Inspiring Women Every Day - December 08  - Waiting for God 

 Marion Stroud 

Thursday December 4^th 

Title: I’ll do it my way 

2 Samuel 6:1-7 

‘Uzzah took hold of the ark of God because the oxen stumbled’ v.6 

I’ve always found this story puzzling. Poor old Uzzah was only trying to be helpful and prevent the Ark from crashing to the floor. Why did God punish him so drastically?  

The answer seems to be that God’s direct instructions were being disobeyed. In Exodus ch.7 The Kohathites were given the privilege of carrying the Ark of the Testimony, but they had to carry it on poles on their shoulders, and they were not to touch it on pain of death.  Perhaps this instruction had been forgotten or maybe the new cart seemed good enough. After all the fabric of the Tabernacle was carried on ox-carts during the desert wanderings. Like us, Uzzah seems all too ready to try and help God out, or just to fine - tune his instructions a little bit. And the result was horrifying. 

As the wife of a wealthy nomad, Sarah was used to having things her own way. Material possessions and beauty - a real Yummy Mummy! But there was a problem. Sarah wasn’t a ‘mummy.’ She was childless. God had promised that Abraham would be the founder of a dynasty, and Sarah must have assumed that she had a part to play. But after many years of bitter barrenness, Sarah decided that she could wait no longer. She would make God’s promise come to pass. Her plan centred on Hagar, her Egyptian maid. Sarah decided that if the nations around them practiced polygamy, it could be the solution to her problem too. ‘Sleep with Hagar’ she urged her elderly husband. ’And her child will be mine’ weakly he did as she suggested and this time God didn’t intervene directly.  But they all had to live with the disastrous consequences of trying to force His hand. 

Question: If you try to help a caterpillar out of its chrysalis or a hatching chick out of its shell, what happens? Remember God’s clocks keep perfect time.