours.

Tozer went on to say, “Salvation is from our side a choice; from the divine side it is a seizing upon, an apprehending, a conquest of the most high God.” God takes the initiative, so our accepting of Him and our willingness to follow Him are reactions rather than actions. The right of determination must always remain with God. God has indeed let to every man the power to lock his heart and walk away darkly into his self-chosen night, as He has given to every man the ability to respond to His overtures of grace. But while the “no” choice may be ours, the “yes” choice is always God’s. He is the author of our faith as He must be the finisher.”

If you study the whole of Scripture, it is about God being the author of the “yes” and it is the history of man to either obey or say “no.” When man has said “no” Scripture points out what God has done in response.

One example is Moses. God was the author of the “yes” in his life. It was God who led Moses’ parents to preserve his life by hiding him. It was God who directed that Pharaoh’s daughter finds Moses and bring him into her home. It was God who made it possible that Moses’ mother would still take care of him. When Moses went to visit the people of Israel who were in slavery, he came across the Egyptian who was beating the Israelite and Moses killed the Egyptian. Scripture said that when he did so he thought that the people would know that by his hand God would deliver the Israelites. Moses was in essence saying I know what I was called to do and I have a plan. God never asks for our plan. He only asks that we obey His. This should bring us great comfort and confidence in counseling. When people are looking to know God’s will, we can examine what is going on and call them to obedience. We can also examine where they are saying no to God.

God continued to lead Moses. He never asked Moses what direction he should go to deliver the Israelites. God never asked Moses’ opinion on what plagues Moses thought would be helpful. He just called Moses to obey what He was instructed. However, there was a time when Moses decided to say “no” to God. God called Moses to speak to the rock and instead Moses struck the rock. Moses said “no” to God’s plan due to his anger and frustration and the consequences were severe. Moses would not be allowed to enter the promise land.

Yes, throughout the Bible man has rebelled and said no, and yet God is always the initiator of relationship with people they just need to obey and walk in that obedience.

I have said all of this to communicate that when people come for counseling they are trying to determine what their problem is and how you, the counselor can meet their expectations. When they are suffering, they want relief, rather than seeking to understand what God is doing in their lives. They come seeking to define what they want their marriage to look like. They attempt to deal with such issues as pornography, same-sex attraction, and sexual identity. Romans 1 makes it clear that man’s downward descent all began with man saying no to God.

As a result, nothing is settled in life until it is settled with God. We must seek to obey God’s leading and repent of those areas in which we are saying no to God.

©2025 David W. Drake, President, Renewed Hope, Inc.