Reading in 1 Samuel the other day I read the story in chapters 4 through 7 where the ark was taken from Israel by the Philistines.

3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. 4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. 6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp. 7 And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. 8 Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. 9 Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.

—1 Samuel 4:3-9

The presence of the ark represented the presence of God. However, in this passage it seems that the focus is on the ark itself and not on the God of the ark.

In the next chapter the baby named Ichabod was born. His name means “the glory is departed.” His mother was the daughter-in-law of Eli, the priest who raised Samuel. When the baby’s mother learned that the ark was taken and that her husband and father-in-law were dead, she also died in childbirth. Spiritually and emotionally this was a tough time for Israel.

We don’t need to depend on a physical object that can be taken away from us to have God’s power and glory in our lives. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we have the presence of God with us at all times. It is a matter of acknowledging God’s presence and allowing Him to work in and through us.

Through the course of the story the Philistines were punished by the presence of the ark. They even gifted the ark to one of their enemies as a way of bringing God’s judgment on that nation as well. The enemy understood the awesome power of God even if the Israelites occasionally took God’s power for granted.

I just finished reading the book of Judges which is typified with the cycle of the Children of Israel falling into sin. They are punished by God through another nation or judge. The people then repent and find deliverance. Yet, they fall back into sin once again.

The final verse of the book, Judges 21:25, gives a summary of the problem.

In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

The Israelites are typical of people throughout the ages. We want to do what is right in our own way of thinking.

Rightness and wrongness are not determined by our feelings or opinions. It is determined by God’s Word.

In the book of Judges the people did not just do wrong to rebel against God; they justified their actions. What about us today? Are we trying to justify our actions by our own thinking? You may not think that you are going against God and His Word, but any time you think your situation justifies your disobedience to the Bible, then you are falling into the same trap of sin that the Children of Israel fell into. According to the cycle in the book of Judges, the next step in your life is judgment. Consider carefully how you proceed from here.

In Mark 15:21 we read:

And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.

It is interesting that the two boys are mentioned as if they were known to the readers. Simon, their father, was a “passer by” when the Romans compelled him to carry the cross of Jesus. He was from the modern country of Libya.

Could he and his family been in Jerusalem because they had heard of Jesus and were seeking to learn about Him? Or, was this encounter with the Lord what set this family on a quest to know the Lord and become known to the early church?

Mark mentions this family as if they were friends of the readers. A Rufus is also mentioned in Romans 16:13. This might have been the same man. Paul, many years after the cruxifiction, sends his greetings to Rufus.

Simon seems to be a common name in the Bible. Rufus is only mentioned twice. There are various Alexanders mentioned in the Bible. But it doesn’t seem that any of them would be the Alexander mentioned in Mark 15.

Whoever they were to the early church in Rome or Jerusalem, they seemed to be well known at the time.

Have you been in churches and seen people over and over, but never really known who they were? Not everyone has a public ministry, but each should be involved enough that other people know them. As I prepare to leave a church I have been in for a year and a half, I am surprised by the handful of people who I have seen at church on a regular basis, but I have no idea what their name is or what they do. They are never at church for anything other than to slip in unnoticed and slip out before people can get to know them.

Do you feel like you are lost in the crowd at church? Maybe it is not because everyone is rude and doesn’t want to spend time with you. Maybe it is because you have not made an effort to hang around for a few minutes and meet other believers.

Paul is talking to the church in Thessalonica in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. He asks for prayer in three areas for himself and his fellow missionary partners in verses 1 and 2.

Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

God’s Word Would Have Free Course

Paul asked the people to pray that the Bible would have “free course” as the missionaries go out to preach. This phrase carries with it the idea that God’s Word would run freely and swiftly in the places it is preached. That the Bible would not be hindered in its mission.

Pray for missionaries (and anyone preaching the Gospel) that the Bible will accomplish its task. Pray that as it is preached it will freely penetrate the hearts of men.

God’s Word can be hindered because of worldly influences over the lives of the hearers. Culture, superstitions and human nature are factors in keeping the Bible from being accepted. Religion can play a role in hindering God’s Word too. When people have been taught half-truths concerning the Bible, it can cause confusion in the mind of the listeners. They may be convinced that they are just fine before the Lord because of the good deeds they have accomplished. The truth is that we are wicked sinners who are in need of a Savior.

