Lessons on the Presence

I’d like to take a moment and briefly share a few lessons I drew on God’s presence from 1 Sam chapters 4 thru 6.  These chapters recollect the events that transpired around the service of a priest named Eli. 

Eli was a priest of the OT that coached young Samuel in discerning and hearing God.  He was master at recognizing God's presence.

However, a devastating time had befallen the nation of Israel and they found themselves at war with their fierce enemy, the Philistines.  

So in their dismay, they decided to take the ark of the covenant from its rightful place in the Temple and bring into battle.

Now we know that the ark of the OT represents the presence of God.  

Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. (1 Sam 4:13 KJV)

 Notice, his heart trembled for the ark.  He was so sensitive to the presence of God that he was in distress when the ark (presence) was taken from the temple.  

Also notice, his spiritual growth and experience with God has developed this keen sensitivity to God’s presence. The Bible goes on to say that he was blind in the eyes and couldn’t see.  Thus, God’s presence and sensitivity is not outwardly discerned.  It is only discerned with the heart (inwardly).  To the point where the absence of it, puts the heart in distress.  

The bible goes on to say that a messenger had brought news from the war zone that Eli’s sons were both killed at war. But that did not move Eli.  It was news of the ark being repossessed by their arch enemy that brought Eli intense heartache, to the point of death.

When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. (1 Sam 4:18 NIV)

 

Now the Philistines took the arch into their cities and they began experiencing plagues.  They were perishing by the thousands.  They finally put the two and two together and realized it was the present arch that was cause to their misfortune.

They decided it was best to return it to its rightful place and strapped it to two mother cows.   

Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. ( 1 Sam. 6:7 NIV)

 

It was an experiment.  If this was truly God of Israel judging them, then the cows will bring the arch to its rightful place.  But if this was mere coincidence, they would naturally and instinctively be drawn to their nursing calves.  

 

Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh,…; they did not turn to the right or to the left. (1 Sam. 6:12 NIV)

 

When God’s presence gets a grip on a life, it will take it to its rightful place in God’s Kingdom.  God’s presence overpowers any natural inclinations or preference.  In exact, you might find yourself gladly serving in areas you’ve never imagined were possible if it wasn’t for God’s leading.  So many have personally shared stories of how prior to their conversion these were places they dreaded to visit.