In my last post I introduced you to the concept of learning from the life of David the Israelite warrior before he became King of Israel. The ultimate goal in doing so is to become a woman or man after God’s own heart. We learned that like David, we should seek God’s will before going to anyone else when we need guidance in all areas of our lives. Let’s continue the story of David and his mighty men pursuing the Amalikites who had burned their town and kidnapped their families (found in 1 Samuel 30).

Once David heard from God that they would be successful in their pursuit, he and his men set out to look for the raiding party. We’re not sure that they even knew who they were chasing at this point. Did the Amalikites leave a ransom note or some type of clue identifying them as the culprits? Even if David and his men were at a loss as to who did this, they had to trust in the Lord. They had to trust that God would take care of the details and all of their questions. This is so difficult for me because I’m a planner and I love details! 

So right from the start we find another valuable lesson. When God answers your prayers for guidance, start walking on the obedience path no matter if you don’t have all of the details and answers to your questions. The longer you delay obedience, the easier it will be to start second guessing that you heard from the Lord. When God sees that you are stepping out in faith to obey, he will give you signs of confirmation along the way. 

David stepped out in faith in their pursuit of those who had caused havoc and grief in their lives and so God was ready with the help they needed. They arrived at the Besor Valley where two hundred of the men stayed behind with the supplies due to exhaustion. Some may say that what happened next was a coincidence or they got lucky, but there are no coincidences nor luck with a sovereign God. As the four hundred men with David crossed the valley, they came upon an Egyptian in a field who was obviously ill. Once they revived him with water and food, they discovered he was the slave of an Amalikite, the very one who had burned Ziklag, David’s town.  God ordained this meeting so David and his men would know exactly who they were chasing. Not only did this slave give them the intel, but he led them right to the raiders! David found them celebrating the results of their wicked escapades and was able to defeat them in an all night and day battle. If David had not obeyed God in pursuing the raiders without all of the details first in place he would have missed out on getting the help he needed from the Egyptian. 

One example of stepping out in faith in my own life was obeying God’s call to leave a church we had served in for several years. God made it very obvious that we were to leave, but he didn’t give us specifics on which church to attend. I remember feeling like Abram, called to leave, but no idea where we were to go. We took the step of faith and finally landed at a Spirit-filled church where we served for many years. This also happened in my job situation. God told me to quit my teaching job when my son was two years old and be a stay at home mom. I had no idea how we would pay bills, especially since we had just purchased a new car, but God was faithful and worked out all the details of our finances. 

God does this for his children not only individually but corporately as well. The local church my husband and I are part of has worshipped in a temporary building for over a decade. While other campuses of our church around our state were getting permanent homes, we were beginning to wonder if it would ever happen to our campus in our city. But God. He was working it all out in ways we never would have imagined. Today we worshipped for the first time in our new debt free, permanent home. The praise song Waymaker that so many Christian churches are singing these days has a chorus that says, “Even when I don’t see it, You’re working. Even when I don’t feel it You’re working. You never stop. You never stop working.” I have witnessed this many times over and over! 

So, how about you? Do you have a hard time trusting God when he doesn’t provide all the specifics for a particular circumstance? There are numerous stories in the Bible of when God didn’t reveal all of his plan. Basically, that’s what faith is all about. You can choose to trust the God who created you, loves you and only wants what’s best for you, or you can go your own way. If you’ve been doing the latter, I pray you will realize that it’s not been working and you need to turn to the only one who can work it all out for the good of those who love him. His name is Jesus!