Day 50- The Risk of Making Sure
📖Daily Reading
1 Samuel 5-10
🎥 Video
Join me on my morning walk as we rise and shine together by walking through the Bible daily and learn a practical applicable coaching nugget from the ultimate life coach - our creator (whatever that means to you). No judgement zone here, all are welcome, we are all on a spiritual journey because we are after all spiritual beings having a human experience.
📝 Reflection
1 Samuel 6:8- 9
…”Put the Ark of the Lord on the care, and beside it place a chest containing the god rats and god tumors you are sending as a guilt offering. Then let the cos go where ever they want. If they cross the border of our land and go to Beth-shemesh we will know it was the Lord who brought this great disaster upon us. If they don’t we will know I was not his hand hat caused the plague. It came simply by chance.”
Ok this morning I read chapters 5-10 of 1 Samuel. Now I know where scenes of Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark came from. We humans are hard headed and we really like things to make sense or have complete clarity before we will act or make decisions. We like to make sure, right?! I know I do. This is definitely the cycle of thinking, over-thinking, and trouble deciding that the Philistines found themselves in. They were even denying reality a bit, like is it really happening this way, is this really what this means? Let’s make sure! So they devise strategies and tests to reassure themselves that keeping the Ark is a bad idea and that it really was the Lord of Israeli that was bringing about all of these bad consequences. But they really wanted to make sure and a lot of people died in the process of making sure!
Ok, let me paraphrase the story a bit. The Philistines and the Israelites are at war, during one battle the Philistines won and killed about 30,000 Israelites and captured the Ark. FYI, Phineus and Hophni die in battle and Eli also upon hearing the news of his son’s deaths and the capture of the Ark. The Ark is first taken to the the Philistine town of Asdod and placed in the temple of Dagon, beside the idol of Dagon. In the morning, the Idol of Dagon is found prostrate on its belly on the ground in front of the Ark. Ok, let’s press the pause button. This is were we are the audience is already trying to tell these fools - save yourself and give the Ark back to Israel, right? … But no…. The Philistines need to make sure. So they put the idol back. Then next morning not only is the idol back on the ground if front of the Ark, but he arms and head have been removed and placed on the threshold of the entrance. Then a plague of tumors also struck the people of the town.
So finally a few people wise up and demand that the Ark be returned to Israel. But the rulers get together to discuss this and part of the discussion must have been something like… well… this could all just be a coincidence and not really God punishing us, so let just make sure. So they decided to just move it to another town in Phillistia, Gath. But the same things happens again. They still aren’t quite convinced, so just to make sure they move it to a third town, Ekron. So this time they bring in more decision makers, the priest and the diviners. They have a big meeting and devise a plan to maybe send the Ark back to Israel. They devise a strategy that will make sure that they will have an answer to whether or not this was truly the God of Israel that was behind all of this trouble or if it was just coincidence! They just had to be sure, and in the process, thousands of people lost their lives! 🤦♀️
It was actually a pretty clever strategy, but we who are reading the story already know the obvious truth and had they paid attention to their own wisdom in the beginning they could have spared themselves a lot of pain and heartache! But at least in the end they could pat themselves on the back, for being so smart and making sure! Then to compound this and add a dramatic twist. When the Ark is delivered back to Isreal, some of the first Israelites on the scene to receive it had to make sure as well and looked in to the Ark of the Lord- and the Lord killed seventy men! “Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God?”(1Samuel 6:20)
Boy was this convicting! I have sooo many examples in my own life where I caused more trouble for myself by having to ‘make sure’ or waiting on someone else to ‘make sure’! Sometimes this is wise, but often there are times in hindsight, we can clearly see that we knew better and we use the excuse of ‘making sure’ to avoid making a decision or resisted seeing things for what they really were. As a recovering people pleaser and someone who tends to view the world through rose colored glasses and really wanting to believe the best about people and stay positive. Maybe I gave some people or situations more chances than they really deserved or was wise, because I wanted to make sure or give the benefit of the doubt?!?
Here is just one example; I know I really delayed making the choice to be alcohol free as a lifestyle later that I really wanted and knew, because I just had to make sure it was right, other people would be ok with it etc…etc….. etc…. I am over 2 years AF now, but I could have been over 4 or 5 years by know if I didn’t spend so much time and energy overthink and trying to make sure! Actually come to think about it maybe even a decade! I took my first long break 10 years ago and knew then as a mom with younger kids it wasn’t the best choice for me personally to even have a few drinks! As an enneagram nine, alcohol is like kryptonite! I do not need any help ‘checking out’ nor do I need anything that interferes with my energy level, which naturally is lower than many other types! I didn’t need to make sure, I knew and that was enough!
✍🏼Daily Journal Prompt
Is there an area of your life where you are procrastinating and using the excuse of needing more clarity, more information, more people in agreement, more evidence...? You know and I know because we are humans that the answer is yes, right? Self awareness is the first step.
📖Tomorrows Reading
1 Samuel 11-25
Coaching Opportunity
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