Tidbits of Truth: Growing Up Is Hard To Do
Sometimes it is “so difficult” for us to accept the Promises of God that He has specifically set aside for each of our lives. And most of us especially struggle when (by all apparent appearances) those promises end up delayed, or even worse, the fulfillment of those promises seem to be denied altogether. We certainly are not the first to struggle with these kinds of issues, and I’m sure we won’t be the last. Just look at the life of David.
God sends Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint a new king for Israel. The prophet sends word to Jesse to bring all his sons down to the worship service because God has told the prophet that the new king would be from the house of Jesse. But David, who is the youngest, who is considered so insignificant by his father, isn’t even brought.
As the first 7 sons are brought forward, God informs Samuel that none of these are His choice. When David is finally summoned, God say’s to His prophet, “this is the one that I choose.” So David is anointed as king…and then what happens? His father sends him right back out to the fields to tend to those sheep.
Literally years pass by before anything in David’s life ever changes. Not until David takes food to his 3 eldest brothers who are now soldiers in the army of Israel, when the army had squared off against the Philistines, does David begin to realize that God’s promises are true.
David slays Goliath, and instantly the shepherd boy becomes a national hero. It appears that God has, at long last, positioned David to become the recipient of all those earlier promises that Samuel had made to him years before.
David instantly gains the favor of the people as well as the respect of the army. The king elevates him to the position of commander-in-chief. He’s even given the king’s daughter to marry.
Now he’s got the princess, he’s got the position, and he’s got the favor of the people, and it looks like everything is on the fast track to placing him on the throne … But not so fast, for God knows that He needs to mature young David before he will ever be capable of fulfilling his calling.
***Only maturity doesn’t come from mountain top experiences, maturity comes at a price… And those things that make all of us “grow up”…they only happen when we go through the struggles and hardships of this life!***
There are times that it may seem like our whole world is caving in and instead of us moving closer to receiving the promises of God in our lives; life instead give us all the appearance that we are getting farther and farther away from them. Nevertheless, it is how we conduct ourselves in those difficult and challenging times that reveal just how far we have come in that “Growing Up Process” with God!
Unfortunately, it is also in those times of great duress and trials that some of us have experienced our greatest failures in our relationships with God. (But not to worry, for if we don’t pass the test today, God will let us take the test all over again tomorrow Because God doesn’t give up on people like “we” give up on people!)
As fast as David had rose to superstardom in his nation, at an even faster pace, so also came his downfall. King Saul began to see David as the greatest threat to his throne, so he sets his sights on destroying him. Literally overnight, David went from this highly respected military leader with national celebrity status to public enemy #1—with a bounty on his head, to be brought in “DEAD or ALIVE.”
And what does this David do? He runs for his life. The devil has so adversely affected his thought processes until David succumbed to a SPIRIT OF FEAR! And as long as David was in that state of mind, he could not remember (nor could he believe) in any of those “Promises” that God had made to him concerning his life and his future!” Fear will always disconnect our minds from receiving the Promises of God. But finally, like a man who was awaking from some lethargic slumber, David began to come regain his trust in God.
In all fairness, we are not much different than David are we? For hasn’t there been times in all our lives that we too, ended up in places that God never intended for us to go, doing things that God never intended for us to do, and then trying to get out of the messes that we got ourselves in—all because we had gotten out of the will of God with our own lives?
Somehow David began again to remember the promises of God to him. The next time we find David, he’s over at the cave of Adullam—(Adullam literally means refuge). It was located in the Land of Judah—(Judah means the Place of Praise). DAVID FINDS REFUGE IN THE PLACE OF PRAISE! And there, God also brings 400 others to join up with him.
And these men that join him, they will eventually become the "mightiest of the mightiest" of all the warriors that will ever be found in Israel—all men who will later prove themselves loyal to the king for the entire 40 years that he rules the nation.
