Unstable/Instability

“Unstable” – wavering in purpose or intent; not steady in one’s actions; characterized by failure to control one’s emotions or thinking – Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary.

– ungoverned impulses; vacillating; uncertain how to act – The Bible Knowledge Commentary, OT, p. 98.

Gen. 49:3, 4 Why would Reuben not have preeminence or leadership?

[“uncontrolled as water” – ungoverned impulses, as water boiling over (a reference to his adultery with Bilhah, 35:22).].

Does your instability (lack of control over your emotions or sex drive) cause you to fail in being a good leader or hinder you from being a leader at all?

What is said of the tribe of Reuben in Judges 5:15, 16?

[“resolves” – conflicting or vacillating opinions as to whether to participate in the battle.].

[“searching of heart” – indecisiveness].

Do you vacillate in your thinking or decision-making, or are you indecisive, can’t make up your mind or constantly changing it, and why?

Ex. 20:22, 23; 24:3; 32:1, 8 In what way were the Israelites unstable (wavering in thinking and/or action)?

Are you unstable in your thoughts and actions toward God, one day loving, trusting, obeying, and serving Him, and the next day disobeying, distrustful of, no longer serving, or bitter toward Him, and why?

Or, do you worship Him on Sunday, but from Monday through Saturday you worship money, cars, computers, school, sports, music, or your job, and why?

Judg. 3:7-15 In what way is Israel unstable?

Do you vacillate between turning to the Lord when circumstances are rough in your life and turning to worldly, self-centered ways when circumstances are going better/well for you, and why?

1 Ki. 18:21 In what way were the Israelites unstable?

Do you vacillate, change your mind and priorities, between the Lord Creator being your God or supreme in your life and “self”, material possessions, fun activities, money, prestige, music, sports, weight-lifting, martial arts, girl/boyfriend, fancy home, cars, clothes, or a college degree being your god (giving excessive devotion to in time, attention, and energy), and why?

Prov. 24:21, 22 Why should we not associate with people who are given to change (i.e., changing for change’s sake, unstable because of restlessness, lack of self-control, or rebelliousness)?

Are you unstable in your behavior/conduct and so do weird, risky, or stupid things just to be different, get people’s attention, or try to “find” yourself?

Or, do you hang out with people who are like that?

If so, what will you do about either of the last two questions that you answered “yes” to, and how soon?

Prov. 27:8 Who is like a (young) bird that wanders from her nest?

Do you know of any Christians who have wandered (moved out) from a discipleship training home/place without a clear call or direction from God to do so, only to stray morally and abandon the security, nurturing, instruction, and training of the Christian environment they once had?

Or, are you ever tempted to wander because of your instability, lack of self-control or lack of faithfulness to stick with God-given responsibilities and training in order to do God’s purpose/will for your life?

Jer. 2:36 What question does God ask the nation of Judah?

[Judah was constantly changing her ways in her dealings with other nations (vs. 18; Ezek. 23), but she would find that any new alliance with Egypt would be just as disappointing as her past alliance with Assyria (2 Ki. 16:7; Isa. 7:13-25)].

Are you unstable in your relationships with people, hopping from one failed friendship to another because you either choose bad/wrong people to have an alliance/friendship with or you don’t control your emotions when a godly friend does or says something that irritates you?

Hosea 6:4 To what does God compare Ephraim/Israel and Judah’s loyalty/love to God?

Is your loyalty to or love for God like the morning fog or dew which disappears quickly, and why?

Do you make commitments/promises to God one day and forget about them the next day?

Do you say you love Him, but shortly thereafter disobey Him or not spend daily time with Him in Bible reading, Bible meditation, and prayer? If so, why?

What do you plan to do about your instability?

Matt. 6:24 What can’t a person do?

Do you go back and forth between serving God and serving mammon/money?

Are you either working so many hours that you don’t have much time left for God in daily Bible reading/meditation, prayer, and evangelizing the spiritually lost, or you have a job that makes you so tired that you’re not able to daily read and meditate on God’s Word, pray, or evangelize regularly?

If so, what do you plan to do about it, and how soon?

Matt. 13:18-21 Some people, when they hear the word of the kingdom (the gospel), immediately receive it with joy, but what do they do when hard times or persecution comes because of their (emotional) reception of the word/gospel?

Do you know of people who “supposedly” became a Christian because they received the word/gospel, but then fell away from the Lord and Christianity?

The reason is probably because they only had an emotional response to the gospel and not a true trust in it as an act of their will. Therefore, they were never truly Christians to begin with.

Gen. 19:17, 26 Lot and his family were told by angels of God to escape the city of Sodom before God would destroy it and to not look back at the city after leaving it, but what did Lot’s wife do?

Some Christians after making a decision to dedicate their lives to serve Christ look back (figuratively) at all they are leaving of the world’s fun, goals, values, priorities, material possessions, comforts, pleasures, etc. and wonder if it’s all worth leaving to serve God. Have you ever thought this way? If so, could it be because you’re unstable?

Gal. 1:6; 3:1-3; 4:9-11 How did the Galatian Christians quickly waver in their beliefs?

Do you quickly change your Christian, biblical beliefs because some charismatic speaker emotionally moves you to a wrong religious view on some issue, and you fail to study/research the biblical facts?

Eph. 4:11-14 God gave spiritually-gifted Christians, like good/accurate Bible teachers so that the average Christian wouldn’t be tossed around by waves of false teaching or blown around by the winds of wrong religious instruction from tricky, deceitful, religious leaders/speakers.

Do you vacillate/waver in what you believe about the Christian faith or what the Bible says?

If so, find a good/accurate Bible teacher who logically instructs from the Bible in context and not from emotionalism or people’s experiences or opinions.

Jas. 1:5-8 When you ask God in prayer for wisdom to deal with some difficult situation you’re experiencing, don’t doubt that He will give you that wisdom because God said He would, and God is not a liar. Believing He will one minute and not the next minute is a double-minded person who is what, vs. 8?

Are you like a drunk who staggers/wobbles as he walks in life and isn’t able to stand with confidence?

Are you unstable in all your ways because you either don’t know what the Bible teaches on certain issues or knowing what it says, you don’t trust God or what He says?

Rev. 2:1-4 What did God say He had against the Christians in the Ephesian church?

Do you ever make Jesus the first love of your life one day (maybe after a stirring sermon you heard or after a Christian retreat or camp meeting) and a couple of weeks or months later He’s no longer your first love in life, but “you” are or your girl/boyfriend is or sports, computers, money, school, a job, video games, music, or cars are? If so, will you apply verse 5 right now?

And what will you do to insure that you don’t go back and forth as to whom/what is your first love?

2 Pet. 2:1, 14, 15 Who do false teachers like to prey upon and entice into their cult/false teaching?

Did you ever realize that the people who join cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, or the Charismatic movement are generally “unstable” souls/people?

If you’re an unstable person because you’re either not a true Christian, or being a Christian, you don’t know or trust the Bible, God’s Word, completely, what will you now do to avoid becoming a pawn of some cult, and how soon?