God Doesn't Always Work the Same Way
Today, I want to look at the same passage we looked at last time but from a slightly different perspective. And let me tell you, this is the perfect day to cover this topic. At least, it is for me. I need the reminder. Allow me to fill you in on the past couple of days.
On Tuesday morning, we left Montana and began making our way south. Ultimately, we were to arrive in Phoenix, AZ, by the weekend for a missions conference. But after calling a church in Las Vegas to ask about using their RV accommodations, the pastor invited us to join their missions conference, which began Wednesday evening. So, the plan was to drive to St. George, UT on Tuesday, get up Wednesday morning and do a quick tour of Zion National Park, then go the remaining few hours to Las Vegas to be ready for the 7:00 meeting. Then, we’d leave Las Vegas on Saturday morning and make it to Arizona for our conference beginning on Sunday.
Shortly after stopping for dinner late Tuesday evening in central Utah, our motorhome (which has behaved brilliantly for over 24,000 miles since we’ve had it) started overheating and developed an oil leak. We limped it along until we could find a place to pull over for the night safely.
The next morning, we called a nearby diesel service repair shop and had the RV towed to their shop. They worked on it all day Wednesday, and by the evening, they felt they had the overheating issue fixed but still had to deal with the oil leak. Obviously, we missed our meeting. So, we spent the night in our motorhome, which was parked in the repair shop. This was definitely a first.
On Thursday (the day I’m writing this), our prayer was that they could fix the remaining issues and have us on the road by lunchtime. We’re four hours away from Las Vegas, but if we could have gotten on the road shortly after lunch, we would have had just enough time to get to our location, hook up, grab some quick showers and maybe a bite to eat, and be ready for the missions conference.
Lunchtime came and went. As the minutes ticked by, we prayed and wondered if we’d be able to make it on time. Finally, around 2:00, we received word that everything was finished, and all that was left was for us to take a quick test drive to make sure everything was running as it should. Within a mile, we started overheating again. So, once again, we limped our way to the repair shop and called the pastor in Las Vegas to tell him we weren’t going to make it to the missions conference tonight after all.
The mechanics are currently working hard to figure out what else could be the problem, and I’m wondering if we’ll be spending another night in the repair shop. And that’s not all I’m wondering, but before I tell you the rest, let’s look at our passage of Scripture again.
“But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold. The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. And David enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the Lord said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand. And David came to Baalperazim, and David smote them there, and said, The Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baalperazim. And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them. And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. And when David enquired of the Lord, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the Lord go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.”
We already discussed how God’s ways don’t always make sense to us, right? Well, I’m certainly getting a belly-full of that right now. The invitation to the missions conference in Las Vegas was a blessing. It seemed like a Godsend. Yet, for whatever reason, God is not allowing us to get there. I don’t understand it. This delay is not only costing us a meeting but likely financial support too. Could that really be God’s will? For the life of me, I can’t make sense of it. But, as we’ve rehearsed, His ways are not our ways.
Today, I want us to notice that God doesn’t always work things out in the same way as He has before. The first time the Philistines attacked, God told David to go out and meet them head-on. The second time, however, God had a different plan. Why didn’t He tell David to do the same thing he did last time? It was effective. Maybe not long term, but effective. Why did God change up the game plan? Furthermore, why didn’t God give David the same orders He gave to Joshua or Gideon or other military leaders when their enemies attacked? Honestly, I don’t know.
I’ve heard people testify how they were on a long journey and started having vehicle trouble. They prayed, and immediately, the issues cleared up, and the people made it safely (and quickly) to their destination. Trust me, when things started going wonky on Tuesday, I did a lot of praying and guess what—we still ended up on the side of the road. I can’t explain that.
I’ve read accounts of miraculous rescues, but I’ve also read about martyrs of the faith. The Bible tells how sometimes Jesus healed lepers with a mere word while other times, he touched them. When Jairus came to Jesus and told Him his daughter was ill, Jesus set out immediately to heal her, yet when Mary and Martha sent for Him to heal Lazarus, He delayed. On certain occasions, God allowed Israel to fight their battles, but other times, He sent the enemy scampering away before Israel even raised a sword. God’s methods are not consistent, and sometimes that’s frustrating.
God could have mended our engine right away, but He didn’t. He could have kept the problem from coming up, to begin with, but He didn’t. He could have caused the repairs to be quicker or at least adequate, but He didn’t. At this point, I don’t even know what the resolution of this situation will be or when it will be, and while I’m doing all I can to keep trusting, there are still so many questions in my mind. I see so many ways God could have helped, yet He didn’t see fit to do any of them. Instead, He’s working some mysterious plan I can’t see or understand.
But here’s the thing—and this is where I find comfort and peace—through God’s ways are ever-changing, His nature is not. He is always good. He is loving and kind. He is generous and merciful. He loves me and has my best interest in mind. And while I may not be able to trace His hand, I can undoubtedly trust His heart.
That’s what David did. He didn’t lean on his understanding and approach the situation the way he had the first time. Instead, David trusted God. I’m sure he didn’t understand the whole idea of the marching in the mulberry trees, but he didn’t have to. He merely trusted that God was good and wouldn’t lead him astray. He had faith in God’s character even when he didn’t understand God’s methods. And that faith led him to victory, just as it will for us.
“The Lord is gracious and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.”
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