Day 42: Where is Our Source?
And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
1 Samuel 30:6
To give a little context for this verse, David left his city to go into the land of the Philistines because he says there is "nothing better" than to escape Saul who is after him (1 Samuel 27:1). He is rejected by the Philistines and wanders back to his home with his men only to find it burned to ashes.
I think the word distressed is an understatement for what David is feeling. David has completely forgotten God's calling and anointing to become King over Israel, has subsided into the world of the ungodly, and is rejected, only to come back and to see all those he cares about captured or dead by his inactivity. I think David has hit a rock bottom we cannot begin to fathom. David has grown sick of waiting for what he thinks is an unresponsive God who doesn’t seem to be helping him with a challenge he doesn't believe he can face by himself. Yet, God's grace is there, in his extensive pursuit of David. God says, to David and to us, if you don't put your knees in the dirt in surrender and prayer, I will put you there to seek my council and strength to complete the task I know you can face.
Grace is without question incredible, but we cannot forget that it's not always attractive. For Paul, grace looked like getting shipwrecked, imprisoned, stoned, beaten, and tried for the cause of Christ. My prayer for you is that in the midst of trial, you would seek God's council and strength. 1 Samuel says David "strengthened himself through the LORD". David had to become proactive in depending on the LORD, rather than sit by and wait to be strengthened. God is our only source and he is always near, but it requires action on our part to draw from him and receive his strength.
Question to Consider
In your daily walk, where do you need to loosen your grip and make the Lord your primary source of strength?
Prayer
Jesus, I put my faith and trust in you again today, even though I don’t always see where you are at work in my life. Thank you for your grace that comes in unexpected ways and is always for my good and your glory.
Bailey Snow, NU Student