Scripture
1 Chronicles 13:9-10
9 And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. 10 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God.
Observation
The ark of God was returning to Jerusalem! What an awesome day! But on the way, the oxen stumbled and the ark began to tip over. Uzzah tried as hard as he could…and died there on the spot for his trouble.
The problem was, Uzzah tried his hardest…instead of obeying. God has already told them how to transport the ark of the covenant…and God’s plan didn’t include an unstable cart pulled by animals! God’s plan would have worked, if Uzzah had followed it. Instead, Uzzah decided to ‘try’ as hard as he could.
Application
‘Trying’ is a funny concept. “You’ll never know until you try!” That’s true…but you can ‘try’, without putting in any preparation or sincere effort. You can ‘try’, without educating yourself or investing time into obtaining the right outcome.
God wants me to try. But more than that, He wants me to follow His instructions and obey His voice. If I’m not paying attention to His instructions, then all the trying in the world will not accomplish a good outcome in my life–in fact, that’s the whole reason why Christ came! My own trying is simply inadequate.
Today, I choose to take the time to listen to God’s voice so I can follow His instructions. Then I can put my full effort into following as He leads, instead of trying my hardest without His blessing.
Prayer
God, thank you for this reminder of what you truly require! You’ve not called me to fail, nor have you called me to try my hardest at an impossible task. Instead you’ve called me to follow you, to obey you, and to rely on you. Help me today to do that, and show me when I begin to ‘try harder’ instead of staying in step with you.
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