Friday night while I was home in Chicago, my mother and I decided to go see the movie Harriet and hands down, it was one of the best movies I have seen. The movie is a narrative based on a true story about a heroic abolitionist by the name of Harriet Tubman. Harriet was an African American woman who was born into slavery that escaped and made multiple missions back to guide and save other enslaved people by utilizing a network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. What I loved about the movie is how it depicts the nature of Harriet’s total dependance on the voice of God through prophecy to guide and protect her throughout her journey in life (click on the trailer below to see a preview of the movie).
As I left the movie Harriet, God immediately let me know that this month He wanted each one of you to know that in order to succeed, you have to allow His voice to lead. Harriet’s nickname was Moses so naturally I thought that God would want me to tie in the story of Moses, a prophet who led people to freedom as God instructed him to do so but God lead me to another story in the bible that He wanted me to focus on to emphasize the importance of His voice. It is a story about a man of God from Judah which is shared in 1 Kings 13:1-25 NIV.
By the voice of God, a man from Judah is led to Bethel and begins to cry out against an altar (see 1 Kings 13:1-3 NIV). When a king over hears what the man of God is crying out, he stretches out his hand and says “seize him” but the hand he stretches out towards the man of God shrivels up and he is unable to pull it back. The king then asks this man of God to pray for him that his hand may be restored and so the man of God prays for the king and his hand is immediately restored (see 1 Kings 13:4-6 NIV). After this, in 1 Kings 13:7-10 NIV the king invites the man of God back to his place, “7 The king said to the man of God, ‘Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.’ 8 But the man of God answered the king, ‘Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. 9 For I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’ 10 So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.”
As the man of God from Judah initially obeyed the instructions given to him by the voice of God that told him not to return by the way he came, he is soon approached by another man on the road who invites him to his place to eat in 1 Kings 13:11-25 NIV.
11 Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. 12 Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13 So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14 and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” “I am,” he replied. 15 So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.” 16 The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17 I have been told by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’” 18 The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (But he was lying to him.) 19 So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.
20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. 22 You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your ancestors.’”
23 When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. 24 As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it. 25 Some people who passed by saw the body lying there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.
11 Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. 12 Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13 So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14 and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” “I am,” he replied. 15 So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.” 16 The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17 I have been told by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’” 18 The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (But he was lying to him.) 19 So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.
20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. 22 You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your ancestors.’”
23 When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. 24 As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it. 25 Some people who passed by saw the body lying there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.
As you allow the voice of God to lead you throughout your journey in life, here are three things that you will have to be in order to succeed:
This month, allow the voice of God to lead the way for you because when God is leading the way, He will always make you the head, not the tail. You will always be at the top, never at the bottom (Deuteronomy 28:13 GW).
- Tamper-Proof
- When the voice of God instructs you to do something or provides you with a promise, no matter what happens in life or what you are faced with, you are going to have to hold on to that word never letting man or anything of this world interfere with what God has told you. The word of God remains forever (1 Peter 1:25 NLT) which means that you are going to have to be tamper-proof. With the man of God from Judah, we initially see this once he turns the first man down and tells him what he cannot do because of what he was commanded by the word of the Lord (1 Kings 13:8-9 NIV).
- A Discerner
- Romans 12:2 ESV says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”. This season, you will have to tap into your gift of discernment to be able to recognize and swiftly distinguish frauds or counterfeits from the real thing. You are going to have to recognize that any voice outside of the voice of God that is not in alignment with what God has spoken to you is an unauthorized voice that has the potential to deter you from the direction that God has already provided for you. While the man of God from Judah knew what he heard from the voice of God, he was unable to perceive a lie told to him by man due to his lack of discernment. In order to succeed in allowing the voice of God to lead, you are going to need discernment so that you will not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether or not they are from God (1 John 4:1 NIV)
- Obedient
- As the voice of God leads you, in order to succeed you will have to be obedient. In the movie Harriet, there is a scene where she is leading a group of enslaved individuals across the water and although she seems nervous to cross the water, she takes a moment to pray and obeys the voice of God by doing so anyway. Her decision to obey the voice of God ultimately led her and the enslaved group of individuals following her to freedom. Being obedient to the voice of God will not always make sense, and it will not always be easy but you cannot afford to have the type of setback that the man of God from Judah had in 1 Kings 13:20-25 NIV simply because you made the decision to defy the voice of God. The bible tells us that we receive blessings for our obedience. When we are obedient in following the voice of God by faithfully obeying His commands, the Lord sets us high above all the nations on earth and blesses us abundantly (Deuteronomy 28:1-6 MSG).
This month, allow the voice of God to lead the way for you because when God is leading the way, He will always make you the head, not the tail. You will always be at the top, never at the bottom (Deuteronomy 28:13 GW).
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
With praise upon our lips and gratitude overflowing from our hearts, we magnify your holy name. You are loving, you are faithful, you are kind, you are gentle, you are patient, you are reliable, and you are fruitful. Thank you for being God! Forgive us for our sins and anything that we’ve done that was displeasing to you Lord. As we have officially entered into the month of November, we surrender our ways for your ways, we surrender our thoughts, for your thoughts, and we surrender our sight for your sight. Bless us with the ability to not only hear and recognize your voice, but to be able to listen to your voice and effectively follow your instruction (John 10:27 NIV). We pray that once we have heard your voice that we will never let it depart from us. Bless us with the ability to be tamper-proof, bless us with discernment, and bless us with faithful obedience. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
Scriptures to Feed Yourself & Reflect On:
1 Kings 13:1-25 NIV
1 Peter 1:25 NLT
Romans 12:2 ESV
1 John 4:1 NIV
Deuteronomy 28:1-6 MSG
Deuteronomy 28:13 GW
John 10:27 NIV
Heavenly Father,
With praise upon our lips and gratitude overflowing from our hearts, we magnify your holy name. You are loving, you are faithful, you are kind, you are gentle, you are patient, you are reliable, and you are fruitful. Thank you for being God! Forgive us for our sins and anything that we’ve done that was displeasing to you Lord. As we have officially entered into the month of November, we surrender our ways for your ways, we surrender our thoughts, for your thoughts, and we surrender our sight for your sight. Bless us with the ability to not only hear and recognize your voice, but to be able to listen to your voice and effectively follow your instruction (John 10:27 NIV). We pray that once we have heard your voice that we will never let it depart from us. Bless us with the ability to be tamper-proof, bless us with discernment, and bless us with faithful obedience. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
Scriptures to Feed Yourself & Reflect On:
1 Kings 13:1-25 NIV
1 Peter 1:25 NLT
Romans 12:2 ESV
1 John 4:1 NIV
Deuteronomy 28:1-6 MSG
Deuteronomy 28:13 GW
John 10:27 NIV