Doing God's Will in God's Way - I Chronicles 13-15 and John 7:1-27

We must be very careful when we set out to do God's will. We must make sure we do it His way, instead of doing it our way or any other way. Look at king David. He wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem. That was God's will, but he did not do it in the way God had laid out before, so Uzza died in the process. Finally, David did it God's way, and everything went well. He had the Levites and the priests doing their responsibilities as laid out in God's Word, and they had sanctified themselves before they began the task. That is what we should do. We should pray and check God's Word. Then, we should ask God to cleanse us and use us for His glory. Only after that type of process should we do God's will in His way. The battles against the Philistines are another good example. David asked God what to do. The first time God told him to attack them head on. They won the battle. What if they had assumed that was God's way the second time? They would have missed God's will, because the next time He told David to attack from behind and only after he heard the breeze in the trees. We must be sensitive to what God is telling us in each new instance before us. He wants us to trust Him, because He knows best.

Jesus in John 7 is told by his unbelieving brothers to go up to Jerusalem for the feast. They said He should not keep Himself secret. Jesus told them that they should go ahead, but it was not time for Him to go yet. Then, when He did go, He did remain quiet for quite a while before He presented Himself. What was He doing? He was following the Father's will and doing things His way. Even Jesus had to be aware of this principle. I urge all of us to pray without ceasing, so that in every circumstance we are seeking to know not only what God wants us to do but how to do it, too.

Tomorrow, I intend to read I Chronicles 16-18 and John 7:28-53.