Three Ruts That Hinder Your Relationship with God
Lessons from transporting the Ark of God in 2 Samuel 6
I've been a pastor for 16 years, and my wife and I have
gotten used to our Sunday morning routine—parting ways early and meeting up
just before the service begins.
I remember one particular Sunday when our kids were pretty
young. I was frantically getting ready to leave while my wife and kids were
still enjoying a slow breakfast. Before heading out, I made my rounds, giving
hugs and kisses to everyone.
One of my kids asked, "Dad, where are you going?"
Without thinking, I said, "I have to go to work."
That sentence bounced around my head the rest of the day. It
bothered me. I had always loved going to church—the worship, the people,
hearing the Bible preached, everything. Even as a pastor in the early days,
Sunday didn't feel like work. It felt like the culmination of a week's labor, a
day of worship.
I found myself asking: "Has church become just a J-O-B
for me? Just another work day?"
The Professional Christian Problem
This kind of thing happens in every career, doesn't it? As
we get older and gain more life experience, it's easy to become
"professional."
Once upon a time, you were an intern. Bottom of the
food chain, earning peanuts, just glad to be in the building. After several
years, you work your way up in the company and start treating people
differently. You feel entitled. The company is lucky to have you. You've slid
into a monotonous rut.
Once upon a time, you were a Navy recruit.
Entry-level seaman, pay grade E-1, taking orders from everyone—and you couldn't
be happier. You were in the U.S. Navy! But then you moved up in the ranks, got
some cool stripes and insignias, people started calling you "sir."
The U.S. Government is so lucky to have you. You've slid into a monotonous rut.
Strange things happen when we fall into these patterns:
- You lose
your excitement
- You
start feeling entitled—you go from "glad to be here" to
"they don't pay me enough"
- You
start treating people differently—those aren't friends anymore, they're
coworkers
- You carry
yourself differently, you forget where you came from
- You're
going through the motions, but the motions don't mean what they used to.
This Can Happen With Our Faith Too
Remember when you first became a Christian and church was so
exciting? When you wanted to share the gospel with everyone you met? When you
couldn't get your hands on enough devotionals and Bible studies?
But now you've become experienced in the whole thing. Your
time with God feels stagnant. Faith feels like following rules instead of a
relationship with Jesus. It becomes easier to skip church for an extra hour on
the boat. Spiritual disciplines like Bible reading and prayer don't fill your
tank—they deplete it.
What happened? You fell into a spiritual rut. You became
fluent in Christianese and robotic in spiritual disciplines.
Three Ruts That Hinder Your Relationship with God
Today, I want to explore three specific ruts that can trap
us and how we can break free from them. Our guide is King David and a story
from 2 Samuel 6 about transporting the Ark of God.
Don't you want to get back to the days when your walk with
God was exhilarating? When spiritual disciplines weren't an obligation, but a
joy? When sharing your faith came naturally? When you couldn't pray enough,
give enough, or worship enough? When you felt God's presence in your life?
That's what David wanted, too.
Understanding the Ark of God
2 Samuel 6 begins with a quest to retrieve the "Ark of
God." This was a special piece of religious furniture that looked like a
gold-covered chest with angels on top. Inside it contained special relics like
the Ten Commandments, a jar of manna, and a staff from Israel's first high
priest.
Most importantly, the Ark represented the presence of God.
You and I are living in a special time in human history. God
became human—Jesus Christ was born—so God came down to dwell with us. We've
seen the face of God in the form of Jesus, we have the completed Bible, we have
the Holy Spirit living within us if we believe in Jesus.
But this was not the case with believers in the Old
Testament. That's why they had this Ark—to represent God's presence around
them. If the Ark was near, then God was near.
David was the new king who had established a new capital
city for Israel, and he wanted the presence of God in that new capital. So he
went down to Judah to fetch the Ark of God. However, he made three crucial
mistakes when transporting it.
Rut #1: Your Walk With God Becomes Efficient
Lesson Learned: Don't Drive the Ark; Carry It
"They carried the ark of God on a new cart and
brought it out of the house of Abinadab... And Uzzah and Ahio were driving the
new cart, with the ark of God" (2 Samuel 6:3-4).
This doesn't sound like a mistake to us. If you had to move
something big and heavy from one city to another, this is exactly what we would
do. We'd find a cart or trailer, load the ark onto it, and haul it down the
highway.
The reason we don't see this as a big deal is because it
sounds efficient. If you want to move the ark quickly, with as little effort as
possible, putting it on a wheeled cart makes perfect sense.
The Problem With Efficiency
But here's the issue: According to Old Testament law, the
ark was supposed to be carried. There were poles built specifically for
hoisting the ark onto the shoulders of four priests and then carrying it.
Transporting the ark was a reverent, holy ordeal. It wasn't supposed to be
fast, efficient, or quick. It was supposed to be a sacred task, done carefully
and reverently.
Let me illustrate: Imagine you came to church today and
everyone was wearing swimsuits. Nothing's wrong with swimsuits, but that would
seem irreverent, wouldn't it?
David learned this transportation method from the
Philistines—the enemies of God—who had once stolen the Ark and transported it
as efficiently as possible, treating it like a good luck charm.
So efficient. So quick. So easy. But God's presence isn't
efficient. Or quick. Or easy.
Fatal Consequences
Transporting the Ark carelessly had fatal consequences.
While they were moving it, they hit a bumpy patch:
"When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there" (2 Samuel 6:6-7).
I'm going to tell you something you already know: Relationships
aren't efficient.
You clock hours at work, but not with your kids. You watch
the time in meetings, but not on a date. You eat quickly on your lunch break,
but not when you're out with friends. If you maintain relationships with
efficiency, you won't have much of a relationship.
Your relationship with God isn't efficient either. You can't
skim a couple Bible verses while brushing your teeth, say a quick prayer on
your way to work, or rush to church late and leave early. You can't walk with
God in this manner and have a deep, genuine relationship with the Lord.
The Challenge
If you feel like your relationship with God has lost its
spark, here's my challenge: First, you need three key spiritual habits in your
life:
- Bible
Reading
- Prayer
- Church
Engagement (not just attendance)
Second, start doing those things slower. Do a prayer walk.
Take Bible notes. Engage deeply at church rather than just showing up.
Check out what David did the second time he transported the
ark:
"David went and brought up the ark of God... with rejoicing. And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal" (2 Samuel 6:12-13).
They carried the ark like they were supposed to. They
stopped every six steps and made sacrifices. How slow! How inefficient! How
reverent.
The presence of God is not efficient. It is contemplative.
It is unrushed. It is a posture of abiding, listening, and waiting on God.
Rut #2: Your Worship Becomes Performative
Lesson Learned: Don't Parade; Worship
Check out the vibe during the first transport of the ark:
"David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals" (2 Samuel 6:5).
Picture the scene. There's singing and music like a big
party. Look at all these instruments—five different kinds are mentioned:
stringed instruments (lyres and harps), percussion instruments (tambourines and
castanets), and loud instruments (cymbals). The ark is on a cart, probably
looking like one of those parade floats people make.
You know what this is, right? It's a parade! David and the
people are partying, lugging this ark around like it's a parade float.
This isn't a worship service—it's a concert. This isn't
getting God's attention—it's getting people's attention. This has become a
performance.
When Faith Becomes a Show
Do you ever feel like your relationship with God has become
a performance? You're going through the motions but not sensing the presence of
God?
Maybe you've caught yourself making a show of your
faith—spending more time crafting an Instagram post about your Bible reading
than actually reading Scripture. Staging your Bible and coffee, making sure
it's a page with lots of highlights, writing a good post.
If you feel like your Christian walk has become
performative, practice what I told you earlier: the big three spiritual
disciplines, go slower, and add this third element—practice listening to God.
