S) "27 The sons of Israel inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, Aaron’s son, stood before it to minister in those days), saying, 'Shall I yet again go out to battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?' And the Lord said, 'Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.'"
Judges 20:27-28 (NASB)
O) There was a great tragedy in the city of Gibeah (which was held by the tribe of Benjamin). Men of the city attacked and ravished a woman. Her husband then cut her body in pieces and sent them to every corner of Israel, to get the attention of the entire nation (vv.1-7 give this recap., ch.19 has the whole story). When the people assembled to resolve this, Benjamin would not cooperate in bringing about justice, so the rest of the nation prepared for war. They correctly inquired of the LORD, asking who should go into battle first (v.18), then promptly suffered the loss of 22,000 warriors in the first day (v.19). Again, they correctly returned to the LORD, to confirm their plan for battle (v.23), but suffered another large loss of 18,000 men on the second day (v.25). This was ten percent of their force lost in two days (see v.2). However, the assembled tribes persevered in faith. They believed the LORD was not lying to them. Despite heavy losses at a discouraging rate, they did not forget the words that the LORD had already spoken. They were shaken, but they returned to the LORD a third time, to hear again what He had spoken.
A) There have been times when I have prayed and asked God for direction, and I thought I had a good idea of how He wanted me to proceed. Then, when I went through with the plan, the wheels seemed to come off... I don't think I've seen the last of those confusing, hard times. When faced with that kind of struggle, there are a few ways I can respond. I can doubt the direction I felt during my prayers, and change directions with my plans. I can also ignore the hardships and press on with my initial direction. It is best, though, to go back to the LORD in prayer. I think most often I have gone with one of the first two options, because the last has seemed somehow like doubt. I don't think it is, though. I think that coming back to my Father God, to confirm His way will serve me well in two areas. First, it will sharpen my spiritual discernment, simply by practicing the discipline of prayer and seeking His voice, and searching the scriptures. Second, it removes me (to some degree, the least reliable factor) from the decision making process. This way, whether I heard from God correctly the first time or not, God can still change my course. Otherwise, He can encourage me to continue in the course I am following. Either way, it takes me out of the position of trying to foresee circumstances (which I cannot do), and it puts me in the position to simply obey (which I can do).
P) Father, You are holy and worthy of my praise. You deserve all of my adoration and obedience. The grace and mercy You have already displayed in my life is humbling. I confess that, despite my inability to do so, I have tried to plan my own life. I have sought Your will, but I have not often done it well. In my past, I have seen Your awesome provision. I have seen Your will and plan in my life come to beautiful fruition. Other times, I have seen myself miss the mark, and fail to handle that correctly. The truth is, only You are worthy to make judgment calls. When hardship comes, I must return to You over, and over, and over, and learn how You view my circumstances. When I am struggling against some circumstance, it can easily seem like I have not heard Your direction clearly, but I am not even able to say that with certainty. Sometimes, pain or loss are part of Your plan. So, with every struggle I face, remind me to come back to You. Let me seek You in prayer and in the Bible, everyday if I must, until I see or hear what You would have me do. Open my eyes to see and my ears to hear. Lead me, Father. The decisions I make have a large area of impact. I am responsible for my wife and children, at the least, and the direction I go must be leading them where You want us to go. I cannot afford to make decisions on direction, based on anything except Your will. Lead me, so I can lead them. Let Your will be done. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment