Stop Second-guessing God; Simply Obey.

What happens when our GOOD MOTIVES count as DISOBEDIENCE/UNFAITHFULNESS to God? In 2 Sam 6 we have two good men with good motives but unfortunately, they both carried out their good motives in a wrong way. And both suffered. One (Uzzah) suffered immediate judgment that took his life; the other (David) suffered confusion and the pain of responsibility that remained the duration of his life. There's no right way of doing the wrong thing.

When our motive is remaining FAITHFUL to God, we cannot be casual over what we need to be careful about. This is an issue that cost MOSES the opportunity to enter the Promised Land. Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it as the Lord had commanded. The interesting part of this story is that God still went ahead to provide water for the people as He had promised. Moot point: Results are not always an indication that we are in the will of God. We could delude ourselves by saying we have “evidence and proofs". But then the question we must constantly ask ourselves is: Are we doing it God’s way or are we pushing our agenda? in Exodus 17, Moses obeyed God by striking the rock, but in Numbers 20 he disobeyed God by striking the rock instead of speaking to it. His mistake was not misinterpretation but misrepresentation.

God means it when He tells us to do something in a particular way. It also means you have the capacity to be successful at that task. Please do not be tempted to second-guess God. If your own motives lead you innovative or cause you to modify God's instructions, you might still succeed, but God equates it to being both unfaithful and faithless. When God gave specific instructions as to how priests were to offer incense, Nadab and Abihu used profane fire instead of the fire from the altar, kindled by God. As a result they were consumed by fire from the Lord. When God told Saul to totally destroy the Amalekites, including all their animals, Saul killed everything except for King Agag and the best of the animals. The animals he intended to offer as sacrifices later. As a result Saul is rejected by God as king over Israel. May the Lord help me that I should not have any other motive or intent than to faithfully obey Him.

In the New Testament, Jesus and the Apostles give us clear and. unambiguous instructions for victorious Christian living. I will just highlight one that appears to be a raw nerve whenever I raise it with most people: Jesus said, "Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. When you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. When you fast, don’t make it obvious... don't show your fasting to people but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you (Matt 6:1-18 (NLT;HCSB). The motivation here is very clear - God's reward. When God tells us to do something in a way that does not sound reasonable to us, we do not have the luxury of deciding "no, that'll never work" and doing something that we think would work better.

Is modernity and social media age numbing our spiritual sensitivities? Are we letting our guard down? Consider this: a longstanding familiarity with something that is dangerous doesn’t remove the hazard, does it? Haven’t you heard about men who work high voltage wires getting electrocuted by doing something they knew better than to do? Happens all the time. It is not uncommon to hear of a wild animal trainer who has taken an infant ferocious animal and reared it, only to later be mauled and killed by that animal they loved.

It is my humble submission that good intentions cannot make up for disobedience or unfaithfulness to God. And it’s not like David and his men could plead ignorance. After Uzzah died, they moved the Ark as the Lord prescribed. They knew the correct way all along but just didn’t seem to want to go through the trouble. As loving as He is, I see no where in the Bible where God says "Thank you" to anyone. Instead, He says, “Well done, thou GOOD and FAITHFUL servant.” May God help me to always test my motives in line with His Word which "...interprets and reveals the true thoughts and secret motives of our hearts." (Heb 4:12b TPT version). Shalom!