“Is God still at Work?”

By Ps Danny Chua

Can God work good even through the sinful choices of His people?

In 1 Samuel 8, ancient Israel asks for a king “like all the nations.” This is an outright rejection of the LORD, as we’ve heard in the last few weeks. Israel is telling God: we don’t want You ruling over us anymore, we want what everyone out there has. 

But here’s what surprises us: God tells Samuel to give them what they want! Israel gets their king. And that — that granting of the request — is itself the judgment.

Which raises an uncomfortable question: if God hands His people over to their sinful desires, is He still at work? 

If God’s children today choose to disobey the voice of their Father and clearly choose destruction, are God’s purposes for them derailed?

To be clear, sin is never a good thing! Sin is never necessary to make God’s plans work, of course. But God is so sovereign and the only wise One, that even our wayward choices don’t put His purposes on hold in any way.  

He works through them without ever endorsing them. Sometimes, being handed over to what we want is exactly how God exposes how empty those things really are — these false “kings” that promise security, but only ever take and take. 

Even with Israel’s demand for a worldly king… Doesn’t that become the very context in which God’s rescue unfolds? Doesn’t Saul slowly pave a path for David, and a long time later, for a Better Son of David? Even when His very own cry out “crucify Him!”, doesn’t the Lord use the killing of His Son to bring life for those who trust Him?

Let us ponder God’s warning: the things we chase apart from God have a way of mastering us – let us not be naïve. At the same time, this is God’s comfort: our failures don’t cancel God’s work in us. He is not sitting on the sidelines, waiting helplessly for us to sort ourselves out before He can move again.

The best news: God doesn’t just call us to reject false kings. He gives us a Better One who gives and gives His life to us, and will not take from us. 

The question for us: can we see how God is at work even in our sinful choices in recent times?