“Answer shopping” is a tactic that compares potential solutions from different sources to identify the one most favorable. Without any instruction, little ones figure it out. When a toddler bumps his head, he waddles right past dad to get to mom because he prefers her response. Teenagers figure out that a request involving a greater risk of injury is probably better suited to dad. It continues into adulthood. I once wanted to attend a conference and, admittedly, submitted the request when my regular boss taking leave. In ignorance, the interim supervisor approved it, only to have the form handed back to me when the vacation ended, with a red “No,” accompanied by a look of displeasure.
I have been on the other end of that as well. I had a coworker ask my advice regarding his struggling marriage. Because biblically approved categories for divorce did not apply to his situation, I counseled him to persevere, along with guidance on how he could improve his situation. Months later I learned that his marriage had proceeded well down the road of divorce. He had not told me what he had chosen to do so, surprised to hear the news, I asked him about it. He flatly admitted, “I knew what you were going to say.”
The Lord is not ignorant to the answer shopping strategy. He knows every time His counsel is avoided and He doesn’t overlook it. Saul tried it and paid a heavy price.
So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the LORD in that he did not keep the command of the LORD, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. He did not seek guidance from the LORD. Therefore the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. (1 Chron. 10:13–14)
Saul’s death was due to a “breach of faith” that is more precisely described as seeking the advice of the wicked instead of seeking God’s counsel. Saul knew exactly what he would’ve been told if he asked God, and it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. In the end, his it cost him his life.
In another example, the two kings of the divided kingdom (Israel and Judah) wanted to join forces to go to war against a mutual enemy. It was customary to first seek the approval of God by consulting prophets. Israel’s king asked the advice of his 400 spineless prophets, who unanimously told the king what they knew he wanted to hear, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king” (1 Kgs. 22:6). The king of Judah sensed what the bootlicking prophets were doing and asked, “Is there not here another prophet of the LORD of whom we may inquire?” (1 Kgs. 22:7). The king of Israel begrudging admitted there was one, saying, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil” (1 Kgs. 22:8).
Israel’s king had no problem requesting the counsel of those that he could control, but he “hated” the one whose loyalty was to God first. His participation in the process of seeking God was fraudulent. He modeled what the Lord said in Isaiah 29:13, “…this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me….”
Do you seek the Lord’s will in earnest? Do you pour your heart out in submission to God and search His Scriptures to find and apply His wisdom to your circumstances, or do you carefully craft your prayers to avoid an answer you don’t want to hear? Do you solicit those that would give you straightforward, godly counsel, or shop around for the advisor that’s more likely to say that the most important thing in life is your personal happiness? Deny the temptation to go answer shopping, knowing that the Lord “stores up sound wisdom for the upright” and “is a shield to those who walk in integrity” (Prov. 2:7).
You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart. (Jer. 29:13)