David, King of Israel, was known as a man after God’s heart.  Whenever David thought about doing something, he would first inquire of the Lord before taking any steps to fulfill what he had in mind.  Almost all of David’s battles were initiated with prayer in seeking out what the Lord wanted him to do.  If David thought of connecting with someone, he would first seek the Lord to get direction from the One who knew ALL the answers to his questions.  He sought the Lord and His counsel for whatever circumstance he encountered.  On two different occasions when he was fighting the Philistines, he sought the Lord and the first time the Lord told him to directly attack the Philistines and on the second inquiry, the Lord told him to circle around from behind to gain the victory (I Chronicles 14:8-14).  He was a man after God’s heart (Acts 13:22)

In I Chronicles we find a side road that David took when seeking the Lord for guidance.  After he had become King, David had a wonderful idea to bring the Ark of the Lord back to the city of Jerusalem to be placed where God had established it.  The past king, Saul, was defeated by the Philistines and in the process of being defeated the Ark was also taken.

David was excited to bring the Ark back to Jerusalem. But he didn’t inquire of the Lord in the transportation of the Ark.  Instead of carrying the Ark by poles, they put it on a cart.  When the oxen that were carrying the Ark stumbled, Uzza put out his hand to steady the Ark and died because he didn’t treat the Ark as holy.  Here is a man after God’s heart, and yet there were times that David didn’t seek the Lord for His plan.  Consequences occurred.  Negative consequences occurred.  David was angry at God for taking Uzza’s life, but he hadn’t taken stock about the reason for the death of Uzza.

About three months later, David has a different perspective on the situation when he writes,  “It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the Lord our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.” (1 Chronicles 15:13 NIV)  God is interested in the big things of life when we are dealing with major wars needing to be fought, but He is also interested in the small details of life when we are facing the need to transport something or someone and wants us to inquire of Him.

I can see in my life that when I have sought the Lord on various situations and circumstances that have come my way, the Lord has given great victory and direction to my circumstances.  Unfortunately there have been more situations than I can count where I didn’t seek the Lord and it ended up disastrously.

On this journey, God is interested in giving guidance and direction in the big things of life as well as in the small things.  It is our choice as to whether to bring Him into our lives or seek our own way.  I prefer the former.