God is a sovereign God, but he will not save people, or help them until they come to him with complete trust.

Mark 10:22 – The rich young ruler went away from salvation to someplace else. He wound up with nothing.

John 6:66 – Many disciples went away from Christ because they did not understand his teachings. Some of the disciples had no place to go. Do you have some other place to go?

Genesis 4:16 – Cain went from the presence of the Lord. Also notice Genesis 4:24 – Lamech believed if the murder of Cain was to be avenged seven fold, he should be avenged seventy and seven fold. All of these went from the presence of the Lord.

II Kings 5:11,12 – Naaman was wroth and went away, but was persuaded to return and do the bidding of Elisha. Naaman was healed of his leprosy because he obeyed the commands of God. I trust you can be persuaded to obey the commands of God for salvation or faithfulness in service.

John 12:11 – The Pharisees determine to kill Lazarus because, after his resurrection, many of the Jews go away and believe on Jesus.

In their minds, it seems each of the above persons have some other place they can go. They have something else they can do. They have another plan they will try before they obey the commands of God. Notice, they all have heard the right way, but they do not want that way. They want their own way. They believe their way is as good as, or better than, God’s way. They have all determined they will try their own way before they try God’s way. The problem is that their own way leads to destruction, and they will never be able to return to God and to obedience to his simple commands for live and liberty.

I Cor. 1:20-24 – The Jews thought the gospel needed a sign, and the Greeks saw the gospel as foolishness. This passage indicates these people listened to the gospel, but discarded it as foolishness.

Acts 13:42-48 – The gospel message was presented to the unbelieving Jews, but they were moved with envy, and blasphemed the gospel. Paul declared the gospel should have been spoken first to them, but because they rejected that gospel, he (because of the command of God) was turning to the Gentiles.

Matthew 11:28-30 – Jesus said, "Come unto me…"

Matthew 17:14 – the man with the demon-possessed son came to Jesus and received healing for his son.

Matthew 9:18 – A man whose daughter had died came to Jesus, asking him to come and lay his hand on her that she should live.

Matthew 9:20 – As Jesus was going to bring the girl back to life, the woman with the issue of blood came to Jesus to be healed.

Matthew 20:29-34 – The two blind men cried aloud, more and more, that Jesus would give them their sight.