But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house. -2 Samuel 11:9 (NIV)

Sometimes, when circumstances are out of the ordinary, we have to change our routines. If we’re listening, we may hear the Holy Spirit telling us something isn’t right, and we may not want to proceed in the usual manner…like taking a detour around hazardous terrain, even though it would be the shortest route.

Well, we all know that God doesn’t always give us the shortest route, but the best route, and we can trust He will work things out for His children.

David, Bathsheba, and Uriah

The famous example of this is King David, who didn’t go out with his army to battle. His men won–they destroyed their enemies–but David decided to stay back in Jerusalem.

David was walking up on his palace roof one evening and saw a beautiful woman bathing, and had someone find out for him that she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of his own soldiers. So, he had messengers bring her to the palace, and he slept with her.

Bathsheba, who was on her cycle at the time, sent word to King David later that she was pregnant! So, David has Uriah pulled from the battlefield under the pretenses of wanting a battle report. David then tells Uriah to go home to his wife, hoping that a battle-weary soldier would want to sleep with his wife.

Uriah doesn’t, but instead sleeps at the door of the palace with the rest of the king’s servants. He explains that since the rest of the soldiers, as well as the ark, are out in the open country, how could he go to his house and do such a thing?

More than likely, Uriah would love to be with his wife, but something is amiss…and he won’t partake in it.

David is getting desperate. He invites Uriah to dinner and got him drunk. But even when drunk, Uriah slept at the palace steps on his mat. David eventually gets called out, and must face the Lord for his sins.

##Um, where’s the encouraging part of this story?

The concepts of the story are what we can apply. When we know of active, unrepentant sin, and someone will compound it by trying to cover it up with us as an accomplice or scapegoat, we are not to add to it, but walk upright no matter what heat comes our way. No matter who brings that heat.

For children of God, we have to be careful when deceivers try to use scripture to convince us we need to take a path that will further their schemes, but not honor God. As in all things, ask the Holy Spirit if the path you’re taking–and about to take–will honor the Lord. If not, ask and the Spirit, like GPS, will guide you through an alternate route that will.

And no matter how bumpy the ride, God is with you all the way.

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. -Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)

Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. -Isaiah 35:6-7 (NIV)

I don’t know how many times I’ve looked at something I wanted to achieve and think to myself, “I can’t, because I don’t have the money to do that,” or, “I don’t see how I can get from here to there.”

It’s so easy to only believe our eyes and the reasoning our brains can muster. It’s logical. It’s sensible.

But how quickly I would forget to not just walk and look at what I see before me! No, scripture is filled with events that make zero sense to us, especially if we’re nonbelievers. For nonbelievers who consider themselves too smart to believe in a God they cannot see or touch or measure, the only outcomes available to them are the ones they achieve themselves.

Believe. Don’t give up.

God asks us to trust Him. To believe when there is no reason to believe. To surrender all and know that the very best outcome will take place, because it is in His will and timing.

When we have a goal and destination, we can confidently pray to the Lord to establish our steps (Proverbs 16:9). We can pray to Him, knowing that He will make a way where there seems to be no way. God has a perfect track record of doing just that, over and over in scripture.

So don’t give up, fellow believer and sojourner, when there is no change in the skies…when there seems to be no way…when God seems silent. Trust that He hears you. He hears your every thought and plea.

He has great plans for you. Keep walking by faith, despite what your eyes may tell you (2 Corinthians 5:7). Pray that He floods your heart with faith and steadfastness when doubt and despair set in. He will make a way where there seems to be no way.