Wrong Place----Wrong Time

II Samuel 11:1
The following spring, the time of the year when kings go to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to destroy the Ammonites. In the process they laid siege to the city of Rabbah.  But David stayed behind in Jerusalem.

Wrong place....Wrong time. Didn't seem like a bad idea at first, but as the consequences unfolded, it proved to be a downfall. Isn't life like that? Wouldn't it be great if we could see a day or two days or a week forward and know what was going to happen. It might eliminate some of the major pitfalls we find ourselves in. 

Getting in the car with a couple of friends seemed like something innocent.
But then the bottle came out, along with the pipe, and as you drove along, you suddenly find the inside of the car bathed in blue light, along with a policeman who is asking you step out of the car. Wrong place....wrong time.

Sometimes what seem like innocent choices put is in jeopardy of winding up in the worst of situations. In our old lifestyle, we don't really take the time to ask ourselves, "Is this a good idea?"  In the verse from II Samuel, we have a King named David who, for whatever reason, does not take his rightful place as his army goes out to battle their enemy. David decides to stay back. We not really given insight as to why. Maybe he was just tired of all the fighting. After all, he'd been at war for the majority of his life. But this innocent decision to stay behind started a series of events that eventually led to David having an affair. Killing the husband of the woman he was having the affair with, and produced a child because of the affair. These events would haunt David for the rest of his life. His family would always be in a constant state of turmoil and upheaval, even to the point that incest would become part of this sordid story. Even David's own son would try to overthrow his father and seize the throne for himself.  Just because David wasn't where he was suppose to be, when he was suppose to be there. 

I felt like I was to share this story of David this morning, to point out our (me included) need to not be hasty in our decisions but to weigh them carefully and prayerfully. To seek God's directions and the counsel of those we look to, to aid us in the choices that we have to make. 

David, in spite of this lapse in good judgement, still found favor with God at the end of his life. He was still God's anointed and still the line through which Messiah would be born through. I guess what I like best from all of this, is that no one is beyond restoration when it comes to God. No amount of bad decisions followed by bad consequences, is beyond the redeeming hand of the Lord. There is no pit so deep, that God is not deeper still. There is no mess beyond God's ability to clean it up and bring order to life. 

Only one more reason that I need this God- life......the real life....that only God can offer. I know I'm a mess.....but I'm God's mess. Sounds too simple doesn't it? Maybe it is as simple as recognizing the state of your life and the fact that, if left to your own devices, it isn't going to get any better. Couple this awareness with the understanding that death isn't the end, but merely the transition point in this process of living, and that everyone of us has a destination once we pass from life through death. This destination will be based on the choices we made here while we were alive. Choices of who did we worshiped. Who did we look to and answer to all throughout our life. Was it God? Or was it Satan? Keep in mind that our belief or disbelief does not alter the truth. Such is hard pill for some to swallow. 

So, I guess the bottom line on today's posting, is to realize that you do have choices. Be careful as to how you exercise them. 

God on you...
mb