This October has been quite a challenging month for me in a number of ways. Because of this, I was finding it tricky to gather the energy to do some of the things I like to do, like writing, (and even more tricky to scrape up energy to do the things I don’t like to do!)

In the midst of all, I came across this verse that I had saved on my phone a while back, and was reflecting on it, “But He(God) would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” (Psalm 81:16, ESV)

Now honey does not normally stream out from rocks, so the latter part of this verse does sound a bit unusual. But then God is never limited by the usual, is He? As I thought about this, I realised that in the midst of my rocky situation, God had used people in my life to essentially provide “honey”, literal nourishment in some instances. This is something I have been very grateful for, as it has been a helpful reminder of God’s love and care for me. It is also a reminder that God is more than capable of satisfying us with blessings in the most unlikely and hardest of places, and even from sources we might never imagine.

That said, to better understand the context of the verse, I read the entire Psalm 81. It struck me that although it starts off joyful, with people being encouraged to sing and play instruments to praise God, when it comes to God’s response, there is a tone of lament in it.

“Sing praises to God, our strength.
    Sing to the God of Jacob.
²Sing! Beat the tambourine.
    Play the sweet lyre and the harp.
³ Blow the ram’s horn at new moon,
    and again at full moon to call a festival!
⁴ For this is required by the decrees of Israel;
    it is a regulation of the God of Jacob.
⁵ He made it a law for Israel
    when he attacked Egypt to set us free.

I heard an unknown voice say,
⁶ “Now I will take the load from your shoulders;
    I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.
⁷ You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you;
    I answered out of the thundercloud
    and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah. Interlude

Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings.
    O Israel, if you would only listen to me!
⁹ You must never have a foreign god;
    you must not bow down before a false god.
¹⁰ For it was I, the Lord your God,
    who rescued you from the land of Egypt.
    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.

¹¹ “But no, my people wouldn’t listen.
    Israel did not want me around.
¹² So I let them follow their own stubborn desires,
    living according to their own ideas.
¹³ Oh, that my people would listen to me!
    Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!
¹⁴ How quickly I would then subdue their enemies!
    How soon my hands would be upon their foes!
¹⁵ Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him;
    they would be doomed forever.
¹⁶ But I would feed you with the finest wheat.
    I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock.” (Psalm 81, NLT).

If you have ever asked a child not to do something because you knew the consequences would not be pleasant, but they went ahead and did it anyway; Or if you asked them to do something that you knew would be good for them, and they refused to do so, then you can understand the despair in God’s response. If only they would listen, their lives would be much easier, but alas!

Because God is not a dictator, He allows them to “follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas”. It got me thinking that even though we may not actually say it, there are times we do act like our way is better than God’s way. When we don’t seek God’s direction, or possibly even worse, we seek it but don’t follow it, we are essentially declaring that our way is better than His. Or, when we value and prioritise the opinions of people, of the world over God’s opinions, we are trusting and honouring the false gods in our lives over the One True God.

While God does not impose His will, He does tell them what they are missing out by not doing so. He starts by reminding them of the fact that He was the One who rescued them from the land of Egypt. Then He tells them that if they would open their mouth wide, He will fill it with good things. He goes on to point out how quickly He would subdue their enemies and deal with their foes, while He feeds them with the finest wheat and satisfies them with wild honey from the rock. A two in one bargain – God fighting our battles, while we get to enjoy delicious honey in the battleground! The ‘catch’? Listening to God (which is not just hearing by the way, but hearing and obeying).

So, why don’t we listen to God? The benefits seem pretty obvious, don’t they? Sadly pride and a lack of trust in God can make us reluctant to listen. If God leads one to what looks like a rock, our human mind cannot comprehend the thought of honey coming out of it, and so we decide to follow the more ‘rational’ way of going to the beehive to get it ourselves (or the supermarket shelf!)

This reminds me of the story of David and Goliath as recorded in 1 Samuel 17. David is so confident in God that he eschews the rational, humanly sensible idea to dress in proper armour to fight a renowned warrior, and instead faces Goliath likely dressed in a simple tunic that offered barely any protection, armed with five smooth stones and, more importantly, the name of the Lord Almighty. That unconventional strategy, borne out of time spent with God, listening to Him and building faith and confidence in God, caused David to be victorious, all for God’s glory. This became David’s first introduction to the Israelites, and a major event that raised His hitherto relatively unknown profile as a warrior.

Other examples include Jehoshaphat’s battle strategy of leading an army to war with musicians stationed in front, focusing on praising God rather than fighting because He and the people listened to, and trusted God’s promise to fight for them (2 Chronicles 20), and Jesus instructing Peter to go to find the money for their taxes in the mouth of a fish 😳 (Matthew 17:27). Even an unbeliever, Naaman, was healed and converted when He finally, reluctantly followed God’s instruction to head to River Jordan for a dip, rather than the more appealing Rivers of Damascus, Abana and Pharpar (1 Kings 5). In each case, obedience to the seemingly irrational plans brought about the desired outcomes.

No wonder God says in Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV), “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

What can we learn from this? God’s leading may go against our natural instincts sometimes, but if we listen and obey, trusting Him with the outcome, He will come through. The saying “If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it” springs to mind here. This is why in His response in Psalm 81 above, He reminds His people again and again that He had rescued them before, He had previously saved them when they were in trouble, and He can certainly do it again. If He has done it before, He can do it again.

And so, even when we are in rocky situations, with God, we know that these can be prime honey-producing stations. God’s way may not always look like the ‘rational’ way to us, and so this may not be easy. However, the more time we spend with Him, the more our knowledge of, and trust in Him grows. As this happens, the more we will realise, acknowledge and confidently trust that God knows far more than us, is wiser and more powerful than us, and that He will always keep His promises. Over time, we will begin to realise that God’s way will gradually become the rational, sensible way for us. And then, like David, we can choose the unconventional stones over the rational armour, the rock over the beehive, God’s ways over our desires, ideas and the false gods that surround us.

I pray that as we reflect on this, we will learn to trust God in every area of our lives, knowing that even the rockiest of paths and places don’t stop Him from providing us with honey, with water, with all we need. May we be fully surrendered to His will and way, and consequently enjoy His protection, provision and presence always. Amen and Amen.

Image Source Here.