What the Kings of Israel Teach Us About Trusting God. Quiz Included!
Have you ever wanted to do the right thing but struggled because you couldn't be certain how everything would turn out?
Perhaps you prayed about a decision, considered your options, sought advice, and tried to understand what God might be asking of you. Yet the answer still wasn't obvious.
Maybe you wondered whether an opportunity was God's provision, whether an obstacle was a closed door, or whether a delay meant you needed to wait.
We want to trust God. But sometimes, without realizing it, we begin asking faith to do something it was never meant to do: guarantee that our lives will unfold the way we believe they should.
The stories of the kings of Israel offer a sobering look at this struggle.
In the biblical books of 1 and 2 Kings, we encounter rulers who inherited responsibilities, faced political threats, made consequential decisions, and received warnings from God. Some pursued their own ambitions. Others continued patterns of disobedience established before them. Their decisions affected not only their own lives but also entire generations of people.
These accounts are more than a record of ancient rulers. They reveal the complicated relationship between faith, power, fear, obedience, and the human desire to control the future.
As we follow the kings of Israel, one question keeps returning: Are we trusting God, or are we trusting our own interpretation of what God should do?
1. Jeroboam: When Fear Makes Us Create Our Own Answers
Read: 1 Kings 11:26–40; 1 Kings 12:25–33; 1 Kings 13–14.
Jeroboam became the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel after the nation divided during the reign of Solomon's son, Rehoboam.
Through the prophet Ahijah, God had told Jeroboam that he would receive rule over ten tribes. God also gave him a conditional promise: if Jeroboam walked in God's ways and obeyed His commandments, God would establish his dynasty.
Jeroboam had received an extraordinary opportunity. He had also received a clear responsibility.
But once he became king, another concern took hold of him.
Jeroboam feared that if his people continued traveling to Jerusalem to worship, their hearts would return to Rehoboam, king of Judah. He worried that this would cost him his kingdom.
So Jeroboam devised an alternative. He established golden calves at Bethel and Dan, appointed priests outside the arrangement God had commanded, and created a different system of worship.
His actions were not simply political decisions. They became a spiritual turning point for the northern kingdom.
Jeroboam had received a promise from God, yet he acted as though he needed to secure the future himself.
The lesson: Fear can make us distrust what we have already been given.
Jeroboam's story presents a difficult question: What happens when we receive something from God but become afraid of losing it?
We may start managing the situation through our own methods. We may compromise our convictions because obedience feels too risky. We may convince ourselves that a questionable decision is necessary to protect something good.
Sometimes the thing we fear losing becomes the very thing that leads us away from our values.
This doesn't mean every practical precaution is a lack of faith. Jeroboam's failure was not simply that he made a plan. It was that he acted against God's instructions to protect his own position.
Faith does not require us to abandon responsibility. It requires us to stop treating fear as permission to disobey.
2. Nadab and Baasha: When We Inherit Someone Else's Mistakes
Read: 1 Kings 14:20; 1 Kings 15:25–34.
Nadab, Jeroboam's son, ruled Israel for only two years. He continued the practices associated with his father's reign.
During a military campaign against the Philistines, Baasha conspired against Nadab, killed him, and took the throne. Baasha then destroyed Jeroboam's entire house, fulfilling the judgment previously announced through the prophet Ahijah.
But Baasha did not break the spiritual pattern that had characterized Jeroboam's kingdom. He continued the same sins.
The man who brought an end to one dynasty ultimately repeated the behavior that had brought judgment upon it.
The lesson: Ending a pattern of leadership does not necessarily mean ending a pattern of behavior.
We often recognize mistakes in other people more easily than we recognize the same tendencies in ourselves.
We may criticize someone's pride while defending our own ambition. We may recognize another person's fear while describing our own fear as wisdom. We may promise ourselves that we will never repeat someone else's mistakes, only to reproduce them under different circumstances.
A new position, relationship, season, or opportunity does not automatically produce a new character.
The question is not merely whether our circumstances have changed.
It is whether we are willing to examine what we carry into those circumstances.
You can leave someone else's legacy behind without leaving their patterns behind.
Read more: Nadab and Baasha: The Cycle of Sin in Israel
3. Elah and Zimri: When Power Cannot Provide Security
Read: 1 Kings 16:8–20.
Elah, the son of Baasha, ruled Israel for two years before Zimri, one of his military officials, conspired against him and killed him.
