Good afternoon, everyone!
Today I read 1 Samuel 25-27.
And I'm going to skip a lot of things, and dive right in to part of David's story that interests me.
So, up to this point, he's been pretty good about trusting God to protect him and take care of him.
But it seems that his faith wavers a bit in chapter 27. After being pursued by Saul a lot, and escaping him every time...after holding Saul's life in his hands not once, but twice, David's faith finally begins to waver.
1 Samuel 27:1 - Then David said to himself, "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul will then despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand."
So, David takes his future into his own hands instead of trusting that God will continue to deliver him.
So, he goes to the land of the Philistines, Israel's enemy (remember, his most memorable fight was against Goliath, a Philistine warrior). There, he manages to do some good for Israel by continuing to fight their enemies, while telling the king of the Philistines that he was fighting against his own people.
So, I have a couple issues with this:
First, David's faith in God wavers, where before it had been very strong.
Second, he lies, not for the first time, in order to keep himself from trouble. Probably because his faith wavered and he lacked trust in God.
Now, while I have issues with this, I can totally understand.
How many of us have tried to help God by doing things our own way for a while? How many of us have felt so overwhelmed by a situation that we felt it would be better if we handled it ourselves because clearly God wasn't doing anything?
No one else?
Just me?
Okay, then I'll speak from my own experiences.
This happens to me way more often than it should. Apparently I have trust issues.
It is so tempting to try to do things my own way sometimes, especially when it seems like God isn't doing anything.
It is so tempting to give up and run away, especially when I feel overwhelmed.
It is so tempting to feel like I know what is best for me, despite my past track record saying otherwise.
But I'm working on it.
I know that God has a plan for me, and I know His plans are always good. That He wants to take care of me, to prosper me, to give me both hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
But it can still be hard to trust Him with every situation, especially when I want to say "But if you just did this, Lord, it would get done really fast."
Impatience. Fear. Doubt.
Patience. Faith. Trust.
Sometimes it's difficult to choose the correct path. But I learn and grow every single day. And even when I have to say "I trust You, Lord," several times before I can make it true, it's worth it.
I'm really glad David's story took him down this path today, even if it's not a very good example of faith. It was a good moment for me to learn. Plus, it makes David more relate-able. He wasn't perfect, just like I'm not perfect.
When fear overtakes faith, it can seem like the road ahead is worse than it actually will be. But when your faith finally overtakes your fear, no matter how rough the road, it will be as easy as a breezy morning stroll.
Or so I've heard. I'm still working on this. And if you are too, I hope David's story and my words have encouraged you today.
I hope you'll join me tomorrow when I read 1 Samuel 28-31.
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