Why Our Desire for Self-Rule Fails: Trusting God's Authority

Throughout history, humanity has resisted ultimate authority, preferring personal authority where each person decides for themselves what is good. This struggle with authority—especially God’s authority—stems all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Few historical examples illustrate this better than the ancient Israelites. The Old Testament records stories of God’s people both faithfully obeying and intentionally rebelling against Him. Each rebellion cost them dearly. Dishearteningly, despite God’s power and promises, His chosen people repeatedly rejected His authority to pursue what they deemed right, breaking God’s heart in the process. In Jeremiah 2:5, God laments: “What fault did your fathers find in me that they went so far from me, followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves?” This leaves us with a central question: why?

Two Heartbreaking Stories of Rejection of Authority in the Bible

Two Old Testament stories show how and why Israel rejected God for their own judgment.

1. Kadesh-Barnea: Choosing Fear Over Faith

The first occurs at Kadesh-Barnea on the border of Canaan (Numbers 13–14). God instructed Moses to send twelve spies—one from each tribe—into the Promised Land. After forty days, they returned, confirming the land was fruitful, but ten of the spies panicked, terrified of its powerful inhabitants. They persuaded the nation to rebel, claiming God had led them there to die, and even proposed appointing a new leader to take them back to Egypt (Numbers 14:1–4). Only two spies, Joshua and Caleb, maintained faith, declaring: “If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into the land… Only don’t rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid… the Lord is with us” (Numbers 14:8–9). Instead of listening, the Israelites threatened to stone them (Numbers 14:10). Fear had escalated into rebellion, and rebellion into murderous intent. As a result, God condemned that faithless generation—excluding Caleb and Joshua—to wander and die in the wilderness, leaving their children to inherit the land.

The Israelites had witnessed extraordinary miracles: deliverance from Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, supernatural food in the wilderness, and victory over enemies. God had repeatedly proven His supremacy over human empires. Yet, on the border of the Promised Land, facing enemies God explicitly promised to defeat, they lost faith. Why? Fear convinced them that God was insufficient and that only self-reliance could keep them safe. They ignored Joshua and Caleb’s reminder that obedience removes the need for fear. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated failure. Time and again, when facing hardship, Israel turned to themselves or false idols rather than God.

2. The Demand for a King: Trading Divine Governance for Human Self-Reliance

Generations later, during the time of the prophet Samuel, the elders presented a new demand: “Give us a king like all the other nations have” (1 Samuel 8:5). This marked a second major instance of Israel’s misplaced desire for authority. This rebellion stemmed from a legitimate need for leadership, as Samuel’s sons were corrupt judges (1 Samuel 8:1–3). Yet, rather than seeking God’s guidance, Israel demanded to copy surrounding nations—embracing human self-reliance. Here, the stumbling block was not fear, but conformity—a direct compromise of their calling to be a distinct, holy nation set apart for God (Leviticus 20:22–24).

Troubled by their demand, Samuel turned to God for direction. God instructed him to grant the request, but warned that the people were ultimately rejecting Him as their true King, just as their ancestors had through idolatry. A human king would claim their property and send their children into service. Though Israel eventually had some good kings, many turned away, leading the nation to ruin. While less overt than open rebellion, this episode highlights the subtle mindset that rejects God’s authority.

The Root Mindset Behind Human Self-Reliance

When receiving instructions on a task, I have sometimes caught myself thinking, “I know what I’m doing. Stop lecturing me!” Yet, once I followed directions, I realized how helpful the guidance was. In those moments, I assumed I knew better—not based on experience, but out of a desire for independence. This is the root mindset behind the rejection of authority in the Bible: a combination of fear and pride. It is the fear of losing control paired with the pride that demands self-rule.

Self-governance is perhaps humanity’s greatest temptation. It originated in the Garden of Eden when the serpent convinced Eve that God was withholding good from her, promising that eating the fruit would make her like God—able to determine right from wrong for herself (Genesis 3:1–7). That desire fractured humanity’s relationship with God, a breach only reconciled millennia later through Jesus Christ. Yet even amidst human rebellion, one truth remains clear.

The Good King Who Persists: Recognizing God’s Authority

The irony of Israel’s rebellion is that disobeying God never removed them from His authority. If anything, their choices affirmed it. Beyond direct consequences—like forty years of wilderness wandering—Israel operated within a covenant where God promised blessings for obedience and consequences for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28). Every action remained under His ultimate jurisdiction.

Even Israel’s kings—the most powerful men in the nation—were subject to God, their reigns dependent on their reverence for Him (1 Samuel 12:13–15). Today, God’s authority remains absolute over believers and skeptics alike. In Psalm 73, the psalmist admits struggling while watching the wicked prosper, wondering if his faithfulness was in vain. Yet he concludes that the rebellious eventually face judgment, while the faithful enjoy God’s presence. Psalms like Psalm 93 praise God’s eternal reign. No human rebellion can override His authority.

A Right-Side-Up View of Submitting to God’s Authority

Throughout history, people have sought independence from authority for various reasons—some justified, others not. But God’s authority is inescapable. He is eternally sovereign and intrinsically good. Because His authority is trustworthy, our role is to maintain faith in Him, even when circumstances make it difficult.

Authority itself is not the problem. Properly exercised, authority provides direction, order, and protection. Living without guiding principles leads to chaos, meaning everyone submits to something—even if it is merely themselves. The crucial question is which authority we choose. Human beings—ourselves included—are too flawed to serve as the ultimate authority. True peace comes when we recognize that God provides a perfect, good, and gracious authority.

Overcoming Self-Rule Through Daily Faith

Submitting to God’s authority is a daily struggle to unseat ourselves from the throne of our hearts, but it is a battle fought not through physical power, but through steadfast faith in His character.

Author C.S. Lewis defined faith as “the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.” When hardship hit, the Israelites lacked focused faith, causing them to turn to human kings or self-reliance. Today, we face similar temptations: fearing God’s authority is insufficient, longing to conform to a secular culture, or arrogantly assuming we know better. Strong faith remembers God’s past faithfulness and continues trusting Him through doubt. Through prayer, Scripture, and wise counsel, we can surrender self-rule and echo David’s prayer in Psalm 25: “In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.”