There’s a figure of speech that hunters and others who work with firearms understand… The figure of speech I’m referring to is “GOING OFF HALF COCKED.” It refers to the accidental discharge of a firearm before the shooter is prepared… a very dangerous thing. It has been applied to conversation and speech and means to do or say something without preparing for it or thinking about it. In a passage I read today, that figure of speech came to mind… We need to be very careful when we venture to speak for God – when on His behalf and in His Name, we deliver a message to others that “seems right” to us…
Nathan, the prophet, made this mistake with David the king, and God corrected him for it. Here’s the account of it from the Bible…
“After king David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, ‘Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord is under a tent!’ Nathan replied to David, ‘Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you!’ But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying: ‘Go and tell my servant, David, This is what the Lord says: You are NOT the one to build me a house to dwell in… I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you! … I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons… He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father and he will be my son.’” (From 1 Chronicles 17:1-15)
What David had in mind “seemed right” – and Nathan judged it to be a noble desire! So a word of affirmation – a word of encouragement seemed in order… the problem was, it wasn’t what God had in mind!
It seems to me, therefore, before I venture to “speak for the Lord” I should pause and listen and seek to find out what the Lord desires to say – what He has in mind. Sometimes I’m all too ready to “speak for Him” when He may have something else (something “better”) to communicate. Hey, I’m going to try to do more “listening” – and avoid presumptuous speaking for the Lord. I don’t want to “go off half-cocked for God!”
Coffee With The Lord 