Go on a 30-minute prayer walk. Ask God something and then
listen. "God, I don't know what to do about this situation. I ask the Holy
Spirit to shape my thoughts and emotions." Then listen. You might be
surprised at what the Lord brings to mind.
A Different Approach
After Uzzah died in the first transport, David stopped
everything. The music stopped. The laughing turned to sobbing. The parade came
to a halt. David left the ark at someone's house nearby.
Three months later, David attempted to transport the Ark
again. But this time, there was no parade. No marching band. No show. The
instrument count dropped from five instruments to one. The music shifted from
strings, tambourines, and cymbals to one horn.
"So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn" (2 Samuel 6:15).
The horn was loud and considered a sacred instrument, used for both war and worship—mostly for ritual purposes like announcing the Day of Atonement and coronating kings.
David realized he had gotten his relationship with God stuck
in a rut. As a young man, he used to be the guy hiding in the cave begging God
to spare his life, the guy wandering in the wilderness relying on God's
provision. He was so close to God back in those days. But now it had gotten so
performance-based. He was trying to perform his way into God's presence.
Rut #3: Your Faith Becomes Obligatory
Lesson Learned: Don't Act Like a King; Act Like a Priest
Let's see what happens next. This is the second attempt to
transport the Ark when David slows down and does it right. His wife, Michal,
doesn't like it.
"As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart" (2 Samuel 6:16).
Notice two things: Michal doesn't like how David is carrying
himself, and she isn't called David's wife—she's called Saul's daughter. The
narrator pairs her up with Saul, not with David. Later, Michal confronts David:
"How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants' female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!" (v. 20).
You'd think the king was naked! He wasn't. David had removed
his official uniform as king—his royal robe, his crown, his kingly attire.
Instead, verse 14 tells us he was wearing a "linen ephod," a garment
worn by priests when making sacrifices.
An ephod was a big robe, not revealing or risqué. Michal
wasn't angry that he was half-naked. She was angry because he didn't look
professional enough. He didn't look like a king—he looked like a priest!
The Legacy of Obligation
David responded:
"It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house... and I will celebrate before the Lord. I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes" (vv. 21-22).
The passage ends oddly:
"And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death" (v. 23).
Michal was Saul's daughter, and apparently, the apple didn't
fall far from the tree. When Michal died without any children, there was no
chance of an heir to the throne from the House of Saul. Saul's royal lineage
officially came to an end.
And it's all because Saul's relationship with God was all a
show. It was efficient. It was a performance. It was an obligation.
Breaking Free From the Ruts
David changed his attire and attitude—from a king to a
priest. He wanted to have the presence of God in his life, but he had gone
about it the wrong way initially:
- He
tried to get that Ark into the capital quickly and efficiently
- He
tried to make a big show of his faith, complete with a parade of
instruments
- He
tried to seek God's presence with a king's crown rather than a priest's
ephod
Back when he was a young man, he used to be a lowly shepherd
spending his days in quiet prayer, watching sheep. He was the guy in the sheep
pasture, passing time by writing worship songs. He was content being Saul's
harp player, just playing his heart out.
An Invitation
There are some of you reading this who are longing for the
presence of God. You used to feel it—really feel it. Your walk with God used to
be exciting and real. You never saw yourself as a "volunteer" but
all-in for Jesus. Your daily breath was "For me to live is Christ."
There are others who aren't yet followers of Jesus. You
haven't quite taken that step of becoming a Christian yet. This idea of the
presence of God might sound foreign to you.
Here's the gospel message simply stated:
- We are
sinners—sin is anything we think, say, or do that breaks God's law
- Sin
separates us from God
- The
good news is this: Jesus was punished in our place for our sins
The presence of God isn't found through efficiency,
performance, or obligation. It's found through genuine relationship—slow,
authentic, and humble. It's found when we approach God not as professionals who
have it all figured out, but as beloved children who simply want to be near our
Father.
Don't let your faith get stuck in a rut. Slow down. Stop
performing. Let go of obligation. And rediscover the joy of simply being in
God's presence.