“And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” (2 Samuel 5:24, NKJV)
When David was anointed king of Israel, the Philistines determined to defeat him. David asked God what to do. In the first battle, He told him to move forward and the battle was won. In this battle, He told him to “circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry tree” — a different strategy.
This was the pattern for most of David’s life. He not only checked with God before he did anything, but God rarely if ever copied a former plan.
I find it interesting, even annoying, that whenever a Christian is given a working strategy for their lives, they write a book about it — tell everyone else this is how it is done. Why do we want a formula? God wants a day-by-day, moment-by-moment communication with Him where we continually ask for wisdom for each situation. He doesn’t give us a blanket strategy for life.
Oh, yes, there are some things that apply all the time for everyone. We need to read the Bible, pray, practice spiritual disciplines. I’m talking about specific situations such as your child is saying bad words, or your husband lost his job, or an aunt is dying and won’t talk about it, or a salesman is pushing a product you are not sure of, or the neighbor’s dog is ruining your yard. Each challenge of life may not be unique to me, but the way God wants me to deal with each one will be unique. His understanding of the total picture means He will know things about it that I don’t. He knows the best way for me to respond to, or tackle, the problem.
So whenever something comes up (and it will), I am supposed to seek His will instead of opening up “Seven Ways to Solve Your Problems” or any other formula He gave another person. God and His solutions should not be stuck in a box or limited to the pages of a how-to book.
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