If God’s choice can fail | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: February 19, 2023 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 11, No. 42

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Welcome to another week of the month of February 2023. I pray that God will cause His peace to reign in our lives and in every part of the country all through the week, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

It is not news that we, as a nation, have now come into election weeks. And people from every part of the country will begin to go to the polls to cast their votes for their preferred candidates. Now while it is not my job to tell you who to vote for or who not to vote for among the various candidates contesting, it is my job to tell you not to put your confidence in any of them but in God.

Yes, you surely will have your reasons for wanting to vote in whoever you intend to vote in. But regardless of how genuine and upright your reasons for choosing this person may be, don’t put your confidence in them but in God. And why should you not put your confidence in them? It is because even if they are God’s candidate, they may still fail.

This, unfortunately, is what many of our church leaders who have been prophesying and saying all kinds of things about certain individuals that they believe God has chosen to become leaders of our country and states don’t understand. And they don’t understand this because they have not been paying attention to Scriptures. The Scriptures show us that the fact that someone has been ordained by God for a leadership position does not mean that he will do well or be a blessing to his people. He may just turn out to be a curse to them and a disappointment to God.

For instance, we are told in the bible that it was God that chose and ordained Saul, son of Kish, as the first king of Israel. But did he turn out right? No, he did not. So, at some point, God got tired of him. Look at what is said in the bible about that: “Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.” (1Sam 15:10-11NIV) Did you see that? Even though it was God Himself that chose and ordained Saul as king, He later regretted choosing him.

Now people often say that God never regrets doing anything. But that is their own thought, and it is contrary to Scriptures. From what we see in Scriptures, there were times God regretted doing certain things. And He did not lie to Himself at such times. Instead, He faced the reality and dealt with the things that brought Him regret. So, if you too are having a feeling of regret or disappointment about certain decisions you made in the past, decisions that appeared to be good at the time you were making them but which have now turned bad, don’t be too hard on yourself. Instead, face the reality and do the needful.

God had to face the reality in Saul case and do the needful. He had to anoint someone else in his stead, even while he was still on the throne. But was He happy about the fact that He had to do that? No! What about Prophet Samuel who represented God in handling Saul’s ordination? Was he happy with the fact that the man lost his way and could not be brought to repentance? No! On the contrary, we are told in the bible that he kept on mourning for him until God stopped him from doing so and told him to go and anoint someone else in his stead. (Cf. 1Sam 15:35 & 16:1)

What is my point? It is that even if you are voting for God’s anointed leaders in these coming elections, you cannot guarantee that they will not fail you, for they may fail both God and you. And if God’s choice can fail us, can we confidently say that our own choices won’t fail us? We can’t. And if they should fail us, what are we going to do? Are we going to continue to mourn like Samuel until the next elections, that is, for the next four years?

Now my prayer is that none of those who will become leaders during these elections will end up making us mourn in this country. But we must be careful not to put our trust in any of them but in God. That way, even if they fail us, we will be able to count on God to turn their failure around for our good.

Have a splendid week.

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