Before my recent visit in October 2021, I had been a guest at the Redeemers Church of Christ, Lanham, Maryland on two previous occasions. On both occasions, the church headed by Pastor Kobby Sarpong had lodged me at the same hotel. The hotel was comfortable and also close to the church. So when I was picked at the airport on what was my third visit, I figured that they would be taking me to the hotel that I had used on previous occasions. Surprisingly, I was taken to a different hotel, grander than what I had previously occupied. The take-home for me was not the grandiose hotel (after all I had no qualms with the other one); rather it was basing my judgment of what they would do on what they had done before.
Let’s apply that to God’s guidance and choices for us. We have no ground to conclude that God will lead us exactly the way He did last year or the one before. God may adopt some novel ways to align us with His counsel in the new year. A straightjacket mindset to God’s dealing could be a recipe for failure. The emphasis of this meditation is demonstrated in our text. The text captured David’s second attempt at routing the Philistines. He did it the first time, following the way and manner stipulated by God. When the enemies came the second time and he wanted to approach them the way he did before, God cautioned him. He was not to do as he did before but to fetch a compass roundabout and wait for the sound of marching on the mulberry tree. When he followed God’s new directive, he had a resounding victory the second time. This is a new year, and God may have a new way for you to handle old issues. You will never know whether you are to employ a well-known path or adopt something new until you ask.