Reclaiming the Ark...
[2 Samuel 6:6-22]



So the story goes something like this: While carrying the Ark back to Jerusalem, Uzzah tries to steady the Ark when some oxen stumble. Only the levitical priests were allowed to touch the Ark. This was a fatal BOO-BOO. God struck Uzzah dead. Verse 8 says that David was angry because of the Lord's wrath. Hummn. Out of Fear, David decides to leave the Ark in the home of Obed-Edom. Over the next few months, Obed-Edom's home is greatly blessed because of the presence of the Ark. David, wanting to funnel those blessings on Israel as a whole, decides to go back and take the Ark again and bring it to Jerusalem. As they enter the city, David dances in praise to the Lord and promises his spiteful wife that he will "become even more undignified than this."

I was carrying my Ark proudly during one point in my life. Then something very tragic happened that I really didn't understand. I too, like David, became angry with God. My options? Continue to pray to God with bitterness in my heart, or stop pretending and just pout, cease to pray. I left my Ark in a stranger's home. I was miserable while all my Christian Obed-Edom friends continued to enjoy their relationship with God. As I watched Roy and others relish the spiritual blessings of intimacy with God, I was moved with envy. I realized that I could just not have joy until I decided to reclaim my Ark. Envy? It's not what we consider an admirable emotion, but it would later transform itself into a pure desire to become what I was made to be. My life became even more undignified than it was before and it will become even more undignified than this.