SOUNDING OUT:
Same Ole – Same Ole
Revelation is for the situation for
which it was given. If similar situations arise in the
future God can give you word of knowledge, word of wisdom,
and discerning of spirits again, should you need it.
One does not save revelation from one situation to use
on another in the future. Jesus healed many blind men
as recorded in the Gospels. However, he never seemed
to do it the same way twice. God gave him specifics
for each situation, and he believed to bring the gifts
of healings to pass according to what God revealed to
him each time.
David was an accomplished military man. However,
he did not always use pass success and previous tactics
to dictate his next moves. He walked by the spirit and
asked God before jumping into things. When confronted
by the Philistines David inquired of God.
I Chronicles
14:10-12:
And David enquired of God, saying, Shall I go up against
the Philistines? and wilt thou deliver them into mine
hand? And the LORD said unto him, Go up; for I will
deliver them into thine hand.
11 So they came up to Baalperazim;
and David smote them there. Then David said, God hath
broken in upon mine enemies by mine hand like the breaking
forth of waters: therefore they called the name of that
place Baalperazim.
12 And when they had left
their gods there, David gave a commandment, and they
were burned with fire.
David obeyed, went straight
at the Philistines, and won. Shortly after this the
Philistines mounted another attack. Rather than go straight
at them again, he inquired of the Lord. This time the
direction was different.
I Chronicles
14:13-17:
And the Philistines yet again spread themselves abroad
in the valley.
14 Therefore David enquired
again of God; and God said unto him, Go not up after
them; turn away from them, and come upon them over against
the mulberry trees.
15 And it shall be, when
thou shalt hear a sound of going in the tops of the
mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle:
for God is gone forth before thee to smite the host
of the Philistines.
16 David therefore did as
God commanded him: and they smote the host of the Philistines
from Gibeon even to Gazer.
17 And the fame of David
went out into all lands; and the LORD brought the fear
of him upon all nations.
David was a proven warrior.
Yet with all his success he did not rely on his skill
or natural ability. He relied upon God. His inquiry
of the Lord provided victory the first time, so he went
back again before the second battle to inquire again.
This time God told David not to go straight at them
but to turn away and attack only after hearing a sound
in the top of the mulberry trees. David didn’t
assume that the revelation that worked the first time
would work a second time, too. He knew communicating
with the living God was the only way to insure success.
He knew better than to assume to do it the same way
again without consulting the Father. That is a lesson
we should all learn.
Obedience is more important than skill or ability.
God may have a better way of doing things than we have
been doing them. If we ask, we may find out what it
is. David’s fame spread throughout the land. That
is the reward of obediently walking by the spirit. Every
problem is not a nail, and we should not approach each
situation with a hammer. God’s toolbox makes quite
an assortment of equipment at our disposal. Remember
walking by the spirit is not formulas, but family life.
Scott J. Shickler tells the following story of an old
man in the doctor's office (Words of Wisdom, Kidsway
Inc. Cited in Bits & Pieces).
An old man
seated in the doctor’s waiting room, when called
in to see the doctor, slowly got up, and, grasping his
cane and hunching over, slowly made his way into the
examining room. After only a few minutes, the man emerged
from the room, walking completely upright! A patient
who had watched him hobble into the room all hunched
over, stared in amazement. “That must be a miracle
doctor in there!” he exclaimed. “What treatment
did he give you? What’s his secret?” The
old man looked at him and said, “Well, the doctor
looked me up and down, analyzed the situation, and gave
me a cane that was four inches longer than the one I
had been using.”
How often do
we give everyone the same length cane? That is no more
appropriate than giving everyone the same answer for every
problem. Life is not that simple. People come with various
backgrounds and belief systems, and the causes of problems
can be compound and complex. Although “pat answers”
and “specific regimens” are easily given they
rarely bring the deliverance God desires. Jesus walked,
saying and doing whatever God inspired. We would do well
to follow in his footsteps and treat every situation as
a unique opportunity to believe God.
|
