I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

1 Samuel 30. “Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (Verses 1-6). David is sent back from battle, only to find that his home had been invaded and the people captured. His wives have been taken, the people are distraught and want to kill David, even though what happened is not his fault. To say that life has dealt David a bad hand is putting it lightly: There is a king trying to kill him, he is shacked up with his enemies (whom he is secretly fighting against), and now his people (who he did not ask to follow him) want to stone him. What does David do? “David strengthened himself in the Lord his God”. Floored! I am floored. Right now life is a little tighter and harder than I have had it previously, but no one is trying to kill me. I am not shacked up with the enemy. Yet I have a hard time, “strengthening myself in the Lord my God”. My issues are not nearly as life changing as David’s yet his strength is in God, while I whine and complain. So today the lesson: let’s take a leaf out of David’s book of conduct. When life gets hard (and when it is incredibly good) find our strength in God.