David in 1 Samuel 30:1-8 found himself in need of encouragement. Yet it was not to be found around him. After traveling for three days, he and his men returned home to find their homes demolished and their families kidnapped. Seeing the devastation, they all grieved but his men grief quickly became anger toward David so much so that they desired to stone him. Now that seems pretty bad—certainly nothing uplifting about his current situation. In the midst of loss of home and family, he now was facing abandonment from men, who were suppose to be on his side.
David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of them all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God. 1 Sam 30:6 (AMP)
Being distressed in such a situation is understandable but that last portion of the verse seems almost out-of-place when you first read it.
His situation was bad but …
He had experienced great loss but …
His soldiers now wanted to kill him but …
But he accessed something beyond his environment and beyond the people who accompanied him. David didn’t rely on the externals of life to be his source of encouragement. While most of us may never experience a loss to the extent of David, we have all found ourselves in situations that looked bleak. And we may have encounter voices of negativity rather than support from those closest in our circle. Even still we don’t have to allow ourselves to confined to distress, disappointment, or discouragement. The externals of our lives aren’t always rosy but internally we can find strength and encouragement in God just as David did. —Wanda Ward
Thank you so much for sharing my devotional with your readers.
ReplyDeleteWanda ... and thanks to you for letting me share your devotional at Living Water. God bless.
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