Sure, it's an open door, but who opened it?

"those who take counsel, but not of Me"

Isaiah 30:1

You know what's hard, sometimes?  Knowing what God would have us do in a given situation.  The Bible has everything we need to know to live a life pleasing to God; to "run the race" well.  But it doesn't always answer questions like, "should I quit my job?"  "Which house should I buy?"  "Is this the solution to my problem?"

So we sometimes rely on other things, like our own wisdom, or the input of others we trust.  Or sometimes we look to circumstances that seem to be orchestrated by God.  We speak sometimes of doors having been opened or closed by God, but we don't really know that that's situation.

Case in point ~ well, two cases in point.  Well, okay, two cases, one point:

1 Samuel 24, David has been running and hiding from King Saul, who intends to kill him as soon as he can catch him.  When David was in the wilderness of En Gedi, Saul was informed that he was nearby, so he took 3000 of his men and went looking for David in the caves of that area.

Well then, as we are told in verse 3, Saul entered one of the caves to ~ ahem ~ "attend to his needs".  In other words, he had to see a man about a horse.  He had to powder his nose.  He had to answer the call of nature.  Okay, I think you get it.

And this just happened to be the cave in which David and his men were hiding.

And this was David's big chance.  Or so his men told him.  "The Lord has delivered him to you!  That you may do to him as seems good to you!"  David's men were in danger simply by being with David, and they wanted that danger gone.  They wanted Saul dead, and the Lord had made that possible.  Or so they thought. 

But David thought differently.  Verse 6:  "The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord."  Yup, David sounds pretty sure of himself.  Not going to do it.

But then look at chapter 26.  Saul and his army had stopped for the night, and he and his army slept in a deep sleep "from the Lord".  And while they were sleeping, David and Abishai, the son of his commander Joab, were able to sneak up on Saul.  And so Abishai believed this was an opportunity from the Lord.  And again David was encouraged to kill Saul.  But David refused.  He said, in essence, "I don't know what plans God has for Saul, but I know it's not this."  He would not make the decision that is God's to make.

David knew he was anointed by God to be the next king.  And he knew he had done nothing to deserve the death sentence Saul had called for.   So is it that hard to believe that God deliberately put Saul, vulnerable, in David's path? Well, it was for David.  Circumstances implied he should take Saul's life when he had the chance, and his counselors advised him to. 

But David knew the Lord well enough to know that was not God's plan.  He knew better than to strike down him whom the Lord had anointed.  He knew the Word of the Lord. 

And that, I believe, is the key.  No, the Bible will not tell us if we should take a job or take a vacation or take a chance.  But it tells us to love Him, and nothing above Him.  And to love our neighbor as ourselves.  And that His glory is more important than our dreams or our comfort.  And remembering those goals, remembering what He has taught us in His Word, will be our guide for what's not in His Word.

~ "Woe to the rebellious... 

who take counsel, but not of Me,

and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit" ~

Isaiah 30:1