False Answers

False Answers

“Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men whispered to him. “Today the LORD is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.’” 1 Samuel 24:4

DAVID HAD A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY to kill Saul. It would have fulfilled David’s calling and God’s promise and ended his long, tumultuous exile on the run. From all appearances, the moment was a godsend. But David would have had to dishonor the currently anointed king in order to become the future anointed king. He would have had to defy God’s character to enter into God’s promise.

That’s a sure sign of compromise—a watering down of the promise, a temptation to circumvent God’s ways in order to get to God’s goals. Jesus later faced an even more egregious alternative when he was tempted in the wilderness. The adversary promised him the kingdoms of the world (Matthew 4:8-10)—something already implicit in the Messiah’s inheritance (Psalm 2:8). We are often presented with such alternatives, compromises, and distractions in response to our prayers. Sometimes they look a lot like God’s answer; sometimes they are transparently manipulative or sinful. In any case, they are shortcuts to fulfillment and enemies of faith. They work against us even while appearing to work for us.

We can be confident that God’s answers to our prayers of faith will be consistent with his character and ways. Even when they seem scandalous—the promise of the Messiah was fulfilled through an ostensibly illegitimate pregnancy, for example—at their core, they will fit his true nature. His goodness is at the heart of every promise, and even when the journey seems difficult, it comes without compromise. The answer will not stir up second-guessing or feel less than fulfilling. It will align with his faithfulness and satisfy the desire that prompted the prayer in the first place.

Remember that as you hold on to the promises God has given you. He does not give substandard gifts through backhanded means. His fulfillments may seem sudden, but he does not take shortcuts. Stay true to your faith. Refuse the less-than alternatives. Believe that God answers in the fullness of what he has promised.

He will be infinitely merciful to our repeated failures; I know no promise that he will accept a deliberate compromise.