As I was having my quiet time this morning - which has been increasingly not quiet with the addition of early-rising kids - I ran across this verse:
Joshua 9:14 - So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord. (NLT)
The context of the verse is a story of the Israelites being told by God to essentially rid the land of its inhabitants. But Joshua and the Israelites, instead of following that directive, made a treaty with a deceptive group of people who were playing themselves off as a hurting nation. In fact, the nation was not hurting, but instead were afraid of what Israel would do to them. When Joshua and the people found out that they had been lied to, they were true to their word and instead of destroying the people - like God told them to - they made them servants. They were basically deceived into not following God's explicit instructions.
It made me ask the question: How often do I not consult the Lord? Do I consult the Lord as much as I should with:
My marriage
My kids
My job
My career path
My finances
The use of my spare time
My temptations
My friendships
My lack of discipline is basically all areas?
Yeah, probably not (read: DEFINITELY NOT!). It smacked me across the face in the wee hours of the morning. My wife has desired for us to pray more as a couple, but even though she keeps asking, I don't consult the Lord. I work to plan out our youth calendar and I don't consult the Lord. Even this morning I thought, "Man, I really need to set aside the first few minutes of every day at work to consult the Lord." hen when I got to work, what did I do? Flipped on the computer and started checking e-mail. AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!! Why is it so difficult?!? It shouldn't be. But maybe the depth of my relationship with the Lord is not where it needs to be so that my first thought is, "Consult the Lord." Actually, not maybe, but definitely. Lord, remind me that you are there for me to consult.
