How hopeless can it get, and yet still happen?
David’s hope was to be a king. It was never his idea, but he didn’t shy away from it. It was not wishful thinking. It was a promise—hope anchored in a promise from someone who never breaks promises. Most of the things we hope for are not promises; David's was.
It ain’t happening
The promise of the job and the role came, and then David ran for ten years from Saul, the guy holding the job promised to David. Saul tried to kill David, as if he was guilty of something horrible. He wasn’t guilty at all. In fact, totally innocent, and a better man than Saul.
If you were promised something, and you knew it was a promise, and then you had a chance to remove the thing standing in the way of the promise coming true, would you remove it?
What if your godly friends all told you that God himself had clearly given you the opportunity to remove the obstacle, that this opportunity was a sign God wanted you to do it? Then would you remove the obstacle?
David would not. Several times he had the chance to stop the fellow who was persecuting him. He had a clear chance to take the guy out, to right the wrong of injustice that was preventing the fulfillment of God’s promise.
David would not.
Rewarded with more trouble
David is only human, and like all of us, has his limits, and after he can take it no longer, he finally goes over to the other side, to the side of his enemies. He thinks this is his only escape from the man trying to kill him for no reason, the man standing in the way of the promise of the hope.
But even those enemies don’t trust him. They won’t let him fight with them. They send him away.
He leaves, and arriving discouraged in his home camp, he discovers that all his family members, and the families of his closest friends, have been taken captive by another enemy.
How much worse can it get?
This is his reward for trusting God?
This is his reward for believing the promise God made ten years ago?
This is his reward for having hope based on a promise from an infallible promise-giver?
It doesn’t get any lower than this. No hope; even your enemies reject you; your family is gone; and your closest friends are grumbling and complaining, and ready to stone you.
Now what?
“But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”
In this renewed strength David took the only next step he knew, and led his men to rescue their families. It worked. Everyone was brought back safe.
While they were doing that, off in the distance, Saul, the man in David’s way, was killed in battle.
Everything just changed.
David was king.
Everything changed as soon as it got to the lowest moment. God seems to love that.
Finding strength in the Lord your God is no guarantee your hope will be fulfilled. But it is strength for one more step than you think is possible.
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To receive 31 Days of Hope: encouragement to go from IS to COULD BE in a reader or your inbox, go HERE. You can start at Day 1 HERE.
The story of the interactions/relationship between Saul and David just blows me away every time I read it. And David's integrity while he waited/hoped. May God give us each His strength - and the grace to ask for it.
Posted by: Abbie Knaub | Thursday, October 06, 2011 at 09:59 AM
this is what I needed today...the reminder that I can only take one step at a time and He will provide each step of the way.
I am so glad I 'stumbled' upon this 31 days (pointed here by your daughter's page) because I think I was beginning to 'lose' hope. Waiting months, years, can wear on a person...but I know God is renewing my hope through these days with you. Thanks!
Posted by: Karen W | Thursday, October 06, 2011 at 11:03 AM