When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hands of our enemies.” ~ 1 Samuel 4:3
“Whose bright idea was this?” someone asked. All eyes were on me. It was my very first day as a team leader for my military unit, and deep down I knew it was probably my last. Instead of relying on the map and compass I had been issued to successfully complete the land navigation training exercise, I made the horrible decision to trust my gut instinct.
That decision ultimately resulted in me and my team getting completely lost. Once we finally got our bearings and realized exactly where we were, we began making our way back to basecamp. We had failed to reach our final objective, meaning that we had ultimately failed the exercise. And that meant we had to go through this 10-mile journey all over again the following day.
As I was reading 1 Samuel 4:3 this morning, the memory of that horrible decision that I made some 30 years earlier as a young team leader in the US Army immediately came to mind.
The Israelites had suffered an enormous setback just hours earlier in a lopsided battle against the Philistines. They were so overmatched by their enemy that many of them abandoned their positions and scattered into the countryside to hide. When a messenger returned to basecamp and informed the elders of what had happened, they became desperate. Instead of relying solely on God, they relied on their own flawed instincts. “Go back to the tabernacle at Shiloh at once! Secure the ark of the Lord’s covenant and bring it back with you to basecamp!”
You probably won’t learn about this on the History Channel, but it would certainly qualify as the most horrible decision ever in military history.
Not only did the Philistines whip the Israelites yet again, they also captured their treasured and sacred ark of the Lord’s covenant and took it back home with them as prized plunder.
Friend, when decide to ignore God’s will for us and instead choose to follow our own gut instincts, we are setting ourselves up for utter failure. God had given me a map and compass that day many years ago, yet I foolishly decided to go it alone. The elders of Israel had God on their side, and yet they foolishly decided to make a careless decision without consulting with Him instead.
Time and time again, man has failed to recognize that God isn’t one to be ignored. He wants us to come to Him for direction and guidance; He not only wants us to listen, but to also live in obedience to Him. When we refuse to yield to what God wants for us, He will let us do our own thing and suffer the consequences. For it is written in Proverbs 3: 5-6:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Former Blackout Artist 