Proverbs 16:25: There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.

When children become rebellious, they sincerely believe in their hearts that getting “their own way” will lead to their freedom. Are you currently in a situation where you feel pressed into “getting your own way?” First of all, if you’re feeling pressured into making a decision in an attempt to gain your freedom, know that getting your way doesn’t always lead to having more freedom.

Satan works very diligently on people’s hearts trying to get us to see godly authority as restrictive and limiting. When the person is young or immature, this can make them a perfect target because they have not gone out on their own and experienced “life” in a way that seems to liberate to them. However, Satan’s target doesn’t have to be someone who is young or immature, but can be an older person that feels bound by the duties of their everyday life and feels as though the walls are closing in around them.

God has promised us that He would withhold no good thing from those who walk uprightly before Him. However, if you’re feeling like you need to get your way or spread your wings and fly, but you have to break covenant with God or violate a law or ordinance in order to do so, then you should know that Satan is setting you up. He wants to use rebellion—coupled with unbelief, the lie that God doesn’t care about you or that He doesn’t want you to have what you currently desire, to drive you into bondage. Please be careful that you recognize these signs I’ve listed as warnings and allow the Lord to soften your heart so you don’t sin, go into bondage, and lose the blessings that God has already given you.

Paul tells us in Timothy that Eve was deceived. She didn’t know everything, nor had she experienced all that was “out there.” When Satan came to her in the garden, he spoke to her in such a way that it made God begin to appear to her as repressive and controlling. After he convinced her that God was holding her back from something special with His laws, he pressed her into rebellion by tempting her with something that was forbidden. She began to think that her way would be the only way to experience the freedom of being like God without having to keep the dictates of God’s law.

How many people today are living in real bondage and lack, when once they had liberty and their needs taken care of by the Lord? There is a way that seems right to a person, but that way leads to death.

If you struggle with being angry with God because He hasn’t done something that you feel like you deserve, then guard your heart. If you struggle with rebellious feelings and thoughts against your employer, parents, or anyone in authority over you, guard your heart. Promotion doesn’t come from man, but from God. When our ways please the Lord, He will cause our enemies to be at peace with us. As we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart. You see. It’s not about “getting our way,” but rather, it’s about walking in humility and having faith in God. He has the best plan for us, but He waits until we’re spiritually mature to handle those desires. He wants us to have things, but He doesn’t want things to have us. Love the Lord with all your heart.

I have discovered that Satan offers a counterfeit at this point, right before God is about to release the “real desire” into our lives. When you feel pressured by rebellious thoughts and tendencies to get your own way, it’s time for you to be alone with God in prayer. You might not see the connection, but trust me. Satan does. He is using this distraction as an attempt to separate you from God’s presence so that he can rob you of a long-awaited blessing. Thankfully, you can now see that “God’s way” is the only way to live free.  —submitted by Pastor Asa Dockery, US