Our God is a God of government. He will not move His governmental hand immediately away from those who have sinned against Him. Often, God does not do anything; He lets you go. But as soon as He stretches forth His governmental hand, you can do nothing except humble yourself under His mighty hand. You have no escape! God is not like man; He is not sloppy and will not let you go! A sin which damages one's fellowship with God can easily be forgiven, and a person can easily be recovered. But no one can run away from God's discipline in the environment, the home, one's career, and his physical body. The only thing we can do is to learn to humble ourselves under His mighty hand. The more we humble ourselves under His mighty hand and give up all resistance, the easier it is for God to lift His governmental hand. The more we refuse to humble ourselves, and the more angry, vocal, or indignant we become, the more difficult it is for God to lift His governmental hand. This is a very serious matter! Twenty years ago we might have done something according to our own will. Today we still have to face the same thing. We still have to suffer the consequences. It will come back to haunt us. When such a thing catches up with us, we should bow our head and say, "Lord, it is all my fault!" We must humble ourselves under God's hand. Do not resist. The more we resist, the heavier God's hand will become. Let me repeat: Let us humble ourselves under God's mighty hand. The more we reject God's governmental hand, the more problems we will encounter. When God's governmental hand is upon us, we must humble ourselves and say, "Lord, You have done no wrong! I deserve this." We must humble ourselves. We must not only remove all rebellious thoughts but also take away all reasonings and murmurings.
It is not easy to be rebellious and to try to escape God's hand. Who can escape His hand? You must realize that you have fallen into your present state through what you did before. Suppose a brother loved sugar too much as a youth, and his teeth have decayed from the overconsumption of sweets. One day he feels that he has eaten too many sweets. These sweets have brought about his toothaches. He asks God to forgive his sin of indulgence in eating. God can easily forgive such a sin. But it does not mean that his teeth will recover from their decay. His teeth will still be bad; that is God's government. If you eat sweets, your teeth will decay. If you confess your weakness, the fellowship will be restored, but it does not mean that good teeth will grow back after your confession. Once you recognize God's government, you have to learn to humble yourself under it. One can never recover a tooth from decay, but there are matters concerning God's governmental hand which can be removed, and the person involved can be recovered.
Let us consider one portion of the Word. After Moses smote the rock in Meribah (Num. 20:10-12), both he and Aaron fell under God's governmental hand. After Aaron failed, God still allowed him to remain a priest and restored his fellowship with God. Even though he wore the priestly robe, God nevertheless told him that he would not be able to live. Moses also did not honor Jehovah as the Holy One when he was by the rock. God wanted him to command water to flow out from the rock, but he smote the rock with his rod and lost his composure. He did not honor Jehovah as the Holy One. God's hand was upon his servants, and Aaron and Moses could not enter Canaan. Do you see the basic principle here? This is God's government! We cannot pin down our God. We cannot guarantee that God will always treat us the same way as before. At a certain point, God may change His way with us. He may change even what we consider to be the best way.
The Bible is full of such stories. For example, when the Israelites reached Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran, spies went up to spy out the land (Num. 13—14). When they saw that it would take two people to carry a cluster of grapes, they realized that the land was a land flowing with milk and honey. But they became afraid and refused to enter into that land, because they saw that the people who dwelt in that land were of great stature. In their own sight the Israelites were as grasshoppers. As a result, all but two of them died in the wilderness. Joshua and Caleb were the only two persons who would go into the good land. Later, the people confessed their sins and wanted to go in. God still treated them as His people and was gracious to them. However, they could no longer have a part in the land of Canaan. God's government had changed! Brothers, the very day that you begin your Christian life, you should set a hope before you that you will stay on the course that God has measured to you, all the way to the end. Do not live loosely. Do not sin. Please bear in mind that even though God may be merciful, He can change His way! God's governmental hand will never let you go.
God's governmental hand is indeed a serious matter! I know of a brother who was clearly called by the Lord to set aside his career to serve the Lord. He went home for a visit but could not bring himself to quit his occupation. He wanted to be a good Christian, but he did not want to set aside his career or spend his life for the gospel. Since then he is sometimes weak and sometimes strong. But it is impossible for him to turn back to this way! Please bear in mind that our greatest fear is God's disciplining hand; we do not know when His hand will come upon us! God may let us go, even if we rebel ten times, but He may not let us go the eleventh time. However, God will not let some people go the first time they rebel. We do not know when God will catch up with us! Brothers, please bear in mind that God's government is not something under our control! He does things according to His will.
I know of a sister who at one time wanted to consecrate herself to serve the Lord. Later she married, and her marriage was not a very good one. As soon as she made such a move, the light ceased to shine in her. There is no way to ask her to return to this way now. God's governmental hand is upon her. Today we cannot turn her back no matter how hard we try. Light is shut off from her; it is invisible. It is as if a veil is hanging in front of her. There is no way for her to see the light again.