for all the problems men face.” Ronald
Reagan
Timing is everything. Recently, I stopped
by to see a friend. Something was wrong…I wasn’t sure what. He was both
frustrated and discouraged.
Unfortunately,
my friend doesn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Hopefully, I
offered some hopeful problem-solving suggestions. Also, because I seek to live
and die on confidentiality, he knows that it’s safe to vent to me. What weighed
heavy on me though was that I couldn’t direct him to the One where I knew that
he’d find true peace and hope.
This year I’m reading the Bible through again. Recently, I was reading
in 1 Samuel 30. Israel and David’s arch enemies, the Philistines are headed
north to wage a major attack against Israel. The Amalekites, who seemed to make
their living by raiding Philistine and Israelite towns and cities in the south,
couldn’t have received better news. Since all the men of fighting age had gone off
to war, few or none were left behind to defend the Israeli towns. While David
and his soldiers are away, the Amalekites plundered their camp. These raiders took
all the cattle and possessions, kidnapped all the women and children, and burnt
the city to the ground.
When
David and his men return, they’re horrified to see that their camp has been
destroyed and worse, their families have been taken captive. No one has been
killed, but every single person has been taken. It’s not a great comfort that
their families are still alive. Each man imagines what’s happening (or would
soon happen) to his wife and children. At best, they’ll become slaves, to be
worked hard and cruelly treated. At worst, well, no one even wanted to consider
this. David’s two wives also are taken.
David’s 600 fighting men are greatly distressed by what’s happened to
their families. They weep until they have no sobs left. Then, they began to think
about how this happened. It had been David’s plan to go to the land of the
Philistines; it was his idea that they live in this remote city of Ziklag, and
it was David who led them away fight with the Philistines, leaving their
families vulnerable to this attack. They’re angry – anger usually looks for a
target. Some are so enraged that there’s talk of stoning David.
No
one can hurt you as much or as deeply as someone who is close to you. I know
that’s the case with me. Part of the price of being a pastor is that those you
love, pray for and with, have ministered to countless times will sometimes turn
on you – and seemingly overnight you can become their worst enemy. Without
question it’s one of the greatest heartbreaks of ministry. I don’t know how other
pastors handle it. I know that it weighs heavy on me, fills my soul, steals my
sleep and greatly discourages me.
Yet,
you don’t have to be a pastor or leader to face a similar situation. All of us
have had a friend turn on us. The workplace we poured our lives into no longer
needs us. Our spouse who pledged “til death do us part” parts. They’ve found
someone else or are leaving to go “find themselves.” More often, it’s a child
that speaks words to a Dad or Mom that should never be uttered. We find ourselves
despised by the very one that we’d give our lives for. All of us have been
there. Betrayal is part of the human condition.
The important questions are: Who do you turn to? Where do you go when you’re
discouraged or hurting? 1 Samuel 30:6 is the answer: “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” There’s
no better place to go! I can’t say that I always go there first. I can say that
I always end up there. I take it to the Lord and seek to leave it there, and
then I open up His love letter to me. The bottom line is that everyone turns
somewhere. So, where do you go? Where do you turn?
Can I encourage you to turn to the place where
you’ll always receive help? God’s Word. There’s not a situation that we face
that has not been faced by someone in the pages of Scripture. God’s Word is
sufficient. Many of us don’t know that because we’re not in God’s Word. Read
the first two chapters of the book of Job and you’ll no doubt feel that whatever
you’re facing is small potatoes.
While we believe that the Bible is the truth
and holds the answer to the basic questions of life, too few of us spend any
extended time in reading God’s Word or in basic Bible study. Though we claim to
need it, we seem to avoid it. Why? Where’s
the disconnect? Why don’t we read the Bible if we believe it’s God’s Word and
contains the answers to life’s questions?
There’s a sobering reality lurking beneath
the surface, one we probably wouldn’t say out loud and certainly not in church…we
don’t really believe that God’s Word has the answers or that reading the Bible
will work for us.
Can I point out the obvious? What do you have
to lose? What you’re doing isn’t working. You’re miserable, discouraged, frustrated
and even depressed. If something has worked for people who used it as their
source of strength and encouragement even though they were being tortured or
facing a violent death, don’t you think that it might work for you? But it will
never help if you don’t read it.
Too many of us are like the person who goes
to a doctor. Their physician diagnoses their malady and writes a prescription.
They then go to the pharmacist, pick it up, go home but never take the medicine.
And then they wonder why they don’t get any better!?!
When David faced the anger of his own men, he
turned to the Lord. It worked for him and it will work for you. Can I encourage
you to make spending time with the Lord like an appointment for a meal with a
dear friend…because there is no dearer friend. Yet, the Lord Jesus is more than
a dear friend, He’s the Savior of your soul. You’ll never surprise Him or
frustrate Him. He knows everything about you, loves you, has a plan for your
life, knows exactly what’s going on and already knows how He’s going to solve
it. So, start reading His love letter to you…start today!
Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.
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