YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER! Have your parents or someone ever told you, you should have known better? How did it make you feel? It made me feel pretty bad. I felt that what I did was far less than what was expected of me. In simple terms, I could have done far better.
We have been looking at how to successfully manage our money and the resources God has given us. We have determined that successfully managing money and possessions involves putting God first in everything we do.
When times get hard, no matter what, we need to trust God. We now look at some biblical counseling on managing during hard times.
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Seeking God’s Guidance
Holy Father, help us use the experiences we have had, the experiences of others, and the experience of those in the Bible as a reminder to live according to your expectations of us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
The comment “you should have known better” often implies that although we had the ability to make a better decision, we failed to do so. It also suggests that based on our experiences and abilities or even from seeing what has happened to others under similar circumstances, we should have been able to foresee the negative consequences of our actions.
For example, King David, the King of Judah, should have known better. From the experience of his best friend, Jonathan, he should have known that in a covenant relationship with God, numbers do not matter. It doesn’t matter whether you have a few or many; God can give you victory.
In 1 Samuel 14:1–23, the Bible talks about Jonathan. Jonathan was King Saul’s son. King Saul was the first King of the nation of Israel.
Jonathan and his armor-bearer, the man who helped carry his battle suit, won a battle against the very large Philistine army.
How did Jonathan win this battle? Instead of relying on numbers and his own ingenuity, in 1 Samuel 14: 6, we see that Jonathan relies on God for victory.
6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, “Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the Lord will work for us, for the Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few.” (1 Samuel 14: 6)
You can read more about the details of Jonathan’s victory in 1 Samuel 14:1-23.
Now, why should David have known better?
Jonathan and David were best friends. In preparation for battle, David knew about Jonathan’s experience with the Philistines. But like many others in the History of God’s people, when difficult times came, David didn’t rely on God. David did not learn from his friend’s experience.
Instead, David let Satan lead him away from trusting in God. David trusted in his own strength, ingenuity, wisdom, knowledge, power, and know-how.
In contrast to Jonathan’s victory in 1 Samuel 14:1-23, 1 Chronicles 21:1–14 tells of David’s defeat despite the massive number of soldiers in his army. David relied on the number of soldiers in his army rather than putting his trust in God for victory.
1 Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.
2 So David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan, and bring me word that I may know their number.”
3 Joab said, “May the Lord add to His people a hundred times as many as they are! But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord seek this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt to Israel?”
4 Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore, Joab departed and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.
5 Joab gave the number of the census of all the people to David. And all Israel were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword; and Judah was 470,000 men who drew the sword.
6 But he did not number Levi and Benjamin among them, for the king’s command was abhorrent to Joab.
7 God was displeased with this thing, so He struck Israel.
8 David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”
9 The Lord spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying,
10 “Go and speak to David, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I offer you three things; choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you.”‘”
11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Take for yourself
12 either three years of famine, or three months to be swept away before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now, therefore, consider what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.”
“14 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel; 70,000 men of Israel fell. (1 Chronicles 21:1–14)
Did you notice that in 1 Chronicles 21:1 that it was Satan who prompted David to count the soldiers? Joab, the leader of Israel’s army, had seen God work on behalf of Israel in the past.
Because of his experiences with God, he tried to convince David not to number his soldiers. But David yielded to the suggestion of Satan. He demanded that Joab go forward with numbering Israel’s army.
Regarding trusting in numbers rather than God, in the book Spiritual Gifts, it says that David did not show humility, nor did he trust in God as he had done in the past.
David, in his prosperity, did not maintain that humility of character and trust in God which characterized the earlier part of his life. He looked upon the accessions to the kingdom with pride and contrasted their then-prosperous condition with their few numbers and little strength when he ascended the throne, taking glory to himself. He gratified his ambitious feelings in yielding to the temptations of the Devil to number Israel, that he might compare their former weakness to their then prosperous state under his rule. This was displeasing to God and contrary to his express command. It would lead Israel to rely upon their strength of numbers instead of the living God.
The work of numbering Israel is not fully completed before David feels convicted that he has committed a great sin against God. He sees his error and humbles himself before God, confessing his great sin in foolishly numbering the people. But his repentance came too late. The word had already gone forth from the Lord to his faithful prophet to carry a message to David and offer him his choice of punishment for his transgression. David still shows that he has confidence in God. He chooses to fall into the hands of a merciful God, rather than be left to the cruel mercies of wicked men.—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4a, p. 92.
So, it was Satan’s idea to count the soldiers. Satan’s purpose was to get David to trust in his own strength and not in God. Yet, Joab David’s general was against this, But David wanted proof that his army was strong.
In other words, he felt that the strength of his army depended on how many soldiers he had. So, David counted his soldiers to convince himself that his army was strong.
But David should have known better; he had seen God work many times in the past to save Israel. Joab tells him that based on what God had done in the past, he didn’t need any more proof that God would protect them.
Nevertheless, as a surety of his own strength, David counted his soldiers. David showed that he put more faith in himself and in the size of his army than he had in God’s ability to save them.
But, our trust in God rather than self will never be without success. When we face hardship, yes, we are to prepare and prepare well. We are to do all that we can to be successful, but, in the end, we must remember that only God can give us victory.
This is the point that the book Gospel Workers makes when it says:
If you go to God for help and wisdom, He will never disappoint your faith. . . . it goes on to say that “It may be argued that the Lord gives special wisdom to those entrusted with important responsibilities. True, if they walk humbly with Him, He will give them help for their work; and He will give you help for yours, if you seek it in the same spirit. If the Lord in His providence has placed important responsibilities upon you, He will fit you to bear these burdens, if you go to Him in faith for strength to do this. When you put your trust in Him, and depend upon His counsel, He will not leave you to your own finite judgment, to make imperfect plans and decided failures.—Gospel Workers, pp. 417, 418.
The fact is that when we put our trust in God, we will always make the right choice. And God will never fail us.
However, when we ask God to fight for us, and with us, he also expects us to prepare for the battle. We must do everything we can to succeed. But in the end, we must remember that our victory is in God and not in our preparation. We should never conclude that our success is in our strength alone.
When times are tough, it is tempting and very easy to trust in the government or our bank accounts, but we must always trust in God. We must not put our trust in the government or in our bank accounts. No, it is not wrong to take inventory of what we have, but we must not put our trust in our inventory, as David did.
When you examine the stories in the Bible about those facing hardship, you will find that when they trusted God, they were victorious.
In terms of managing God’s resources are being God’s manager. Are you in debt? Trust God to help you pay off your debts. Ask God to help you and then devise a plan to get out of debt as soon as possible.
When you are free from debt, you will have extra money to help others and support what matters most, building up God’s Kingdom.
Yes, God wants us to do all we can to care for our needs. But, at the same time, He wants us to trust in Him for all things. And even more so in difficult times.
We cannot deny that that time is now! And in the words of Thomas Dorsey gospel song, “If we ever needed the Lord before, we sure do need Him now.”
We sure do need Him Now! Yet, we must prepare and prepare well. Therefore, it is suggested that in preparation for hard times, we need to simplify. How do we simplify?
Find out on Day 4: Time to Simplify!
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