Check the instructions before assembling...

My dear husband used to make me laugh when putting together a new baby toy. He typically didn't think instructions were necessary until he realized he may have done something wrong :)

He doesn't do this often any more, but I remember inwardly laughing at his groans of frustration when he would have to almost completely disassemble an item and then re-do it - this time with the instructions in hand! Fortunately for him, he doesn't do this with really important things - car seats, home repairs, etc. Unfortunately for me, while I typically use instructions for the minor things, I have skipped out on them for even more important things - like how do I know I'm making a good decision, how should I respond to this person in this moment, etc, either because I want to act right then and don't want to take the time to find out what I should do or because I don't like what the "instructions" say.

Today I read a story that is shocking, but hopefully will lead you by God's grace to the same discovery that I made regarding life - THE INSTRUCTIONS FROM GOD ARE ALWAYS BENEFICIAL.

Story - 1 Chronicles 13 - long, but worth reading:

¹ David conferred with each of his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. ² He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, "If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the LORD our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our brothers throughout the territories of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their towns and pasturelands, to come and join us. ³ Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not inquire of it during the reign of Saul." ⁴ The whole assembly agreed to do this, because it seemed right to all the people.

⁵ So David assembled all the Israelites, from the Shihor River in Egypt to Lebo Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim. ⁶ David and all the Israelites with him went to Baalah of Judah (Kiriath Jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the LORD, who is enthroned between the cherubim—the ark that is called by the Name.

⁷ They moved the ark of God from Abinadab's house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. ⁸ David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.

⁹ When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. ¹⁰ The LORD's anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God.

¹¹ Then David was angry because the LORD's wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.

¹² David was afraid of God that day and asked, "How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?" ¹³
He did not take the ark to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

Crazy, huh? You think God would have been a little more "kind", especially since they were so celebratory, but if we check out the reasons behind God's anger, it may make some more sense to us....

1 Chronicles 15 -
¹¹ Then David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab the Levites. ¹² He said to them, "You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. ¹³ It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the LORD our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way." ¹⁴

There was a prescribed way recorded for all in Exodus 25:13-15. While there is still a certain sense of, "but God - your punishment still seems pretty harsh," keep in mind that David was the set king over God's chosen nation - he was caring for and in leadership of God's favorites! And he was supposed to be his representative!

God is serious about some things - He's serious about His glory and He's serious about those He loves (thankfully). Because He's serious about those two things, He will act in ways towards those He made His own's disobedience that our sometimes very painful - but why?

I could take a long time to answer that and not even do it justice but I'll note two things here:
1) His character - He is just as well as merciful. He has to make restitution for our sins (for those of us in Christ, He placed them on Him)
2) His desire for us to enjoy Him and be satisfied - if He never punished, we'd often never learn :) or change. It is His kindness that punishes and brings us back in line so that we are experiencing life - not what we have been deceived in to thinking life is that is actually destroying us or others.

In that vein, today I read a friend's facebook status today that quoted this part of the Constitution -

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," and underneath was attached a praise of New York moving closer to allowing same-sex marriages.

I was saddened because of this - We often do not know what will make us happy. God is the only all good existence and to ignore what He says in regards to how to live our lives is therefore absolutely foolish. He alone knows what we really need and the ways to get it. Outside of Him and His ways there is no way anyone can obtain happiness. So while that friend is dear, she is chasing a means to happiness that is leading her and others only to sadness.

Over the course of the next few blogs I plan to go in to some more personal details regarding how God graciously taught me (through warning, then affliction, etc) to take Him seriously and I hope you will join me for the ride and grow in trust for His ways as well.

For now though I'll leave you with my all-time favorite passage:

Isaiah 55:8-9

⁸ "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

⁹ "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."