Limitation of God's honoring intentions of a heart!

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'We got to honor the intentions of a heart,' I heard it loud and clear from someone recently.

I became curious to the limits to which God honors intentions of a heart.
Would he honor the intentions of a heart? Yes.
Is there any limitations to his honoring of intentions of a heart? or is it unlimited honoring of intentions of a heart?
Scripture records that the heart of a human is an extremely deceptive one.
So where is the line between extremely deceptive nature vs. good intentions of a heart?

Let us look at David's heart during the time when he became king over all twelve tribes. ( Refer 2 Samuel if you sense any bluffing in what follows & kindly let me know, please.)

His 1st concern was to bring the ark of God back from the Philistines into the middle of his & his people's life.
Why? Think when we came to the realization that our Lord has the right to be the Master or Guru over every area of our life, was it not our desire to put him squarely in the center of our life?
That's the same reason for David's desire. To bring back the ark. He wants God to have the 1st place in his life & his people's life.

David put together a new bullock cart & set the ark in its center. He started back with all people singing & rejoicing. What an enthusiastic sincere devotion to God!
But something happened. Something terrible.
Some pit in the road caused the cart to lower on one side & the ark began sliding.
Uzzah, a man standing near reached out to steady the ark. The moment he touched, a lightning struck him and he fell dead.
David didn't know what to do.
It cast a great tragedy over the whole scene.
All singing & dancing abruptly stopped.
A man with good intentions of his heart had died. He only wanted to keep the ark of God from falling to the ground.
David was so sick at heart that he turned the bullock cart aside, put the ark of God in the 1st house that was nearby & handy, & went back to his place. Bitter & resentful toward the Lord.
'How can you allow lightening to strike a man trying to prevent your cart from falling on the road?'

David must have wrestled with the Lord. 'How can you?', 'How can you allow such an horrible act?', etc.,

What do we do when we have such moments in our life?
What do we do when we absolutely experience nonsense around us despite our continuing faith?
What do you think David must have done?
We pray. We cry out. Yet we feel a sense of emptiness.
'Is he really out there?'
'Cmon, Lord. What's going on? What are you thinking? What are you doing?'
'Why are you silent, Lord?'
Then, we frantically search into Scripture because someone told us that's the revelation of the heart of God.

David, the man after God's own heart as recorded in Scripture, must have gone digging into Scripture to understand the heart of God better. Can we guess what he must have found & learnt?

'Oops! I have violated the specific instruction in Leviticus on how to move the ark of God!'
'Oh! my God! I failed to order Levites to handle the cart & the ark of God.'
'Oh! No! I just put the ark on a bullock cart and started to move it myself. An innocent man has died because of my fault.'
'Forgive me, dear Lord.'
'Forgive me by your vast love & deep mercies'
'In my boasting about you God on my side, I took you for granted & became careless in your other instruction'
'Oh! my sincerity in serving you my God is never enough!'
'Oh! my intention of my heart in serving you is never enough!'
'Things must be done in your way my God in order to accomplish your will.'
'I surrender. Help me, Lord'

If we want to serve God, we must sign up to his agenda and use his methods, not just make our plans and expect God to endorse them.

David had to learn this truth, and the death of Uzzah stands as a constant testimony that God will never compromise on this.

Comments

  1. anush11 June 2019 at 20:27

    This had always been a very disconcerting question in my heart, one which I only could dismiss citing that God is wise and always good. Only my understanding is lacking. Such a relief reading this. Can you cite the reference in Leviticus as well?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Prem Kumar S. R.19 June 2019 at 17:37

      Hi Anush, Thank you for sharing feedback & asking question. This is an answer to my prayer that few be blessed through these articles. :-)... To answer your question: I mentioned 'Leviticus' in a slightly generic way to refer to the instructions from God related to the Ark of the Covenant. More appropriate word should have been 'the law'. For the specific scripture references:

      (1) Numbers 4:15 -- And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. (ESV Bibles by Crossway. ESV Global Study Bible (Kindle Locations 29722-29726). Crossway. Kindle Edition.)

      (2) Carrying the Ark in a Cart is a deviation from God's instruction to carry it on poles through the rings on the sides of the ark. Exodus 25:14-15 -- And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. (ESV Bibles by Crossway. ESV Global Study Bible (Kindle Locations 16061-16064). Crossway. Kindle Edition.)

      (3) God instructed the Ark to be carried on the poles by the Levites on their shoulders. Numbers 8:7-9 -- And four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because they were charged with the service of the holy things that had to be carried on the shoulder. (ESV Bibles by Crossway. ESV Global Study Bible (Kindle Locations 30034-30039). Crossway. Kindle Edition.)

      Deuteronomy 31:9 -- Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to.... (ESV Bibles by Crossway. ESV Global Study Bible (Kindle Locations 40928-40931). Crossway. Kindle Edition.)

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