Pastor Steven Furtick

Matthew 16:22-23

22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

I know it’s preposterous, but sometimes, I try to tell God what to do.  Just like Peter. Especially when, like Peter, I want to avoid the next hard thing that the will of God entails.

• Sometimes, God speaks to me about a person who needs to be removed from an area of leadership, and I try to refute it, or at least delay it.   When I argue with God in situations like this, I end up costing my church, myself, and the person involved a tremendous amount of pain and opportunity.

• Other times, God wants to make a change in me, and I divert attention by scrambling to fix something else in someone else.  I’ve learned it’s better to remove the plank from my own eye, first.  Then the speck will be easier to see.

• In seasons that Elevation isn’t growing numerically, my tendency is to freak out and beg God for more growth.  It may be that God knows what He’s doing, and is intentionally decelerating so that we can create structure and increase capacity.  If so, it’s better to embrace the opportunity than to fight against it.

Bottom line: It’s a bad idea to tell God what to do.  He’s going to do His thing whether you like it or not.  It’s better to be a rock that He can build on than a stumbling block that He has to remove.
Just ask Peter.