Who's Your Nathan?

Sometimes we get too big for our britches!

Even those whose hearts belong to God can get off track to the point where God cannot reach them. He dials; nobody answers. But another wonderful thing about God is that He doesn't quit trying.

David was called "a man after God's own heart." He was God's hand-picked king and spoke with Him face-to-face. David wrote many of the inspired Psalms and was a mouthpiece for God Himself.

But he got too big for his britches.

He turned a stubborn face against the Lord and followed lust instead. One lust led to another until David had innocent blood on his hands. But still he refused to hear God.

So God came at him another way. He used the prophet Nathan. Only when confronted with God's words from another person would David listen.

God does that with us, too. Even when we have heard from God, we know His voice, and we follow Him, we can get off track. We get too big for our britches. We start following our own ideas, lusts, opinions, and desires. We start thinking for ourselves rather than seeking God's thoughts. And we get off into the ditch.

Sometimes even then, we turn our stubborn faces away and keep trying to make it right our own way. But God doesn't give up. He keeps trying. And sometimes he uses other people.

Has God sent a Nathan to you? Has someone spoken God's words right into the middle of your sin? Some people get angry at the Nathan who dared point out their error. 

One thing David did right when shown his sin was that he repented. On the spot. He allowed God's truth to penetrate and demolish the tower of cards he had built and he turned it around. He fully owned what he had done and stopped it. That's called repentance. David repented before the Lord and humbly took the discipline he deserved.

You have a choice when your Nathan confronts you. You can stiffen up in self-righteous anger, or you can follow the righteous example of a man after God's own heart. You can repent, accept the discipline you deserve, and move on to be everything God wants you to be.

Keep an eye out for your Nathans. God sent them.
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