I think the statement that “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” misses the mark for the bride of Christ. “Good Intentions” are not alien to our walk with the Lord and certainly He views them in a different light!
Last week as the Lord continued His current path of revealing the truth of His Word to me I was hesitant to take the next step… Chronicles! In my mind it was, like it is for so many, just a repeat of Samuel and Kings. But I have learned that if I will follow where He leads there is always something new to grab onto, and this time has been no different. But I must admit that the tendency to skip over the genealogy is very tempting. However, 1 Chronicles held a lesson far beyond just being obedient to God’s Word. The incidents described in Chapters 13-15 involve David bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, but in the process the Lord revealed something that I always discounted… our good intentions!
David was right in bringing the Ark back to Jerusalem, he had good intentions. It was right to bring the Ark back after Saul neglected it, but in the process he didn’t follow God’s instructions. Remember, the Ark was to be conveyed by the Levites carrying it on poles (not touching the Ark); separated from the rest of the procession. In the first incident David had it put on a cart pulled by oxen, and when it started to fall Uzza reached up to hold it with the result being the loss of his life. You would think that God would punish David for not following the insructions laid out in the Torah, but look what happened in Chapter 14. David sought God’s wisdom and he had two victories over the Philistines. Then in Chapter 15 we see that David went back to the house of Obed-Edom where he had left the Ark and he returned it to Jerusalem to the tabernacle he had prepared for it… and God honored his action. What was different?
As I thought about that it hit me that God honored David (victory over the Philistines two times) for His good intentions, and then after learning his lesson, God honored David’s return of the Ark to its rightful place in the right way. It took me right back to the life verses that God has kept in the forefront for me all these many years since He used them to change my life:
Matt 6:33-34 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
He has shown me that “seeking” is a process and it does not always (in fact most all of the time) lead to taking the right path. David’s heart was in the right place the first time although that fact did not guarantee automatic success. But God blessed him as a result of his good intentions. Isn’t that where we are a great deal of the time, always being faced with one crossroad after another, one more decision to make? But here’s the key
In his second attempt, unlike the first, David pursued seeking God at a deeper level. He admitted that he had not consulted God before taking action the first time…
1 Chron 15:12-13 He said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it. 13 For because you did not do it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him about the proper order.”
It was a good thing, not a God thing! The second time was an altogether different action with a different outcome. But in the 4 months between them God blessed David for his “good intentions.” I think that is part of David’s testimony…
Acts 13:22 And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.‘
God measures our spiritual progress by our endeavors, not by the results. We, however, tend to measure our progress and that of our brothers and sisters by the result. The whole issue of moving the Ark is a reflection of God honoring David’s good intentions; his seeking God did not go unnoticed and in fact God blessed it. The question for us is along which road are we traveling? When we come to a crossroads which direction are we choosing to take? God puts those crossroads in front of us along our journey so that we will continue to identify with the things of God and act and live accordingly. We seek Him, and by faith make our choice, trusting in Him for any needed correction.
Do we ever take the wrong road? Yes I have, far more than I would like to admit. But God always brings me back to the right path when it is my heart to seek His will. And at the end of the day, there was only One who was perfect in all His decisions. Thank God that His life made it possible for our human nature’s “good intentions” to be honored by God.
I think, like David’s turning to the Torah to find Godly wisdom, we need to first turn to the Word as we face those crossroads…
2 Tim 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
We may not have the “detail of the Torah” to tell us how to live and act according to the will of God, but we have a far better teacher sitting right next to our heart in the Holy Spirit. And sometimes He uses our “good intentions” to lead us into a new truth along our journey. The bride’s good intentions only lead one way, and that’s not where most people believe they lead.