Zimri then seized the throne. But his reign lasted only seven days.
When the people of Israel heard what Zimri had done, they supported Omri, the commander of the army, as king. Omri and his forces besieged Tirzah, where Zimri was staying. Seeing that the city had been taken, Zimri entered the royal palace, set it on fire around himself, and died.
The rapid succession of these kings reveals a kingdom consumed by instability.
Power changed hands, but security remained elusive.
The lesson: Control over your circumstances is not the same as control over your future.
We often assume that if we can secure the right position, enough money, a dependable relationship, or a successful plan, we will finally feel safe.
And while responsible planning matters, no position can eliminate uncertainty.
We can prepare and still encounter unexpected circumstances. We can make good decisions and still face consequences we did not anticipate. We can possess influence without possessing control over what happens next.
This is not an argument against planning. It is a reminder not to confuse planning with certainty.
The kings of Israel repeatedly demonstrated how quickly the circumstances they depended on could change.
Security built entirely on control will always be vulnerable to what we cannot control.
Read more: Elah and Zimri: The Fragility of Power
4. Omri: When Success and Faithfulness Are Not the Same Thing
Read: 1 Kings 16:21–28.
After a period of conflict over the throne, Omri established himself as king of Israel. He founded Samaria as the capital and established a dynasty that would become politically significant.
From a historical and political perspective, Omri was an influential ruler. Yet the biblical account evaluates his reign critically, describing him as doing evil and acting more wickedly than those who came before him.
This contrast is important.
A person can be effective at building a kingdom while failing to lead that kingdom in faithfulness to God.
External achievement and spiritual obedience are not interchangeable.
The lesson: A successful outcome does not automatically validate every decision that produced it.
We are naturally drawn to visible results.
We notice who succeeds, who gains influence, who builds something impressive, and who seems to have everything working in their favor.
It is tempting to interpret success as proof that someone made the right choices—or that God must approve of their direction.
But Scripture does not evaluate a person's life solely by their accomplishments.
A successful decision can still involve compromised values. A profitable venture can still be pursued for the wrong reasons. A person can gain influence while becoming less attentive to God.
The reverse is also true: a faithful decision can lead to an outcome that looks disappointing by ordinary standards.
This means we need more than results to evaluate our choices.
We need to examine our motives, methods, responsibilities, and obedience.
Not everything that works is right, and not everything that fails was wrong.
5. Ahab: When We Confuse What We Want With What God Wants
Read: 1 Kings 16:29–34; 1 Kings 17–21.
Ahab, Omri's son, became one of the most notorious kings of Israel.
His marriage to Jezebel, the daughter of the king of the Sidonians, was accompanied by the promotion of Baal worship in Israel. The biblical account describes Ahab's actions as provoking the Lord to anger.
Yet Ahab's story is not simply a record of a wicked king making wicked choices. It also shows how desire, influence, and self-interest can shape a person's understanding of what they believe they are entitled to have.
One of the clearest examples appears in the account of Naboth's vineyard in 1 Kings 21.
Ahab wanted Naboth's vineyard because it was near his palace. He offered to exchange it for another vineyard or pay its value. Naboth refused because the property was his ancestral inheritance.
Ahab returned home upset and refused to eat. Jezebel then arranged for Naboth to be falsely accused and executed. After Naboth's death, Ahab took possession of the vineyard.
Ahab wanted something, encountered a boundary, and ultimately received it through injustice.
The fact that he obtained the vineyard did not mean he had been right to pursue it in that way.
The lesson: Wanting something deeply does not make it God's will for you.
This is where the story becomes uncomfortably personal.
We may pray for a relationship, a career opportunity, financial stability, recognition, or a particular future. We may work hard for it. We may believe it would be good for us and beneficial to the people we love.
But our desire, even when sincere, does not automatically establish what God wants.
We can become so attached to a particular outcome that we begin justifying the actions required to obtain it.
We may call impatience determination. We may call control leadership. We may call our personal interpretation divine direction.
Ahab's story reminds us that the desire for something can become spiritually dangerous when it outranks our responsibility to do what is right.
You can want something that is good and still pursue it in a way that is wrong.
6. Elijah: Trusting God Without Inventing the Instructions
Read: 1 Kings 17–19.
During Ahab's reign, God sent the prophet Elijah to confront Israel's spiritual corruption.
