God Is In The Detail

GOD IS IN THE DETAIL:

The What, Why, When and How of God.

A voice says “shout!” I said, “what shall 

I shout?”- Isaiah 40:9. 

This was the prophet Isaiah who was told 

by a (God’s) voice to shout. 

But he did something very significant: 

HE ASKED FOR DETAILS! 

He didn’t just scream out like a banshee. 

He asked what EXACTLY God wanted him 

to shout about.

He asked for the WHAT.

And he got an answer.

An angel appeared to a woman, telling her 

she would birth a son (Samson)who would 

be a Nazarite. She told her husband, Manoah. 

He asked the angel, “...HOW shall we order 

the child and HOW shall we do unto 

him?"- Judges 13:12.

Manoah asked for details:

He asked for the HOW.

And he got an answer.

In the New Testament, Jesus told His 

disciples about the end of times. 

They asked Him, “WHEN will these 

things happen?”- Matthew 24:3.

They asked for the WHEN.

They got an answer.

The Pharisees asked the disciples a 

question: “WHY does your Master eat 

with tax collectors and 

sinners?”- Matthew 9:11.

They asked for the WHY.

Jesus gave them an answer.

I have come to understand that GOD IS 

IN THE DETAIL. 

He is very deliberate in His instructions. 

Every word, every letter, every cliché or 

“body language” is important. 

He is not frivolous with words.

He once gave an assignment to a prophet 

and He asked him not to eat or drink till 

he carried out the assignment and returned. 

He carried out the assignment alright. 

But someone convinced him to eat, telling 

him God had changed His mind. 

No sooner he did, he died. -1st Kings 13.

When God gives instructions, He gives 

them in detail. 

After anointing Saul King, Samuel told 

him: “When you leave me today, you will 

meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at 

Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. 

They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you 

set out to look for have been found. 

And now your father has stopped thinking 

about them and is worried about you. 

He is asking, “What shall I do about my son?’ 

Then you will go on from there until you 

reach the great tree of Tabor. 

Three men going up to worship God at 

Bethel will meet you there. 

One will be carrying three young goats, 

another three loaves of bread, and 

another a skin of wine.  

They will greet you and offer you two 

loaves of bread, which you will accept 

from them. 

After that you will go to Gibeah of God, 

where there is a Philistine outpost. 

As you approach the town, you will meet 

a procession of prophets coming down 

from the high place with lyres, timbrels, 

pipes and harps being played before them, 

and they will be prophesying. 

The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully 

upon you, and you will prophesy with 

them; and you will be changed into a 

different person…” -1st Samuel 10: 2-6. 

Notice the details! They were not ambiguous! 

Now, God later instructed same Saul, 

“Kill ALL the Amalekites!” Saul spared 

ONE MAN. 

He lost the Kingdom. 

There is no “let’s meet half-way” in His 

Kingdom.

He does not chide anybody for asking 

questions. 

Moses asked all kinds of questions, 

God answered until he practically 

refused to go. -Exodus 3&4.

In 2nd Kings 13, prophet Elisha asked 

King Joash to strike the ground with an 

arrow. 

He did 3 times. 

I always wonder when I read this story, 

why didn’t Joash ask the prophet how 

many times he should strike the ground? 

I have come to understand that in the 

things of God, asking for DETAILS is 

never too much. 

Sometime ago, I was with a few young folks. 

I asked them, “What are your dreams and 

goals?” Most of them responded, “I want 

to be great!” I asked, “Great WHAT? 

Great Teacher? Great Musician? 

Great Engineer?” Great Footballer? 

Great Doctor? Great WHAT?” 

They had never thought of it in that line. 

You cannot hit a target that is not defined, 

I told them. 

God does not work that way.

We have too many folks in Church who 

are like this, who have no idea of the 

What, the When, the How and the 

Why of their lives. 

They just go with the flow. 

Life is never meant to be lived haphazardly. 

Life is meant to be lived on purpose.

I had to teach these young folks how to 

be deliberate with their lives. 

When you have an understanding of that, 

it will propel your life, your choices, 

what to study, where to live, who to marry, etc. 

One of those folks said he wanted to be 

President. 

He attends a polytechnic. 

I asked him to name the SUG President. 

He had no idea. I asked him to name 

the Senator representing his Senatorial Zone. 

He had no idea. He apparently had 

NO INTEREST in politics. 

But he hopes to become President one day! 

It doesn’t work that way. 

I read the story of Francois Mitterrand, 

the former president of France and I was 

very impressed. 

He decided to be president of France as a 

young boy. 

He tailored his life in that direction- 

his university, course of study, marital 

choices, career choices etc. were all made 

to achieve that!

I also know a few folks who say they are 

called into ministry. 

I ask them, “What EXACTLY has God 

called you to do?” God has called me to 

pastor. “Which flock?” 

They have no idea! Are you called to pastor

young folks or older folks? 

Are you called to pastor students or retirees? 

Are you called to pastor the higher, the 

middle or the lower class? 

The urban folks or the rural? 

You MUST have a DEFINED flock! 

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome’s (Christ Embassy) 

flock is not the same with the (MFM) flock 

of Pastor Daniel Olukoya. 

There is no one-size-fits-all in ministry.

Every Christian needs to understand the 

DETAILS of their calling and their life: 

the WHAT, WHY, WHEN and HOW. 

We get to know these things by ASKING 

QUESTIONS.

Isaiah asked WHAT?

Manoah asked HOW?

The disciples asked WHEN?

The Pharisees asked, WHY?

If you are not sure of the details of 

anything about God, you are at liberty 

to ask questions. 

Anyone who discourages you from 

asking questions on these issues is NOT 

helping you. He is stunting your growth.

May we know how to ask the right 

questions as we get details of our lives 

and ministry from our Father.

Amen!

Haruna Daniels