When God Plays Hard to Get : Part 4

Out of Your Comfort Zone: Is Your God Too Nice?
by R. T. Kendall

(Page 4 of 6)

God also played hard to get in the case of King Saul (see 1 Sam. 13:1-15). But Saul failed to see it and lost the privilege of passing on the kingship to his family. What happened? The prophet Samuel had agreed to be present at a critical time but was overdue for some reason and kept Saul waiting. Nobody knew what was really going on. It was a divine setup to see what Saul would do. Would the new king honor the word of God? Would he stick to the ways of God as revealed in Scripture or would he presume he represented an exception to the revelation of God? Had Saul done what was right he would have said, "Let's not be hasty. We will wait for Samuel before there is any administering of the burnt offerings because he is the only one the Lord would approve of for this." If only.

How many of us have done this? In church and during a time of inspiration we may sing "Have Thine Own Way, Lord" or some devotional hymn by which we pledge to get closer to Him. We tell Him we want more anointing, that we want to please Him in all our ways. Others will go forward at the end of a service and promise the Lord all sorts of things and assume God applauds such devotion. It's not that He is unimpressed with us at a time like this; He is more interested in how we will be in real life a few days later rather than during our emotional response at church, however sincere we may have been. God tests our earnestness hours, days, or even months later to see how we will react when the divine setup occurs. We may feel this is not very nice for God to do, but does He not have a right to test our promises?

King Saul's downfall came about because he put himself above the revealed word of God during a time of testing. The people were quaking with fear because of the Philistines. Samuel set a time at which he would turn up to offer the burnt offerings. When Samuel did not show up as scheduled, Saul took it upon himself to offer the burnt offering. The Mosaic Law laid down specific instructions that only a priest is authorized to present the burnt offerings (Num. 3:10). But King Saul did it anyway. He explained to Samuel that he felt "compelled" to do it since Samuel turned up too late (1 Sam. 13:11-12).

Saul's claim that he felt compelled to act smacks of the behavior of some people today who fancy that when it comes to the things of God, their feelings are an objective basis on which to operate. Some will even go so far as to say, "The Lord told me to do this," even though the action is blatantly contrary to his own Word! To quote Rob Parsons, Christian men who leave their wives often say such things as: "Darling, we were so young when we got married . . . we didn't really know what we were doing"; "In the long run, this will be better for you"; "This will also turn out to be better for the kids"; or "I've prayed about this, and it's fine with God."

Joseph played hard to get with his eleven brothers when he was prime minister of Egypt. Twenty-two years before they sold him to the Ishmaelites, never expecting to see him again. It was an awful, cowardly thing to do. The time came for these brothers to go to Egypt a second time to buy food, but they did not know they had to face their brother Joseph. He had totally forgiven them in his heart, but now Joseph did something that could be easily misunderstood. When he sent his brothers on their way, he secretly put his cup in Benjamin's bag. Benjamin was then arrested for stealing his cup. On the surface this seems like a cruel joke, yet it was anything but.

It was a setup to see whether the brothers had changed in twenty-two years, to find out if they would do to their brother Benjamin (who had replaced Joseph as his father's favorite son) what they did to Joseph. Here was a perfect opportunity to get rid of Benjamin. When Benjamin was found to have Joseph's cup in his bag the brothers could have said, "Sorry, Benjamin, you are in trouble, you brought this on yourself, and you alone will remain in Egypt to pay for your crime." Instead, they all "tore their clothes," stood by Benjamin, and accompanied him to the prime minister's quarters to plead for mercy.

It was a setup and they passed with flying colors, for they had indeed changed. They were not the same jealous brothers who wanted to get rid of Joseph so many years before. Joseph wept when they pleaded for Benjamin's innocence. At last he revealed his identity to them and also his forgiveness for what they had done twenty-two years before.

Elijah carried out this same tactic of playing hard to get when he put off Elisha's wish for a double portion of his master's anointing - a bold wish (see 2 Kings 2:1-15). On the day Elijah was to be taken away, Elisha doggedly stayed at his master's side. Elijah said to him, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel," but Elisha replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you" (v. 2). Elijah did it again, "Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho" (v. 4). But Elisha followed Elijah to Jericho. A third time Elijah tried to put Elisha off, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan" (v. 6). Elisha never left his master's side and was rewarded for his commitment not to let Elijah out of his sight; he received the double portion of Elijah's spirit.

For over ten years I have added this petition to my daily prayer list: May I recognize the exact moment when God is playing hard to get and never miss his intentions for me. This teaching has profoundly affected my life and outlook and I predict it will have the same effect on you too.

On the night before Jacob was to be reunited with his brother, Esau, an encounter he was dreading, he found himself wrestling with a man all night long (see Gen. 32:22-26). We won't know the details until we get to heaven, but we do know that at some point during this wrestling match Jacob perceived his opponent was not an enemy after all. Instead, he was wrestling with a highly valued friend who had the power to bless, which Jacob was determined not to miss. God was playing hard to get. Jacob passed the test in what was a pivotal moment for him. Though he might have run away from the stranger at first, Jacob kept struggling with him and eventually got the better of the man - an angel no doubt. He said to Jacob, "'Let me go, for it is daybreak.' But Jacob replied, 'I will not let you go unless you bless me'" (v. 26). The result: Jacob was given a most wonderful compliment from the Lord - would that God would say such words to me. For the Lord said to Jacob, "You have struggled with God and with men and have overcome" (Gen. 32:28). I love how the King James Version puts it: "For as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed."

Copyright © R. T. Kendall 2005

About the Author

Dr. R. T. Kendall served for 25 years as Minister of Westminster Chapel in London and now lives in Florida. From there, he continues his career as a popular Christian preacher and writer. His best-selling books include The Thorn in the Flesh, Total Forgiveness, and The Anointing.