Elijah's story offers a different perspective on faith and uncertainty.
In 1 Kings 17, the word of the Lord comes to Elijah with specific instructions. God tells him to hide by the brook Cherith, where ravens bring him food. When the brook dries up because of the drought, God gives him another instruction: go to Zarephath, where a widow will provide for him.
Elijah does not simply interpret every circumstance as a message. In the narrative, he receives specific instructions from God and acts on them.
The distinction matters.
The Bible shows Elijah being directed by God, but that does not mean we should assume every strong feeling, unexpected coincidence, dream, opportunity, or obstacle in our own lives carries an equally specific divine instruction.
Elijah also experiences danger, exhaustion, fear, and discouragement. After the events on Mount Carmel, he flees from Jezebel and asks God to take his life. God responds by providing food, rest, and care before continuing to engage him.
Elijah's humanity is not hidden from the reader.
The lesson: Faith is not the same as always knowing what God is doing.
Sometimes we have clear biblical instruction. Sometimes we have responsibilities that are already apparent. Sometimes we must make a decision using wisdom, evidence, prayer, and counsel without receiving a specific answer about the future.
Those situations should not be confused.
We should not manufacture divine instructions where we have none. Nor should we conclude that God is absent simply because we do not receive the clarity we want.
Elijah's story reminds us that God's care is not limited to dramatic moments of revelation. He also cared for Elijah when he was exhausted and needed food, rest, and reassurance.
You do not have to turn every experience into a message from God to remain attentive to Him.
7. The Pattern Behind the Kings: When Faith Becomes a Way to Control the Outcome
When we look at these kings together, we begin to notice a recurring human struggle.
Jeroboam feared losing his kingdom and established his own religious system to protect it.
Baasha took the throne but continued the pattern he had inherited.
Elah and Zimri occupied positions of power that could not secure their futures.
Omri achieved political influence without receiving the Bible's approval of his spiritual direction.
Ahab pursued what he wanted even when obtaining it required injustice.
Elijah, by contrast, shows us a life in which specific instructions from God are followed, yet the journey still includes danger, changing circumstances, and human exhaustion.
These stories do not suggest that every difficult outcome is caused by a lack of faith. Nor do they teach that we should interpret every success as divine approval or every setback as divine rejection.
Instead, they invite us to examine the assumptions we bring to our relationship with God.
Sometimes we believe that if we make the right decision, God must give us the outcome we hoped for.
Sometimes we believe a coincidence must be a sign, a delay must have a hidden meaning, or a strong feeling must be an instruction.
Sometimes we believe that if we were truly following God, we would feel peaceful, know what to do, or be protected from painful circumstances.
These assumptions may come from sincere faith. But sincerity does not make every assumption true.
We can believe in God's power while misunderstanding what He has promised.
We can believe that God guides us while mistaking our own interpretation for His direction.
We can believe that God protects us while assuming protection means nothing terrible will happen.
We can believe that God has a purpose while demanding to understand that purpose before we are willing to move.
The problem is not necessarily that we have too little faith.
Sometimes we are asking faith to give us certainty that God has not promised us.
8. What Does Surrendered Faith Actually Look Like?
Surrendered faith is not passive.
It is not an excuse to avoid responsibility, ignore wisdom, or refuse to make difficult decisions.
Jesus Himself expressed the struggle of surrender in Gethsemane. In Luke 22:42, He prayed, “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”
Jesus expressed His desire honestly while submitting to the Father's will.
That is a meaningful distinction: surrender did not require pretending He had no desire for a different outcome.
We can want something deeply and still surrender it.
We can pray for healing while acknowledging that we do not know what will happen.
We can pursue a relationship while accepting that we cannot make another person choose us.
We can work toward a dream while recognizing that our effort cannot guarantee success.
We can make a thoughtful decision without knowing every consequence.
Surrendered faith allows us to do what is ours to do without pretending we can do what belongs to God.
It asks us to distinguish between responsibility and control.
Responsibility is doing what you can. Control is demanding that your actions guarantee the outcome.
That distinction changes how we approach uncertainty.
Instead of asking only, “How can I make sure this works?” we can also ask, “What is the faithful thing to do, even if I cannot guarantee how this ends?”
Instead of demanding a sign, we can examine what we already know.
Instead of interpreting every obstacle as rejection, we can evaluate the actual circumstances.
