Fighting God Never Solves Anything
An all-creatures Bible Message

Fighting God Never Solves Anything
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
11 March 2018
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Genesis 1:29
Psalm 107:17-32

Fighting God never solves anything, for while people may try, they will never win, even if for a time they may think they are.
 
Fighting God never solves anything, for God set everything in motion in a perfect way, and fighting with Him is like trying to bail out the ocean with a teacup, for no matter how hard or long we try, we will never make any visible difference, and eventually the water is going to run back into the ocean.
 
God wants us to live in His heavenly will.
 
He wants us to repent of our worldly ways, accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, and be filled with the Holy Spirit to guide us through our life here on earth, and forever with the Lord in heaven.
 
Additionally, if we are living in His heavenly will, then as peacemaking children of God, we help free creation from its present corruption, which ends the pain, suffering, and death that afflicts millions of humans and billions of other animals every year.
 
With these things in mind, let’s look at what we are told in Psalm 107:17-32…

17. Fools, because of their rebellious way,
And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.

In the eyes of the psalmist, the people who rebel against God or who fight with God are fools, and that such people are afflicted by their own rebellious ways.

18. Their soul abhorred all kinds of food;
And they drew near to the gates of death.

At first glance, if we only read the first line, it may seem like the psalmist could be talking about vegans; however, since the people the psalmist is talking about also draw near to the gates of death, he couldn’t be referring to vegans, for only animal foods cause this kind of death.
 
The gates of death are only reserved for the death of human beings who refuse to repent and become children of God.
 
We have heard flesh eaters say that they don’t like vegetables; this means that they don’t like the foods that God created for them to eat.
 
Perhaps flesh eaters could twist the meaning of this verse to argue against eating only a plant based diet, but it could not be, because in the beginning God commanded us to eat only plant foods, as we are told in Genesis 1:29…

29. Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
NASB

“It shall be food for you” is not a suggestion, it is a commandment; thus, abhorring any so called food that comes from animals is doing exactly what God commanded us to do in Eden.
 
With this in mind, let’s return to what the psalmist tells us about these rebellious people.

19. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses.
 
20. He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.

We need to think about what the psalmist is saying in greater detail, because we don’t believe that God simply said be healed and they were healed, because there is no sign of their repentance.
 
Remember that fighting God never solves anything, and these people were fighting God’s heavenly will, so there has to be something more.
 
When God created only plant foods for us to eat in Eden, He also created them to keep us healthy, and people who eat the by-products of once living animals are the ones that are afflicted with all kinds of chronic diseases, such as diseases of the heart and type II diabetes.
 
We believe that the word of God that He spoke to these rebellious people showed them that they needed to repent of their worldly ways of eating animals and return to God’s heavenly will of eating only the whole plant foods God created for us to eat, and they would be healed.

21. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!
 
22. Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And tell of His works with joyful singing.

The sacrifices of thanksgiving are really our truly repentant heart and soul, and never involve the blood sacrifices of innocent animals.
 
It is too easy for a rebellious person who is constantly fighting God and His heavenly will to kill an innocent animal instead of really repenting of their ungodly ways, and resolving never to do those things again.
 
Fighting God never solves anything, and in our opinion, it only brings about more problems.
 
Then the psalmist gives us another example.

23. Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters;
 
24. They have seen the works of the LORD,
And His wonders in the deep.

In other words, these merchants and sailors should know the heavenly will of God, for they have seen His works in the course of their business dealing and travels upon the sea.
 
And we believe that there are a lot of rebellious people in the world who really know the truth and fight against it in favor of the corrupt ways of this world.
 
Such people don’t want to face the fact that fighting God never solves anything.

25. For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind,
Which lifted up the waves of the sea.

We don’t believe that God does this every time it happens, but that when He spoke creation into existence that He also created the waters and the weather to interact in specific ways, including the stormy conditions.
 
And we also need to remember that the more we cause global warming, the stronger these storms will become.
 
We also need to remember that according to the United Nations, 18% of all greenhouse gasses come from animal agriculture, which could be eliminated if we all switched back to eating only the plant foods that God created for us to eat; so at the same time we heal our bodies we are also helping to heal our environment.

26. They [the waves] rose up to the heavens,
they went down to the depths;
Their soul melted away in their misery.

Because of their fear and terror of the stormy seas the rebellious people melted away in their misery.

27. They reeled and staggered like a drunken man,
And were at their wits' end.

They hadn’t been living in the heavenly will of God, rather choosing to live in the corrupt ways of this world, which never has the power to save, but to destroy, for only God can save.

28. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
And He brought them out of their distresses.
 
29. He caused the storm to be still,
So that the waves of the sea were hushed.

How much better it could have been if they had decided to repent of their worldly ways and lived in the heavenly will of God in the first place.

30. Then they were glad because they were quiet;
So He guided them to their desired haven.
 
31. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!

Unfortunately, such people all too often forget what the Lord had done for them, and they return to living in the ways of this world.
 
Their worldly ways and rebelliousness was really a form of fighting against God and His heavenly will; they did not understand that fighting God never solves anything.

32. Let them extol Him also in the congregation of the people,
And praise Him at the seat of the elders.
NASB

Only saved people truly do this, and we hope and pray that we are some of them, but words are cheap, and many people spout them without truly believing.
 
Fighting God never solves anything…
 
Amen.

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