Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you! Lots of flowers being delivered this weekend and I see boxes of them outside the doors here to honor mothers. Today I plan to start my packing for our trip to see Mark’s family. Sadly, rain is predicted most every day, but our purpose is to see them, and the weather is very secondary.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  Do we sometimes put God in a box and think He needs to act or respond in a certain way. We must always remember God is sovereign and He is in charge, not us, and we are not to take control of things that are His. Uzzah learned a hard lesson about that and lost his life.
  Maybe you remember the story of how David was bringing back the Ark of the Covenant that had been captured by the Philistines 30 years before. The ark was very important to the people of God for it held Aaron’s rod that had budded, a jar of manna and the 10 commandments on tablets of stone. These things reminded the people of how God was with them through the wilderness, provided for them and saved them. King David wanted to bring the Ark back to Jerusalem for it had been in the house of an old priest all that time. His two sons, Uzzah and Ahio were to deliver the Ark and David was planning a celebration. Uzzah, being a priest, would have known that the Ark was not to be touched but only carried by poles inserted through rings attached to the Ark; but he put it in a cart pulled by an ox. The Ark started to fall off the cart and he put out his hand to keep it from falling and God smote him and he died. (II Sam. 6:7) That seems severe for disobedience. David called off the trip and came back 3 months later to bring the Ark in the prescribed way and he danced before the Lord with all his might and wrote Psalm 132.
  Maybe we all question why God did this, and I read what Eugene Peterson had to say that helped give possibilities and understanding. He relates that Uzzah tried to take charge of God and take over His work. He may have thought the ox cart would be easier and more efficient and took matters into his own hands and disregarded what was holy. He was trying to manage God and like Peterson said, “We don’t take care of God: God takes care of us.” We may start out well and change our habits, grow in the Lord, and then sometime down the road we take over for God and even for others, telling them how they should live. We find that in the process we lose our zeal for the Lord and our love for Him dries up. But David had an open heart to the Lord and didn’t try to manage God, but worshiped and danced and was attentive to the Lord.                                            Let us not put God in a box and try to direct things but have an openness to Him and let Him lead us in His most perfect way.
Challenge for today: Instead of telling God what He should do, pray your concerns and let Him direct the results.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy