I can remember back to a few different times in my life when I felt like God was calling me to do something that seemed unusual and if I am honest, maybe even “below me.” I was always listening when God was telling me to do something elaborate and extravagant, but sometimes I struggled to be obedient when the request put me outside my comfort zone or would make me look weird.
One of the times I felt this was as I was driving home one day. On my way home, I passed a church. For whatever reason, there was toilet paper and trash that had spread across the lawn leading up to the entrance. As I saw the mess, God impressed upon my spirit to stop and pick it up. What? You want me to stop my car, turn around, and go pick up all that trash? Why? What if people saw me doing it? Would they think I was strange for cleaning up the local church yard? Surely I was more dignified than this? I will never forget that I felt a strong sense of His leading that if He couldn’t trust me with a small request like this, how could he trust me with larger things in the future. And so, I stopped and picked up some trash on the way home.
Another instance was as I was leaving Wal-Mart one day. God really impressed on me that I needed to give the lady who stood by the carts some money. The only issue was that I only had five dollars with me. What would she think about a woman coming up to her and say that God told me to give her money and then place a big, whopping five dollars in her hand? Again, I followed through and listened to His calling despite what the Wal-Mart employee and customers around might have thought.
In 2 Samuel 6, King David is summoning that the Ark of the Lord be brought to the City of David.
“And David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing of rams’ horns. But as the Ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she was filled with contempt for him. 2 Samuel 6:14-16
“When David returned home to bless his own family, Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. She said in disgust, ‘How distinguished the king of Israel looked today, shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do!’ David retorted to Michal, ‘I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his family! He appointed me as the leader of Israel, the people of the Lord, so I celebrate before the Lord. Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes!’” 2 Samuel 6:20-22
David was married to Michal. As the Ark came into the city, David focused on one thing and one thing alone. He focused on praising the Lord. He did this through praise and dancing. Michal looked out from the window and was filled with contempt at the way David was behaving. She didn’t approve of his style of worship at that point and thought that he should be acting a lot more dignified due to his status. But David would not waver. He was going to praise and worship God in spite of what others thought and said. He even went so far as to say that he would be willing to be humiliated in his own eyes if that meant properly praising the Lord.
Which one am I most of the time? Am I like David, willing to worship and praise and even look humiliated from following in obedience? Or am I like Michal, trying to keep myself dignified and judging others for their form of worship? Unfortunately, my answer is far too many times in the Michal category. God deserves our praise, adoration, and obedience. Will I follow Him in obedience and celebrate with Him or will I choose to be dignified?
This blog was written by Amy Carrico: Author of Making the Moments Matter Blog
Last Updated on May 28, 2024
Excellent read!