Today we will meditate on the dynamics of God’s presence in relation to success.

So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD…And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp. So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp!” And they said, “Woe to us! For such a thing has never happened before….Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews…Conduct yourselves like men, and fight!” So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. – 1 Samuel 4:1-11

Another lesson for our meditation from the passage above is that, the fact that you invite God’s presence into an endeavour before stating, or at any stage of it, does not guarantee that it is going to succeed.

From our reference scripture, we can see that both Israelites and the Philistines had different false hopes. The Israelites were jubilant that the presence of God, symbolised by the Ark of Covenant, was now with them. So they were very confident that they would overrun their enemies in battle. The Philistines, on the other hand, were fretful that the end had come for them, since the Israelites now had God’s presence, which had wrought great havoc on their adversaries in times past. So they were not looking forward to taking them on in battle – they just had to fight.

Both parties were proved wrong by ensuing events, as the confident Israelites were routed, slaughtered and captured by the fretful Philistines. Now what could have gone wrong for the Israelites? Why couldn’t they defeat their enemies even with the presence of God in their midst?

The answer is simple: if the persons involved do not have a relationship with God and are not in right standing in His sight, the name of Jesus which makes all knees bow will be a mere mouthing, and the Ark – whatever it represents to them – will just be another article of furniture.

Therefore, the fact that you have invited God into a venture does not guarantee its success if you are not right with Him. Also, a project can carry the name of God and still fail if the people behind it are not aligned with Him. If God does not have your heart, He cannot take up your fight.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Also read:
https://daily-dew.com/insights-from-psalm-23/
https://daily-dew.com/all-is-in-divine-order-part-2/
https://daily-dew.com/attracting-divine-presence/

I think the lesson is not to mistake Arks of the Lord for God. Afterall, God is written to have said:

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."

It's like people take the Word of God as the God without realising that focusing on arks blinds them to the God the Words describe and teach us about. Mistaking the finger for the moon is how the Chinese described it. Hardly pleasing to a vengeful jealous God.

By their fruits, they say, shall we know them. The Lord is with those who produce godly fruit is what I think.

budaatum:
I think the lesson is not to mistake Arks of the Lord for God. Afterall, God is written to have said:

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."

It's like people take the Word of God as the God without realising that focusing on arks blinds them to the God the Words describe and teach us about. Mistaking the finger for the moon is how the Chinese described it. Hardly pleasing to a vengeful jealous God.

By their fruits, they say, shall we know them. The Lord is with those who produce godly fruit is what I think.

I am sorry, what?

Did you really post that there?

This from you who considers Jesus Christ(the Word of God) a better version of God than God Himself (Even as described in the Old Testament which you quote from)?

ROFLMAO

Kobojunkie:
I am sorry, what?

Did you really post that statement in bold there?

This from you who considers Jesus Christ(the Word of God) a better version of God than God Himself (Even as described in the Old Testament which you quote from)?

ROFLMAO

You are hasty, junkie. If you bothered to ask, you'd learn that Jesus, and the so called Word of God, and even that which many understand to be God from it's reading, are all images, as far as buda is concerned. They are understandings we have from what we read and are no different to images because it is rather obvious that an Almighty God would be much greater than anything humans can possibly conceive in our puny minds

Do know that you are in no way required to subscribe to buda's understanding, but you will find that most consider Jesus Christ to be a superior version of God than Yahweh is or they'd be Jews.

Definitions. Here is a good place to start.