The Roller Coaster Revisited: Blessings, Consequences, and the Power of Hearkening

Have you experienced the blessings of hearkening unto God, or felt the consequences of choosing not to? In this episode of the Confidence in God podcast, host Julie McGhghy continues her study on hearkening, diving into Psalm 81, Genesis 26, and other scriptures to reveal both the rewards of obedience and the natural fallout of turning away. Learn how hearkening protects us from distraction and division, how its blessings ripple across generations, and how God reciprocates when we seek Him with humility and praise. Whether you're just discovering this topic or picking up from the previous episode, "Tired of the Roller Coaster? The Answer Is Hearkening," this conversation will encourage you to keep hearkening unto God with confidence.

Resources: 

Tired of the Spiritual Roller Coaster? 

Becoming a Vessel of Honor 

Episode Timeline: Total Time 14:48

 0:00 – Introduction & welcome 

0:11 – Review: Hearkening as the key to keeping God first 

2:41 – Introducing the consequences of hearkening (and not hearkening) 

4:47 – What God wanted to do for Israel (and wants to do for us) 

5:43 – Generational blessings of hearkening (Genesis 26) 

7:32 – The consequences of failing to hearken 

9:24 – Turning toward the good news 

10:13 – Hearkening is reciprocal (King Josiah) 

