Good morning. I start each day with the belief that it is going to be a good one. This goes against logic. Some days will not be pleasant.
I have been with my company for over two decades. You have heard me reference my day job in these pages. Yesterday, like many people in companies around the world every year, my company laid me off.
Today, this is the lens I will be looking through as we read 1 Chronicles 12-15.
From these chapters, I see hope, comfort, and caution.
Hope
David was a shepherd who God chose to lead Israel. In verse 12:17, he says, “If you have come to me in peace to help me, I am ready for you to join me.” David was seeking peace.
Jesus gives us His peace (see John 14:27).
After we read of David’s desire, we read that, day after day, men came to help David (v12:22). This is the hope I believe I can count on.
God had chosen David, and He was bringing to him all the help he would require.
Comfort
I have felt God saying to my soul, “your work is with me.” Many times I have written about trusting in God, not in our employers.
Each day, as I tried to fit serving God around doing my job, I have felt hypocritical for not living the values I preach.
Change is hard. Walking away from a job God had given me was a risk. I didn’t do it.
Instead, I kept praying the God would make clear to me what the next move should be. There was no doubt about what He wanted me to write.
It was never a matter of what I needed to do. The question was when. Was that steady income enabling me to do the things I do to share the Gospel? Or was that job preventing me from taking the next step?
David was seeking peace while building an army. The dichotomy is rich.
Caution
Why did he pursue both? He knew they were not keeping God’s commands.
In 13:3, he says, “Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not inquire of it during the reign of Saul.”
When we live our lives next to God, instead of in Christ, we allow sin to widen that separation.
Soon, we realize God is not even with us.
Return
He never leaves us, but we leave Him. God’s patience is unwavering (see 2 Pet 3:9). He waits for us to return.
David is seeking peace, watching the army grow, seeing battles flare up with Saul and the Philistines. He looks around and considers his situation and realizes they are trying to do this all without consulting God.
They had lost the habit and discipline of seeking God. So he says let’s get the ark and return to the Lord.
There were very strict protocols on how to move the ark. They would place the poles through the rings, lift the ark onto their shoulders, and march with it. Specific Levites, the Kohathites, were to carry the ark (see Num 3:29-31).
Instead, they put the ark on a cart and had oxen move it. In their excitement, they were playing music and singing and dancing. I picture the circus rolling into town.
This was not the way to move the Ark of the Covenant of God. Therefore, oxen, being the clumsy animals they are, stumble and Uzzah reaches out to steady the ark.
I have always wondered, why would God punish Uzzah for protecting the ark? He wouldn’t.
God’s anger was not based on Uzzah protecting the ark, it was on them not following the laws He had given them on how to move it. If they had been carrying it on poles and marching with it, the ark would not have teetered.
We had spoken in Numbers 4:15-20 about how a limited group of Levites could even look at the ark. They kept it covered. It was sacred.
Uzzah was treating it like common luggage.
When we have reverence for God, and seek Him. He provides clear guidance.
In verse 14:14, He tells David how and where to attach the Philistines. He even tells him when to make the move.
This is the comfort we can take when we go through changes in our lives. Whether they are employment disruptions, health concerns, relationship issue, financial struggles, etc.
If we seek God, He will provide us with guidance through the Holy Spirit. We just need to stop the chaos around us and listen to His voice.
When we don’t listen to God and try to make our own path forward. We can find even our best intentions will cause us to suffer.
We can’t be half-hearted. God does not want lukewarm worshippers (see Rev 3:15-16).
We attempt to optimize tasks, such as using a cart, and expect God’s joy at our circumvention of His will.
We say, “we will do this our way,” and expect God to bless us for it. Instead, we must commit to doing God’s will. How does He want this done?
I encourage you to look at all the areas of your life. Where are you pursuing your path, hoping God will join in?
How does God want you to do whatever it is you are doing?
If you don’t know, be like David. Bring God back into the picture and seek His guidance.
He will give you the victory.
