First ask God, then take action

2 Samuel 1: 6

"And the young man who told him said, "By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there saw Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him." ESV

First ask God, then take action

The ancient dachshund perked up her head and ran into the kitchen.  She usually feigned deafness, her show of keen hearing caught our attention.   We hadn't heard anything. We quickly followed her.

The old dog heard the top two layers of the three layer birthday cake hit the kitchen floor.  We had gathered at my parents' home to celebrate the birthday of our newest family member, my fiancée Dick.  My mother knew he liked frosting on his cake.  We never had frosting.  We ate the cake warm and naked fresh from the  oven. 

To honor Dick, mother made a three layer cake from scratch with frosting. Unfortunately, she hadn't let the layers of cake cool enough before administering the frosting.  We were quicker to the cake than the old dog and salvaged what we could of the cake.

Mother had the best intentions but didn't know the rules of cake frosting.

2 Samuel begins with a young man appearing before David to deliver what he thought would be good news.  The young  man brought confirmation of the death of Saul.  He was at Saul's death. He admitted to killing Saul.  He didn't think Saul had a chance to survive his wounds and the approaching soldiers.  So he finished him off, gathers up Saul's crown and armlet, and journeyed to tell David.

The young man  probably expected a reward.  Saul had been tormenting David, chasing him with intent to kill  him.  The young man didn't realize that David followed a principle.  David would not be the one to kill the anointed king.  On more than one occasion, David had the opportunity to end Saul's life and become the next king as he knew he was destined.  Yet each time,  he realized he was not to attack God's chosen king.  God had  a plan. David knew to trust the plan, even when he only knew part of the plan.

Sometimes in life, opportunities seem too good to be true.  We convince ourselves that it's part of the plan even when some basic  principles need to be ignored.  Our society tries to teach us that the "ends justify the means."  God knows our heart, our intent, our true motive.  Too often our true motive is our gain, not adhering to His Plan.

The only way to adhere to His Plan is to ask God first, then take action.