HOW BADLY CAN WE VEER OFF FROM GOD’S WILL? — Part 9c

The View From Above: Thoughts To Help With Everyday Life

October 11, 2026

Pastor Paul Stephens

HOW BADLY CAN WE VEER OFF FROM GOD’S WILL? — Part 9c

Let’s consider King Solomon.

What a beginning he had…it was a great beginning.

God loved him and projected him to be the next king of Israel after his father David.

If there is anyone who veered from the will of God, it was him…and he veered very badly and tragically.

But first, his great beginning.

1 Chronicles 22:9–10

“Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days.

He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.”

What more could be said?

The Lord loved Solomon; he was chosen, hand-selected by God, and had an incredible destiny selected for him.

He was not the oldest of David’s sons, but God promoted him above the others.

He begins his reign after King David’s death, and he prospers.

God gave him wisdom and riches above all other kingdoms.

He prospered, and the Lord blessed him along the way.

Then, he veers very badly and tragically from God’s will and favor for his life.

It’s a sad testimony of what can happen even when you are blessed by God.

Today’s blessing doesn’t insure future success.

King Solomon has a very good and strong beginning…but he drifted over the years and became a tragic figure.

What happened?

It would take more time to analyze than I have room for in this VFA…we can begin with the fact that he began to allow things in his life that were clearly not of God.

God’s blessing can go to your head.

Well, I have God’s favor in my life, and I can do what I want.

Well, perhaps Solomon thought such, and he paid the ultimate price.

We can all get very careless in the context of our salvation and experiencing God’s blessing in our lives.

We fail to realize that God’s will has boundaries, and those boundaries should not be crossed.

You can’t begin a pattern of sin, disobedience, and compromise and expect to finish well.

1 Kings 11:4–6

“For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David.

For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did his father David.”

That is far different from the man he was at the beginning.

1 Kings 3:3a

“And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David…”

It represents the product of a long, slow drift toward completely abandoning God’s will for his life.

That demonstrates what can happen over time if we are not careful.

The will of God for your life must maintain its integrity over the years.

A little compromise, a little sin, a few bad decisions can set a pattern in motion that results in veering away from God’s perfect will for your life.

The lesson to take away from this tragedy…

Don’t ever think you’re so blessed you can do no wrong.

Don’t ever take God’s blessing and favor in your life for granted.

Be very careful how you live so as to protect the integrity of your pursuit of God’s will for your life.

Doing what is pleasing to God, loving Him supremely above all else, and living a life of pure, unadulterated obedience is our highest calling.

If you do that, you won’t veer…and you’ll enjoy the absolute pleasure that comes from a life lived with Jesus Christ at the center.