Getting Ahead of God

Scripture:

1Kings 1:5 ¶ Now Adonijah son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king”; he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

Observation:

Adonijah was now the oldest son of King David.  His father was in deteriorating health and there were those wondering who would take over the leadership of the kingdom.  In the vacuum of leadership Adonijah thought he would simply take the next steps necessary and begin acting as if he were the leader.  As seems to have been the case with David’s sons, Adonijah was handsome and used his considerable charm to convince a number of individuals to be a part of his team. 

Instead of waiting for things to become official, Adonijah began acting as if he were already the king.  He thought that this would surely make the people desire him and recognize his place of leadership.  The problem was that this wasn’t God’s plan and Adonijah knew it.  Instead of submitting to the system, his father’s leadership and God’s plan, Adonijah decided to get out ahead of the plan. 

Why not simply take upon himself the authority to rule the nation?  He prepared his chariots and horsemen so that he could make his way through the city looking as if he were king.  He had fifty men run before him — what an incredible show of strength, and yet, all the human strength in the world is nothing compared to the power of God. 

Just a show of power was not enough but Adonijah sought out the allegiance of top leaders and commanders in the nation.  Surely this young, good-looking and charismatic leader would make a good king!  A number of the leaders did not wait upon God nor the king, but instead pledged their allegiance to Adonijah.  However, there were a few, priests and prophets, who would not play this game.  Instead, they would cling to the God of all creation and seek his leading in the future of the kingdom.  They refused to get ahead of God’s plan.

Adonijah’s ambition got the best of him.  He lost the kingdom to his brother Solomon and even in defeat under the guise of peace continued to be ambitious and eventually became a stench to his brother and lost his life.  If only he had been willing to listen to God and follow God’s plan his life could have been so very different.

Application:

Whenever we try to somehow “help” God or manipulate situations we will discover that we are in deep trouble.  Trusting God is having child-like faith, and that means depending upon him day in and day out in his plans for our lives and the world around us. We are his children and we are his instruments.  We do not deserve anything and we are to learn day to day dependence upon our Lord and Savior. 

Getting ahead of God’s plan means that we are not trusting God and that self has been restored to the place of authority in our lives.  Learning to relax in God’s presence on a daily basis is where we will find ourselves safe and secure in his arms.  We are not to worry about life.  We are not to worry about what lies ahead.  We are not to try and “help” God work out his plans.  We are to know Christ.  That is our business and should be the focus of our lives every single day.  Seek the Lord with your whole being and trust in him and in this way you will not get out ahead of God.

Prayer:

Lord, may I trust in you each day — one day at a time.  Thank you for the daily bread and daily sustenance, just enough for what we need.  Amen.