I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

1 Samuel 4. “So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died” (Verses 10-11). Here’s something to think about disobedience can make God look weak to others. Right about now you are thinking, “What did she just write?!” Let me explain, in the verse prior to this Israel goes against the Philistines and are badly defeated. So they get a “bright” idea, “Let bring the Ark of God…” Yeah, uhmmm, bad plan. Why? God had a specific place for the Ark to be. and very specific rules about how His dwelling place should be handled. Israel ignored ALL the rules. The Ark comes, Israel starts rejoicing (they assume victory, because God is in their midst). The Philistines hear the rejoicing, they have heard of God’s miracles, they know He is mighty. He has stopped waters, and brought plagues. They are afraid, but they go to battle against Israel anyway… and they WIN. Now, let’s take a step back and answer this very honest question, if you were a Philistine in that battle what would your view of Israel’s God be after such a victory? Israel did not seek God, they did what they wanted without ever asking God what they should do. They disobeyed His laws, and statutes and still expected victory. Their defeat sent one message to Israel, but it sent a very different message to the Philistines. Their disobedience made God look small in front of the enemy (no worries He fixes that in the next Chapter… read ahead). Our actions paint a picture of God to the world at large: It either shows them that He is GOD of all or it shows them He is god of none. What picture does your Christian life paint?