The Bible Would be Glorified

The people in Thessalonica should pray that God’s Word would be glorified—honored or lifted up. The idea is that the Bible should have value placed on it. The Bible is often de-valued, not by the hearers, but by those who are preaching it. When a missionary does not place proper value on the importance of the Bible, then those who are listening to God’s Word being preached won’t value it either.

It is important for missionaries to maintain a proper testimony. No one expects the missionary to be perfect. He is a redeemed sinner like anyone else in the church. However, people do look to pastors and missionaries as examples of how to live. When a leader does not value God’s Word enough to obey it and preach it with authority, then it is hard for the followers to do the same.

God Would Protect Them From Wicked Men

Finally Paul asked that the church pray that they would be protected from wicked and unreasonable men. Our warfare on this earth is not with flesh and blood; however, spiritual warfare is often manifested through people.

Pray that missionaries would be spared from people trying to hinder the work. Missionaries face daily trails just like anyone else in the churches back home. However, every struggle seems to be magnified when working in another country. Roadblocks in ministry can be seen as personal attacks on the missionary. Of course this is often a matter of perception. But it is easy for a missionary to get discouraged and the work of God to halt its forward progress.

As a missionary in Mexico I was involved in an accident which resulted in me spending several hours in jail. I had no opportunity to personally argue my side of the story. In Mexico the law is that you are guilty until proven innocent. I spent 7 hours waiting for my innocence to be proven by the testimony of others and by the evidence available. Fortunately I was released with no further problems. But that could have gone another way. I could have been wrongfully charged for something that was truly a freak accident. I believe God spared me from that because of the prayers of supporters. God saved me from the hand of people who had no interest in my success as a missionary.

Do you pray for missionaries? Paul asked that the church in Thessalonica pray for him and the other missionaries with him in these three specific areas. Will you pray for the missionaries you know that God’s Word would accomplish its task, that it would be glorified and that the missionaries would be spared from wicked and unreasonable men?

The story of the feeding of the 5000 in John 6 shows Jesus accomplishing His purpose even though the disciples had their doubts. Philip and Andrew were the spokesmen for the group in this story. One doubted that there was enough money to accomplish the task and the other doubted that there were enough laborers. However, there was one little boy who gave all he had and simply trusted the Lord.

Philip Doubted There Was Enough Money

In verse 5 Jesus asked Philip how they were going to buy enough bread for the crowd that had gathered. The question wasn’t because Jesus was worried about the outcome. We are told in verse 6 that Jesus asked because He wanted to test Philip to see how he would answer. Jesus already knew what He would do.

Philip said that there was not enough money to feed the crowd. I imagine there wasn’t even a corner bakery to buy bread. A few verses earlier the Bible says that Jesus and the disciples had gone up to a mountain. If they weren’t in a city then it was unlikely that there would have been a place where they could buy bread for 5000 people.

Andrew Doubted There Were Enough Workers

There was one little boy who had 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. They needed more people with more resources to accomplish the task. Andrew asks the question in verse 9, “what are they [the loaves and fish] among so many?”

Can you imagine Andrew walking up to Jesus? He was probably embarrassed with what he had to say. “Um, Jesus. This probably sounds a little silly considering there are 5000 people here. But, this little boy says he has a couple of fish and some bread. He’s willing to give it to you if you think it will help.”

The Little Boy Offered His Resources to the Lord

The Lord had the disciples get the people seated. Then He took the loaves and fish and thanked God for them.

Everyone ate until they were full and the disciples gathered up the remains. While they started with just a few loaves, the Bible says that they gathered 12 baskets full of remains (verse 13). I can’t tell you if they were little bread baskets or big containers, but what I do know is that there were 12 of these baskets full of unused bread. The Lord took the few resources and multiplied them to be more than sufficient.

What Task Do You Doubt the Lord in Today?

God can work great miracles. In this story He chose to do it via a few loaves of bread and some fish. While Jesus did not need to depend on what the little boy could provide, He did in this case. Are you the one God could work a miracle through? Are you willing to give your lunch to the Lord and allow Him to accomplish His purposes in the world? Does the task seem too large for your small donation to make a difference? How about you just hand it over to God and let Him do with it what He pleases.

What resources do you have that you could surrender to the Lord’s control? It might be $5 or some skill that you possess. You may not consider it to be such a big thing compared to the task of sharing God’s Word with the world. Hand it over to God and let Him decide what value it might have.