David was once a national hero who became king. He conquered nations and was riding a wave of popularity and abundance. His life was going great, but in a single night he blew his life up.
2 Samuel 11 tells the story of David and a hook-up gone bad. The name Bathsheba rings in our ears as a part of the play as David blows up his life. The second step is:
#3: Ignore the Warning Signs
So David sent his servants to find out who she was. A servant answered, “That woman is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam. She is the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” So David sent messengers to bring Bathsheba to him. When she came to him, he had sexual relations with her. (Now Bathsheba had purified herself from her monthly period.) Then she went back to her house. 2 Samuel 11:3-4 (NCV)
David has stayed home and let others fight for him. One night he is up walking on the roof and looks over and sees a beautiful woman bathing on a roof nearby. David likes what he sees and keeps looking. He looks long enough that he takes a step towards trouble. He wants this woman; he is going to get her. He is about to make a huge mistake that will cost him for the rest of his life and beyond.
When David is ready to have Bathsheba brought to him he is warned by those around him that she is a married woman. There are signs that David ignores as he goes full speed ahead to satisfy his desire. He does not listen to or heed their warnings. He knows what he wants and he is going to get it no matter what it costs. Signs can be a reminder to us to remember what we already know is true. David missed the sign and ended up crashing not only his life, but ruined a family at the same time.
I think David missed four things when he forgot the SIGN he was given. We need to remember four things to keep from blowing up our lives.
Someone loves them very much. The servants remind David that the woman he wanted had a name, family and husband. They said her name to him, and yet he did not care. His lust was burning and he had to have her no matter who she was. We need to stop and ask ourselves how we view people. Are they a means to an end? Someone to use or our gain and then let go? Do we protect them or attack them? We may not sexually use them, but do we screw them over emotionally or with a story we tell? We need to see that everyone we see is important and loved by not just anyone, but by our God.
Ignoring the signs will lead to disaster. Once again David blows the stop sign and ends up in a crash. Why did he not listen to the people around him? Why did he not consider the course of action he was taking? It was going to end badly and he didn’t care. What was it he wanted to accomplish besides feeding his own lustful heart with a night of sex? We need to remember that when the sings come telling us to stop, yield, slow down, merge or be cautious there is a reason for it. We need to realize the signs are there to save us.
Getting what you want is not always a good thing. David’s mission is accomplished. He gets a night of unbridled passion and sex. Little does he know what he wanted is going to lead him to a life of painful memories and family problems. This one night of getting what he wants is going to lead him down a path that I doubt he thinks was worth the night of pleasure. How many times have we fought, bought or worked to get something and then once we have it we are disappointed? Maybe if we stop and ask: “Is this really worth it? Is this truly what I want?” we might save ourselves a ton of trouble.
Neglecting God’s Word leads to a stumbling mess. An ancient prophet wrote some words about following God’s Word. Hosea wrote, If you want to live well, make sure you understand all of this. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll learn this inside and out. GOD’s paths get you where you want to go. Right-living people walk them easily; wrong-living people are always tripping and stumbling. Hosea 14:9 (MSG)
When God gives us a sign in his Word we need to pay attention to it. His warning signs are meant to guard us and help us walk on an even path. Problem is that we often ignore them and think we know better than he does. He has a long history of watching men make choices that are harmful to them. He gave us His Word so we could read the signs and avoid the stumbling and tripping. How many times have you fallen down and just wished we had listened to voices around us.
David missed the signs God sent him to keep from ruining his life. We have a chance to learn from his failure. We have a chance to keep from missing the signs God has sent us. The irony is this: The time we really most want to have listened to God, is when we didn’t.
One final question: Will you observe the signs and save yourself from a world of trouble?
Crystal