This morning, I was reading 1 Samuel 6 in my devotions. The Lord spoke to my heart from this very unusual and obscure passage.
To get the message from Chapter 6, you need to understand what happened in Chapters 4 and 5. Israel went to fight against the Phillistines, but they went in their own strength and were defeated by their enemies. They lost 4,000 men in that battle.
If that wasn't bad enough, they assumed the only reason they lost was because they didn't take the Ark of the Covenant with them. (The Ark represented the presence of God to the nation of Israel) So, they go get the ark and go back to fight the Phillistines. They didn't follow God's instructions concerning the ark - they just brought it along as a good luck charm. Once again, they were defeated. This time, they lost 30,000 soldiers and to make things worse, the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Phillistines.
Stay with me. I am going somewhere with this....
So, the Phillistines take the ark in Chapter 5 and put it beside their god, Dagon, in their temple, to show it off as a trophy. When they came in the next morning, Dagon had fallen down on his face right in front of the ark. (Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor? I would have loved to be a fly on the wall.) So, they pick Dagon up and the next morning, they come in and there Dagon is again, lying on his face in front of the ark. This time, his hands and head was broken off. My God is so awesome!
All of this time, a plague is going throughout the camp of the Phillistines. They get sores all over their bodies and mice start destroying their crops. Someone suggests it might be because they have the ark in their camp - that Israel's God is taking it out on them.
So, in chapter 6, they bring in their theologians to seek their advice about the curse and the plague and what to do with the ark.
Now, is where the message is:
The theologians come up with this "off the wall" idea. They said to get two milk cows who had never been in a yoke, take them away from their calves, and put them in a yoke together. Then, tie a cart with the ark on it to the cows and see if they will transport the ark back to Israel. If they do, that is a sign that God is real and this plague is from Him. If they don't, then we know it is just bad luck - that God had nothing to do with it.
Talk about putting God to the test! Mother cows don't want to do anything but lay around and be milked. They don't want to leave their calves, and they don't want to get in a yoke, especially when they never had been in one. The chances of them walking to Israel with the ark behind them was 1 in a billion.
That's where God comes in! These lazy old milk cows carried the ark straight to Israel! What a miracle!
But, here is what God spoke to me about. If God can use a milk cow, why couldn't He use me to prove to the lost that my God is real! In order for God to use them, they had to do several things:
1. They had to get out of their comfort zone. They had to be willing to leave their calves behind. We must be willing to leave our comfort zones. Sometimes, we must be willing to leave our friends and family. We must be willing to go wherever God wants us to go. We must sever any tie, save the tie that binds us to Christ!
2. They had to be willing to get in a yoke. This speaks of submission. A yoke was to bring an animal that was stronger than you into submission. We are to "Submit ourselves to God." Our will must be lost in His will. We must make a total surrender and say, "Not my will, but Thine be done." They were completely controlled by God. In order for us to be used, we must be "filled" or "controlled" by the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)
3. They had to stay on track. They didn't get off to the left or right. They allowed God to guide them and lead them to Israel. "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Proverbs 3:5 and 6 tells us that God wants to guide our steps and lead us. He has a plan for our lives, but many times, we go our own way when we neglect His Guiding Light - the Word of God!
4. They had to work together. There were two of them. If one of them took a notion to go in a different direction, it would have never worked. God wants us to be unified. He wants us to learn to work together with other brothers and sisters in Christ. We are not to be isolated and alone. We are to be laborers together with Christ. "Two are better than one" Ecclesiastes 4:11 says.
5. They couldn't get an ego. If I was one of the cows that had carried the ark of the covenant back to Israel, I would expect some recognition. I would think they would make a statue of me and put it up for all to see. When these cows arrived with the ark, there was no mention of praising the cows. The people glorified God instead. What could be accomplished for God if we didn't care who got the credit - if all we were concerned about was God getting glory?
6. Their life was a sacrifice. When they got to Israel, not only were they not recognized, the people took them and killed them and offered them to God as a sacrifice! These cows were nothing but servants and their life was for the purpose of glorifying God and making Him known to the heathen. Romans 12:1 tells us to "present our bodies to God as a living sacrifice." We are to die daily, Paul said. We are to lose our life for Him. We are to bring Him glory whether by life or death.
Just as God used these two milk cows to bring Him glory and prove His reality to the heathen, He can use you and I as we are willing to leave our comfort zone, submit our will to Him, allow His Word to guide us in His perfect will, work together with other believers, care less about the praise of men, and give our lives in complete sacrifice to Him.
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