THE STORMS OF LIFE come in various forms – some are small and transient, others last long and leave you exhausted, but your reaction can make a difference.
The Narrative
THE LIFE OF DAVID was full of highs and lows – haunted by a jealous king but celebrated for killing Goliath.
After several attempts on his life, he hid in caves moving from place to place. When his family heard that he was in the cave of Adullam, they came to him.
The indebted and discontented men gathered around him – four hundred altogether, and he became their leader. (1 Samuel 22:2)
David ran to the land of the Philistines and made a pact with them. He and his men wanted to join their army, but they were rejected.
David was disappointed, and he questioned, why?
The Philistines remembered how he killed their champion – Goliath – they couldn’t have him in their midst, so, David and his men returned to Ziklag.
When they reached Ziklag three days later, they found that the Amalekites had attacked their abode and burnt it with fire, and their wives and children were taken captive.
David and his men were in so much anguish that they wept until they had no strength in them, but they needed a solution. (1 Samuel 27:1-12)
Change your perception
DAVID FELT LIKE A LOSER – his men had put their trust in him, and he let them down. David saw no way out. He forgot that God is loser-friendly.
Some of them spoke of stoning him because they wanted leadership, but there was none.
To find a solution, he had to look away from his circumstance to God – he had to change his attitude.
“We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string, we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so, it is with you,” says Charles Swindoll.
Recognise your resource
WHEN YOU FACE ADVERSITY, it’s easy to forget what you have, but for the believer in Christ, God should be your solace.
When your heart is overwhelmed, ask God to lead you to the rock that is higher than you. (Psalm 61:2)
I do not know what you’re going through or how difficult your situation is, but one thing I know is that God never turns deaf ears to the cry of the righteous.
David knew this resource and what to do with it. He understood that he had a covenant with God, and his safety was in Him.
In his old age, he said, “I have been young, and now am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread." (Psalm 37:25)
Amid your storm, recognise God as your resource.
Get the true perspective
TO HAVE THE PROPER VIEWPOINT, David encouraged himself in the Lord.
He meditated on the word of God – it shaped his thinking and aligned his thoughts with God’s.
The truth is that if you know how to worry, you know how to meditate.
What will it look like waking up and thinking of God, going to bed at night and doing the same? It will be wonderful.
Let the words from the book of the law be always on your lips. Meditate on them day and night so that you may be careful to live by all that is written in it. If you do, as you make your way through this world, you will prosper and always find success. (Joshua 1:8)
To get the right perspective of things, you need to meditate on God’s word.
A beautiful thing only comes from a changed heart
Turn your test into a catalyst for change
DAVID REQUESTED FOR THE EPHOD – cloth used by a priest. He worshipped.
He knew the answer to his challenge could only be found in God’s presence. David called God into his situation.
When he got the ephod, he prayed, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” (1 Samuel 30:8)
And God answered, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”
When you take every situation, you face in life as a test; you’ll turn it into a catalyst for change.
BRINGING IT TOGETHER
DAVID COULD NOT succeed until he changed his perception. He had to win first in his mind to win on the outside.
To move forward, you must change your attitude – a beautiful thing only comes from a changed heart.