Marching Orders

When you get marching orders it usually signifies one of two things. Either you are to take action or it is a notice of dismissal. I usually think about marching orders as the signal to take action. Once one has their marching orders they can take action. The plan has been made, communicated and it is now your job to carry it through. You have your marching orders.

Spiritually the problem we encounter is acting before we have marching orders or in some cases ignoring the marching orders that have been clearly communicated. Where there is a lack of spiritual maturity or a void of spirituality the problem would be developing your own orders.

David was not immune to marching orders. I love this passage. 2 Samuel 5:24     “It shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall act promptly, for then the Lord will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.”

2 Samuel 5:25     Then David did so, just as the Lord had commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.

David was suppose to wait until he heard literal marching in the balsam trees. Acting prior to this would have resulted in defeat. 

Walking with the Lord means that we are suppose to wait until we understand what He wants us to do before we take action. Often we suffer defeat and never stop to understand we took action without clear direction from Jesus. Want to be in a right relationship with Jesus? Wait until you get your marching orders before taking action but when you do, proceed as if the victory is yours, because it is!

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 2 Sa 5:24-25.