They were stoked! The entire nation was unified and at peace for the first time in a while, so they decided it was time to bring their prized possession back home. The Ark of the Covenant. They had been celebrating for days, had an idea, and in their exuberance, put the ark in a wagon, cranked up the tunes on the boombox, and partied their way back to Jerusalem. It was awesome...until it wasn't.
On the way there, the oxen who were pulling the cart stumbled, the ark started to wobble, and poor Uzzah did what any of us would do; he reached out and steadied it. Then dropped dead.
David got angry and then greatly afraid of God, realizing he may have been hasty in his approach. So, he found a safe place to store the ark for the time being, put the project on hold, and went back to the drawing board.
"We failed to ask God how to move it properly. So the priests and the Levites purified themselves in order to bring the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to Jerusalem. Then the Levites carried the Ark of God on their shoulders with its carrying poles, just as the Lord had instructed Moses." (1 Chronicles 15:13-15)
Ready, FIRE, aim!!!! They thought it was a good idea, everyone got excited about it, and on paper it was obvious, so off they went! Only one problem...they didn't have a well-thought-out plan, and they didn't consult the right people. And we do this all the time.
This is my nature. Hatch an idea, envision the end result, load as much gunpowder as I can find, and light the wick. Let's go!!! Only to realize later that with a little more patience, a little more counsel, a little more preparation, I could have avoided a lot of collateral damage. This is why I need a team around me. A team willing to say, let's slow down a minute and seek a bit more input, develop a solid plan, and be sure we know the systemic effects of this decision. Then once we do that, strike up the band and let's roll.
Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.
Take a little more time on the front end, and save a lot more time later. Remember the old saying, if you don't take the time to do it right, you had better have time to do it twice.
In the multitude of counselors, there's safety. And be sure not to forget to bring in the chief engineer. While man can develop some pretty good plans, God is still in control and may cause the cart to stumble if we leave Him out of it.
