“David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” – (1 Sam 30:6, AMP)
This is without doubt my favorite verse in the bible and reading it in it’s context nearly always brings me to tears, leaving me in awe.
If anybody has seen a grown man weep you will know that it can be one of the most heart-wrenching things to witness. This passage states that David and his men wept bitterly ’till they had no more strength (vs 4), only then for the men who were crying with him to turn on him and look to kill him.
Pain is real. Suffering is real. The fight many have to fight with depression on a nightly basis is real. Whether it be the loss of a loved one, or a relationship which was once so sweet now so sour; or simply life’s obstacles choking you. There will come a time where we feel so hurt and lost that the first thing we do is to look to ourselves for reassurance, we call this self-pity.
The difference with David was that He was honest with how he felt, and presented it unto God. Yes he knew he was hurting, but he also knew that God who was bigger than his hurt. So he then stood up and faced the very same situation that had him in tears with real purpose and determination, with real courage.
Courage which spawns strength. Strength refines character. A character that understands the difference between tears of ‘pain’ and tears of ‘prayer’ is a character which understands that both sets of tears are key for our growth.
“It won’t be like THIS always…” is something God reminds me when I fail to forget past failures and CURRENT circumstances… so my message to you is BE ENCOURAGED!
Triple O