11:24 – Recap of the episode 

12:45 – Closing prayer 

Transcript

0:00

Hello, and welcome to the Confidence in God podcast. I am your host, Julie McGhghy, and our goal today is to help you walk with confidence in God. Have you been reaping the benefits of hearkening unto God? Or maybe the consequences of choosing not to do so? As promised in the last episode of this podcast, I want to share with you more consequences of hearkening to God and some consequences when we don't. In case you missed the episode, "Tired of the Rollercoaster? The Answer Is Hearkening," in which I delve deeply into what it means to hearken, I'll drop the link in the show notes below. But in review, I will also share an abbreviated version in this episode. In "Tired of the Roller Coaster?", we learned that hearkening unto God is the key to successfully keeping God first in our lives. We dove deeply into Psalm 81:8-10, which includes an if-then statement that says, "If you will hearken unto me, then there will no strange god be in you, and neither will you worship any strange god." We don't think in terms of worshiping strange gods. In fact, we would likely be very offended if somebody accused us of doing so. So how do these verses apply to us? When we pursue anything, such as career, money, family, material comforts, even recreation, more earnestly than we pursue God, those things become strange gods. And according to Romans 8:6, our doing so is enmity, or a deep and bitter hatred against God. So how do we protect ourselves from developing this strong negative attitude toward God? By hearkening to Him, as Asaph wrote in Psalm 81, "If you hearken unto me, then there will be no strange god in you, and you will not worship any strange god." This is the key to keeping God first in our lives so we don't succumb to pursuing other things more earnestly than Him. We also learned that hearkening has a wide range of definitions, from having the power to hear God to being attentive to Him and obeying Him. By looking at Samuel, we learned we hearken unto God by going beyond just hearing His word, to also understanding it and obeying it. That's the key to keeping him first in our lives. In this episode, we're going to look more deeply at the consequences of hearkening unto God. We will also consider the consequences of not hearkening unto God. Let's return to Psalm 81. After giving us the key to keeping God first in our lives, God, through Asaph, reminds Israel that they failed to hearken unto Him and therefore suffered certain consequences. In verses 11 and 12, God states, "But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels." That was pretty harsh punishment, right? Well, no, I don't think so. All God did was give Israel the freedom to choose and live the consequences of their choices. They chose not to hearken unto God, therefore by not listening to Him and obeying Him, they were driven by their own lusts and walked in the counsel of men, not God. Those were the natural consequences of their choice. Although my husband and I are well past the years of raising our children, I do recall that the discipline we would use in any given circumstance was generally very close to the natural consequences of the particular action. As an example, if our children didn't bring their clothes to the utility room, they either did without them or they washed them themselves. Also, if they failed to do their chores, which included cleaning certain areas of the house and their bedrooms, they could not invite friends to the house. God was doing the same thing with Israel. The natural consequences of not hearkening to God include being driven by their own lust and being guided by the counsel of men, not God. And He does the same thing with us. But what did God really want to do for Israel and still wants to do for us? Verses 13 through 16 of Psalm 81 makes it clear that He wanted to bless them in many ways, and He would have done so had Israel hearkened to, meaning heard and obeyed, God. God would have defeated Israel's enemies, causing them to submit to Israel. Israel's reign on Earth would have lasted, and they would not have fallen captive to their enemies. And God would have fed them with the finest of foods. These are the consequences Israel would have realized if they had hearkened unto God. And God wants to do the same for us. He wants to fight our enemies for us, keeping us from falling captive to the things of this world and blessing us with all the wonderful blessings He has for us. It keeps getting better as we study the benefits of hearkening unto God. We can read in Genesis 26:2-5 and learn about the generational impact of hearkening to God. Because Abraham hearkened to God, Isaac, his son, reaped the benefits. Blessings result from hearkening unto God, including hearing His voice and obeying it. God will fulfill the promises made to prior generations, and the blessings will flow to the following generations as they continue hearkening unto God. We can live the promises given to past generations, including our parents, grandparents, and the founders of our churches if we hearken unto God in this generation. And we can pass onto our heirs, our children and grandchildren, and many generations past that, those promises and the promises given to our generation. We need only hearken to God and teach our children and grandchildren to hearken to Him also. There are even more benefits of hearkening unto God. God teaches us according to Psalm 34:11. We dwell safely and without fear of evil according to Proverbs 1:33. And God will be our God, and it will be well with us according to Jeremiah 7:23. These seem to be pretty good reasons to hearken unto God. I want Him to be my God, to teach me, to keep me safely without fear of evil, and to have life be well with me. So what are the consequences of failing to hearken unto God? We learned in Psalm 81 that if we hearken, no strange god will be in us and we will not worship other gods. In Deuteronomy 30:17, we learn from Moses that the converse is also true. He told Israel that if they would not hearken unto God, they would be drawn away to worship and serve other gods. If we fail to hearken, we will be drawn away or distracted, and we will put other things before God. We can also look at Jeremiah 6:19 and Jeremiah 7:24 for more verses that confirm the converse of God's promise in Psalm 81 is true. If we hearken, we will keep God first in our lives. If we do not hearken, hearing, understanding, and obeying His word, we suffer the natural consequences of that choice and succumb to our own thoughts and backsliding. There are also many scriptures in which the promises of God are not realized by the current generation that failed to hearken unto God. When we hearken, we reap the promises given to prior generations. When we do not, those promises are not fulfilled within our generations. As examples, Israel's failure to enter the promised land due to their own fear. They walked 40 years in the wilderness until that generation passed away. You can read about that in Joshua 5. Also, when a judge appointed by God died, Israel went after other gods. God withdrew His protection, allowing the other nations to prove Israel's commitment. You can read about that in Judges 2:20-22, and also 3:4. Now, I don't want to end this episode on a down note. And the consequences of hearkening unto God keep getting better. In 2 Kings 22:18-29, we read about what happened when King Josiah sought to obey God's word. After Hilkiah the high priest found the book of the law and Shaphan the scribe read it to King Josiah, King Josiah sent Hilkiah to inquire of the Lord on behalf of the people. The king recognized the great wrath of God that was due the people because their fathers failed to hearken unto the Lord. In response to King Josiah's humility and his hearkening unto the Lord, God reciprocated and hearkened unto King Josiah. Hearkening is reciprocal! When we hearken unto God, He hearkens unto us. We don't have to fear that once a generation in our family chooses not to hearken to God, that all future generations will be lost. That's not true. There is always hope. When another generation stands and seeks God, striving to hear His word, understand it, and obey it, God returns to blessing them with all of the consequences of hearkening to God that we've discovered in our study. As God promises in 2 Chronicles 7:14, which is a very well-known verse to many Christians, He will hearken unto us when we diligently, humbly seek Him. And according to 2 Chronicles 5:13-14, He will also hearken to our praise and worship. In response to the praise and worship of the people, God filled the house with His glory. This was a lot of information. I'll briefly recap it. When we hearken unto God, not only hearing His word but also obeying it, or as James instructs us in James 1:22, "But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only," we will find that we are not pulled from God by distractions of this life and we are kept from being carnally minded, developing a deep and bitter hatred toward God. Also, when we hearken unto God, we reap the promises that have been given to prior generations. We are able to live those promises. God will teach us. We will dwell in safety without fear of evil, and God will be our God. And finally, we will find that God reciprocates. When we hearken unto Him, He will hearken unto us. And when we worship and praise Him, He will fill our lives with His glory. I want to live a life of confidence in God, knowing I need not fear being pulled away by evil or distracted by the cares of this life. I want to know God hears my prayers and answers them, and that He will be glorified by my life. I want to hearken unto Him. Don't you? Oh, precious Jesus, we thank you so much for this word. We thank you for the richness of your l- word, and that it is still alive today, speaking to each and every one of us exactly where we are. Please help us, Lord, to be more diligent about seeking your word, understanding your word, and living your word, precious Jesus. Help us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. We love you, Lord. You are so worthy of all praise, glory, and honor, precious Jesus. In the power of your precious name we pray, amen. As I mentioned earlier, in case you missed it, I'll drop a link in the show notes to the episode that precedes this one, "Tired of the Roller Coaster? The Answer is Harkening." Also, I'll include a link to the episode "Becoming a Vessel of Honor: The Power of Choice in God's Plan," in case you would like to learn more about God giving us the freedom to choose. That's it for today. I hope you found this episode helpful. If you did, please take a second to subscribe to our show so you'll be notified when future episodes come out. Feel free to share it with your friends and loved ones, as well as rating or reviewing it so more people can find out about it. I would really love to hear from you. Let me know how you are ensuring the blessings of God continue flowing through the generations that follow you. I so appreciate those of you who have contacted me with your prayer requests. Please know that I pray for you daily. If you need prayer, please reach out to me and let me support you in prayer. Also, as you experience the answer to those prayers you've shared with me, please share your praise report with me. I want to rejoice with you also. Until next time, let's be confident in this, that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.