Scripture:

1 Kings 12:24

24 ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the word of the Lord, and turned back, according to the word of the Lord.

"When Plans Collide"

A little context for today's portion, Solomon, in the later part of his life, allowed his wives to drag him away from the Lord, serving other gods, and as a result, the Lord told him that the kingdom would be ripped from his hand, but not all of it, because he had promised to David, who was faithful to the Lord.  Furious and determined to reunite the divided kingdom by force, Rehoboam (David's grandson) assembled a massive army of 180,000 warriors. However, the LORD intervened by sending the prophet Shemaiah with a clear directive.

So, here we have the Lord moving in all of this to do what?   To drive people back to Him, they had strayed from the Lord and their hearts were far from Him, they had turned away and like so many other times, they had to be motivated by pain rather than obedience.   But here is another reminder that nothing can stop the plan of God in our lives.   We can resist it, we can fight against it, but that would bring more disaster, that would only put us in a position to be fighting against God and that never turns out well.

So today's God Shot is to recognize God's plan, His purpose in our lives, and align ourselves with it, which will bring peace.   Notice that Rehoboam was going to try to reunite the Northern Kingdom by force, but because it was God's plan (because of their sin) God warned them not to go, and their obedience brought peace. 

Father, may we always seek out your purpose in our lives, your plan, my our hearts and our lives align with it, may we never fight against that which you have established, and pursue you and your Kingdom, Lord direct us, speak to us, lead us into your purpose in Jesus' name, Amen!