Instead of waiting until we feel completely certain, we can make the best decision available to us.
And when the outcome arrives, we can respond honestly—whether that means celebrating, adjusting our plans, seeking help, or grieving a loss.
Surrender does not remove our humanity.
It gives us a way to remain faithful within it.
9. How to Examine Your Own Faith
The stories of the kings invite us to consider not only what we believe about God, but also how we respond when we cannot predict what He will do.
Consider these questions:
When I want something deeply, do I assume that God wants it for me too?
When an unusual coincidence happens, do I immediately treat it as a message?
When something painful happens, do I wonder whether God has abandoned or rejected me?
When I feel strongly about a decision, do I assume my feeling must be God's direction?
When an opportunity is delayed, do I automatically interpret the delay as an answer?
When I cannot feel certain, do I keep searching for clarity long after I have enough information to make a responsible decision?
Can I continue to trust God when the outcome is different from the one I prayed for?
These questions are not intended to shame you. They are invitations to become more honest about the relationship between your faith, your expectations, and your decisions.
You may recognize yourself in more than one question.
That is normal. Different circumstances can bring different tendencies to the surface. You might trust God with your career while struggling to trust Him with a relationship. You might accept uncertainty in everyday life but find it difficult when someone's health or future is at stake.
The purpose is not to label yourself as a person with bad faith.
It is to discover where a sincere desire to trust God may have become entangled with fear, certainty, control, or your own interpretation of what should happen.
Take the Faith Miscommunication Quiz
If these questions have made you curious about your own patterns, we've created a quiz to help you reflect on how you approach faith, decisions, and uncertainty.
The Faith Miscommunication Quiz explores six ways we can misunderstand or misapply faith, alongside surrendered faith: the practice of taking responsibility for what we can do while releasing our demand to control what happens next.
Your result is not a spiritual diagnosis or a judgment of your relationship with God. It is a starting point for reflection—a way to notice the assumptions that may shape your decisions without you realizing it.
You may discover that your greatest struggle is not believing that God can act. It may be learning to trust Him without deciding in advance what His action must look like.
Final Reflection: You Can Trust God Without Knowing the Ending
The kings of Israel remind us that power, opportunity, ambition, and even sincere religious conviction cannot replace obedience and humility.
Their stories also remind us how easily fear can shape our decisions when the future feels uncertain.
We want reassurance. We want to know that our efforts will be rewarded, that our relationships will last, that our plans will succeed, and that the painful things we encounter will eventually make sense.
There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting those things.
The question is whether we can continue to live faithfully when we do not receive them.
Can you do what is right without a guarantee that it will work?
Can you ask God for what you want without assuming He must give it to you?
Can you acknowledge that you do not know what a circumstance means without immediately inventing an explanation?
Can you grieve what you have lost without deciding that the loss proves something about your worth or God's faithfulness?
Can you make a decision, accept your responsibility for it, and trust God with what you cannot control?
These are not easy questions. They are lifelong invitations to grow.
Faith does not mean you will always understand God's ways. It does not mean every decision will be painless or every prayer will be answered as you hoped.
It means you can continue seeking God, practicing wisdom, acting with integrity, and remaining open to His will even when the outcome is uncertain.
You can want the outcome you prayed for.
You can work toward it.
You can hope for it.
And you can still pray:
“Not my will, but Yours, be done.”
Not because you no longer care about the ending.
Because you trust God enough to stop pretending you can control it.
Come Into the Garden
You may be building something beautiful.
Maybe it's a business. Maybe it's a creative vision. Maybe it's a life that finally feels like your own. And if you're anything like us, you're learning that ambition and peace don't have to be opposites.
Earth Garden Flower Shop is for the women who are creating, leading, dreaming, and becoming.
Follow along for beautiful flowers, peaceful spaces, science-informed self-care, behind-the-scenes moments, creative inspiration, and little reminders to slow down and take care of the woman behind everything you're building.
🌿 Follow Earth Garden on Instagram for daily inspiration, flowers, design, and moments of tranquility: @earthgardenflowershop on Instagram
🎥 Subscribe to Earth Garden on YouTube for deeper stories, floral design, peaceful practices, and a closer look inside the Garden: Earth Garden Flower Shop on YouTube
Come for the flowers.
Stay for the peace.
The Art of Tranquility.
Continue Exploring
More Bible studies and devotionals
More ways to reflect
Comments