JEREMIAH was a prophet that God sent to Israel, but the word he carried was extremely difficult for the people to receive. He came announcing that judgment was approaching and that the nation was to yield to the foreign king who was about to conquer them. Imagine someone arriving with a message telling you that instead of fighting, you must surrender. That was Jeremiah’s assignment.
Yet later in that same book we read the well-known words, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11). God’s plan had always been restoration. The call to yield was not weakness — it was about positioning the nation to understand His word. Israel’s failure was not about military capacity; Scripture shows many victories with just a few hundred men. The issue was posture. Yielding allowed them to see God’s heart and align with His plan.
That same tension appears in the life of King Saul.
Saul had already been told by Samuel that because of his disobedience, the kingdom had been taken from him: “Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15:23). When Samuel later died, Saul knew what God had spoken. Yet he sought God — not to align himself with the word, but to hear what would favor his own desires.
David also made mistakes, but the difference was posture. When confronted with errors, David did not defend himself but sought to understand God’s heart and align with it. Scripture records his prayers, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10), showing his desire to be positioned under God’s word. Saul, however, acted as if his mistakes were insignificant, seeking solutions outside of understanding God’s instructions.
God had already spoken to Saul about the kingdom. The stance Saul should have taken was obedience, not just sacrifice. Yet he sought a word for victory that God had no intention of giving him. Scripture tells us that when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him — neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets (1 Samuel 28:6). Saul’s problem was not inability; it was posture. He wanted results without understanding or obeying the word of God.
Many people today find themselves in that same place. God has already spoken, yet they ignore what He says and pursue voices that confirm their desires. They are not seeking understanding — they are seeking agreement. When prophecy opposes personal belief, the danger is chasing what feels right rather than aligning with what God has declared.
We see this pattern throughout Scripture. Israel cried for meat in the wilderness even though God had provided manna. God gave them what they demanded, but judgment followed while the meat was still in their mouths (Numbers 11:33). Psalm 106:15 says, “He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.” They demanded something contrary to God’s instruction and ignored His voice. The lesson was clear: the key was yieldedness, not force.
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King Ahab did the same. He surrounded himself with prophets who promised victory, yet Micaiah later revealed that a lying spirit had influenced those voices (1 Kings 22:22–23). Ahab wanted reassurance, not understanding. He sought confirmation of his belief rather than a word that positioned him to obey God.
This is why Jeremiah’s message, Saul’s failure, and Israel’s testing all point to the same truth: prophecy only produces fruit when it is met with the right posture. God speaks, but the response requires yieldedness, attentiveness, and alignment. When we first allow ourselves to understand His word, obedience naturally follows.
The question for every believer is simple but challenging: What is God saying to you? Are you seeking to confirm your desires, or are you yielding to hear, understand, and obey His voice?
The key is not to push the hand of God. It is to listen, yield, and position yourself under His word.
God bless you.
