Because God Decided
Preached at Harvester Reformational Church, Cape Town, 19 September 2021
By Apostle Aje Pelser

Have you ever wondered why God did things the way He did in your life?
Consider some of the decisions that reveal God’s higher ways.

Isa 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Isa 55:10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater,
Isa 55:11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

1. God decided to relate to us in the Spiritual realm.
I have asked God some questions I the last few years and the answers I got from the Holy Spirit will astound you and probably make you laugh. By practising God’s presence with the Word as part of your meditation, your spirit gets answers on levels that you can’t even imagine. The thing about your spirit life is that it works even while you sleep.
The other morning God gave me a clear vision about an old subject manual about the Ministry of Helps. I went to search for it in our archives and realized it is perfect for our usher course! I just needed to tweak some of the frequencies to update with our understanding and terminology of church today! Our Head Usher told me she was actually working on it too and this was an answer to prayer.

2. God’s decision about timing is perfect.
I asked God about the building and why it took so long and He told me: “My timing is perfect!’
Sometimes God’s spirit will ask you a question back: “What would have happened to your ministry if you had a massive debt to pay off during the Covid pandemic?” In other words, yes, God’s ways are higher than our ways and all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
Why did I need to suffer like Nehemiah and Ezra when they rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem and the temple? Because I decided to let you have the same experience to access the same anointing for building and to create a template for other churches that I want you to build.” That last phrase I received from a friend who is also an ordained pastor while we were having coffee. Profound statements like that become part of: “Because I decided for it to be so.”

3. God’s decides to use persecution at critical moments of history to direct his people.
Consider Jesus’ birth – Lord why were so many babies killed when Jesus was born? Have you considered Moses who led his people out of slavery and into the wilderness? The enemy knows a deliverer is born and wants to stop My plans. To fulfil the word later: “Out of Egypt I called My son.”

Lord why did you let Stephen die a martyr’s death at the hands of Saul and then you call him to be your apostle who writes half the New Testament?
When the persecution concerning the way happened – study the book of Acts: people finally obeyed the commission to go to all the nations of the world preaching the Gospel wherever they went. God allows adversity to fulfil His plans and test our faith, releasing a whole new level of Glory through suffering. And His glory always outweighs the suffering.

4. God decided to test Joseph so that his heart would be clean by the time he reunited with his brothers.
God why did you give Joseph all those dreams and then let his brothers throw him in a pit?
To get him to the place where I would fulfil all those dreams.
Did he have to go to prison and wrongfully accused by Potiphar’s wife? Why all the humiliation? His character was tested and his heart was softened so that when he met his brothers, he could forgive them and provide for his nation during a famine. A big vision will always be tested in the furnace of affliction. Rejection comes before acceptance.
Gen 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

If I do not thrust you out of your comfort zone, you will never grow and reach the potential I have placed in you.
There is only one way to learn the lessons life has to offer, and that is to face all that life throws your way.
If we can get to a place where we accept God’s ways are higher than ours. When we can say: “Well God decided for it to be so.” Then our faith shifts a gear and our anointing is activated on another level. We can even have more authority in the spiritual realm, when we submit ourselves to God, then we can resist the devil and he must flee from us.
Jas 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”
Jas 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

5. God decided that we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Romans 12:1,2
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Becoming living sacrifice on the altar of God, presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice is a daily decision. Reminding ourselves of that fact is essential to walk in the fullness of the knowledge of Christ within our hope of glory.

When people misread all my good intentions in the disciple making process, I ask God “How can they trust me like this when all I did was try to show them the principles of Christ in the situation?” The Holy Spirit gives me a flash of Jesus on the cross and the soldiers beating him and his people mocking him. I say: “O! I forgot about that!” When I look at Jesus’ sacrifice and that of his apostles, all my little sacrifices start to line up with becoming a living sacrifice for Him.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

He good news is that when you start understanding God’s ways are higher than our own, and His decisions always work out for your good – life becomes an adventure and you start looking forward to the next decision God is going to make in your life that will confuse the world, but make perfect sense to a spiritual, Spirit led believer!