What is From God

10.16.11

Acts 5.39 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.

Gamaliel was a wise man; he essentially told the emotional crowd of leaders, “Hey, if this is just human doing, it’s gonna fail! But if it’s from God, you’re gonna fail.” Wise words, his. I’m surprised at the partial belief that Gamaliel had; he knew God existed and probably in his own way loved and worshiped God. I think where he fell down in his thinking was he just didn’t believe Jesus was God’s Messiah: preconceived notions can be very powerful. I think Gamaliel believed God was going to send a messiah; he just didn’t believe Jesus was the One.

That’s where the whole story begins or ends for people: is Jesus God’s Messiah? If He is, then there are some changes that need to take place. If He isn’t, then we’re still accountable to God. The problem is no one wants to be accountable to God, Jesus notwithstanding. Gamaliel was in that difficult place of wanting to believe in God but rejecting Jesus as His Sent One.

Think about the things in your life that are from God. What are those things? Many will say their spouse is from God. Many will say their kids are from God. Many will say there employment is from God. We can point to a wide number of things that are from God. Well, how do we know that?

For one, the things that are from God are enduring; they don’t peter out after a while. For another, the things that are from God are things that change us internally; they have a transforming effect on our being. And the things that are from God, cause us to seek Him more earnestly. Pain, difficulty, discomfort and loss can all be from God with the one main purpose of getting us to call out to Him and seek Him for relief. And when they hang around longer than we want, they cause us to seek Him more.

We like to think that the things that are from God are the blessings we so desperately want from Him. But blessings need to be the right blessings and we need to be careful to see them properly or we’ll miss God in the midst of them. Pain, difficulty, discomfort and loss can all be masterful blessings that change us from weakling to warrior. And Gamaliel was right: the things that are from God are unstoppable; and trying to stop them only brings further frustration and disappointment… like an nagging itch that won’t go away.

Such is the enduring love of God that will not give up on people. God never gives up until that person eternally rejects Him. I’m not exactly sure when that actually occurs but the Scripture is very plain: it does. What is from God needs to be accepted as such and tested as such. We’re better off to carefully consider the circumstances and events of our lives in the light of His enduring love so that we know what is and keep it; and what isn’t and let it go.