God is there when we need Him most
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Faith Fitness
Bro. Sam Kaufman
Have you ever been in that place where it seems everyone is against you?
Perhaps even those closest to you may have issues with you. Friends and kin that seemed so loyal have turned on you and even want to see your hurt.
It can be lonely and discouraging at times. But there is always One who will listen and help.
David of the Bible found himself in the above scenario on occasion. He was beloved by his men – those who were loyal to him and with him as he fled from King Saul’s wrath. They were about as tight-knit of a bunch as you could find. They had been through so much together. However, there was a time when David’s men briefly turned against him out of frustration.
Those “friends” even wanted to kill him. David had nowhere to go to or anyone to turn to at that point.
It was a lonely place for him. But David had a special relationship with God. He understood in that situation he could bring all his cares, concerns, fears, and discouragement to the Lord. God would assist him through it!
There was never a time God was not faithful to see David through. The time was trying, but God is almighty.
God is the source of encouragement in such times. His ear is always open to listening, and His hand is not short with solutions. He can make a way where there seems to be no way.
David’s experience at Ziklag was a difficult one. But it also reveals just who God is to us and to whom we need to go when all others seemingly oppose us.
In this instance, David and his men were forbidden to fight a certain battle and returned to the location where they had been staying. When they came to Ziklag on the third day, they discovered the Amalekites had invaded the south, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire.
The problem was that the wives and children of David and his men were in Ziklag at the time of the invasion. The Amalekites did not kill the wives and children, but carried them away.
David and his men came to Ziklag and discovered it was burned with fire and that their wives and children were taken captive.
At that point, David and his men lifted up their voices and wept. They were angry and perhaps fearful at what would become of their families in the enemy’s hand.
They wept so hard that they had “no more power to weep.” It was a very grievous situation. In such circumstances, emotions tend to rise to the forefront.
In this case, David’s men’s anger turned toward David, who was also hurting from his family being taken captive. David was the leader of the band of men, so he was their target when things went awry.
It was a double whammy for poor David. His family was taken, and his men were mad at him.
The Bible simply states, “And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters…” (I Samuel 30:6).
David was in a tight spot. It was the type of situation where his relationship with God proved to be the only answer. That is who God is to us. He is there when we need Him the most.
The discouragement was raging within David. His family was taken captive, and his men talked of killing him. The rest of I Samuel 30:6 reads, “…but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”
That is powerful. When all else was discouraging, there was encouragement to be found in the Lord his God. Notice the possessive part of that statement: “In the Lord his God.”
The Lord was David’s God – meaning it was personal. There was encouragement in God because nothing is impossible with God.
David conversed and communed with the Lord to obtain the help he needed.
The answer came through prayer. David and many of his men traveled to the enemy camp and recovered all that had been taken captive.
They didn’t lose anyone.
Sam Kaufman pastors The Church of God at 405 13th Ave. N in Alex City. Contact him at 432 266-0154.
