Monday, April 19, 2010

God Lives

"Let us bring the ark of the Lord's covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies."

-- 1 Samuel 4:3b

The Israelites were amazed. The Philistines had actually defeated them. That wasn't supposed to happen. They were God's people, after all. Okay. So maybe sometimes they didn't act like God's people. Well, most of the time. But that wasn't the point. They were God's people and the Philistines weren't supposed to win the battle.

So the Israelites decided to do something about it. They sent for the ark of the Lord's covenant and had it brought to their camp. They figured it would protect them and lead them to victory. Uh-oh. Bad, bad move.

First of all, the ark of the covenant was supposed to always be kept in the Most Holy Place. This was an area only the high priest could enter and, even then, he could only do it once a year. Needless to say, removing the ark of the covenant and having it transported someplace it wasn't supposed to be by people who weren't supposed to touch it was not a smart move. Honestly, they didn't have a clue.

Yes, the Philistines defeated them -- again. And the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant. They were a little smarter than the Israelites. They realized almost immediately that they'd done something awful. Tumors and death will do that. Eventually they sent it back to Israel with an offering.

Aren't we guilty sometimes of assuming God is with us, even when we don't ask for His guidance? We just sort of go our own way and assume He'll be right there with us. We wear our crosses and tote our Bibles around and figure it'll all work out as we planned.

But we're doing the same thing the Israelites did. We are using things -- and yes a cross necklace is a thing -- as props. God isn't a thing. He's -- well, He's God. He is everything. He is living and breathing and a part of everything we are and we do. He is our Creator and Sustainer. But He is not an inanimate object that we use to symbolize our relationship with Him.

Nothing can ever replace the personal relationship we have with God. When we want His help, we can ask Him. When we need Him, we can call and He is right there with us. When we don't know what to do, or where to turn, or who to trust -- there He is. That's the part the Israelites missed. All they ever needed to do was cry out to God.

It's a lesson we'd do well to remember.