The fact of the matter in David’s life was this: It wasn’t that God had forgotten about him during all those trying years, it was just that God needed to mature him to become the man that God needed him to be!
Just a Thought,
Pastor Ken Jones
Sometimes it is “so difficult” for us to accept the Promises of God that He has specifically set aside for each of our lives. And most of us especially struggle when (by all apparent appearances) those promises end up delayed, or even worse, the fulfillment of those promises seem to be denied altogether. We certainly are not the first to struggle with these kinds of issues, and I’m sure we won’t be the last. Just look at the life of David.
God sends Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint a new king for Israel. The prophet sends word to Jesse to bring all his sons down to the worship service because God has told the prophet that the new king would be from the house of Jesse. But David, who is the youngest, who is considered so insignificant by his father, isn’t even brought.
As the first 7 sons are brought forward, God informs Samuel that none of these are His choice. When David is finally summoned, God say’s to His prophet, “this is the one that I choose.” So David is anointed as king…and then what happens? His father sends him right back out to the fields to tend to those sheep.
Literally years pass by before anything in David’s life ever changes. Not until David takes food to his 3 eldest brothers who are now soldiers in the army of Israel, when the army had squared off against the Philistines, does David begin to realize that God’s promises are true.
David slays Goliath, and instantly the shepherd boy becomes a national hero. It appears that God has, at long last, positioned David to become the recipient of all those earlier promises that Samuel had made to him years before.
David instantly gains the favor of the people as well as the respect of the army. The king elevates him to the position of commander-in-chief. He’s even given the king’s daughter to marry.
Now he’s got the princess, he’s got the position, and he’s got the favor of the people, and it looks like everything is on the fast track to placing him on the throne … But not so fast, for God knows that He needs to mature young David before he will ever be capable of fulfilling his calling.
***Only maturity doesn’t come from mountain top experiences, maturity comes at a price… And those things that make all of us “grow up”…they only happen when we go through the struggles and hardships of this life!***
There are times that it may seem like our whole world is caving in and instead of us moving closer to receiving the promises of God in our lives; life instead give us all the appearance that we are getting farther and farther away from them. Nevertheless, it is how we conduct ourselves in those difficult and challenging times that reveal just how far we have come in that “Growing Up Process” with God!
Unfortunately, it is also in those times of great duress and trials that some of us have experienced our greatest failures in our relationships with God. (But not to worry, for if we don’t pass the test today, God will let us take the test all over again tomorrow Because God doesn’t give up on people like “we” give up on people!)
As fast as David had rose to superstardom in his nation, at an even faster pace, so also came his downfall. King Saul began to see David as the greatest threat to his throne, so he sets his sights on destroying him. Literally overnight, David went from this highly respected military leader with national celebrity status to public enemy #1—with a bounty on his head, to be brought in “DEAD or ALIVE.”
And what does this David do? He runs for his life. The devil has so adversely affected his thought processes until David succumbed to a SPIRIT OF FEAR! And as long as David was in that state of mind, he could not remember (nor could he believe) in any of those “Promises” that God had made to him concerning his life and his future!” Fear will always disconnect our minds from receiving the Promises of God. But finally, like a man who was awaking from some lethargic slumber, David began to come regain his trust in God.
In all fairness, we are not much different than David are we? For hasn’t there been times in all our lives that we too, ended up in places that God never intended for us to go, doing things that God never intended for us to do, and then trying to get out of the messes that we got ourselves in—all because we had gotten out of the will of God with our own lives?
Somehow David began again to remember the promises of God to him. The next time we find David, he’s over at the cave of Adullam—(Adullam literally means refuge). It was located in the Land of Judah—(Judah means the Place of Praise). DAVID FINDS REFUGE IN THE PLACE OF PRAISE! And there, God also brings 400 others to join up with him.
And these men that join him, they will eventually become the "mightiest of the mightiest" of all the warriors that will ever be found in Israel—all men who will later prove themselves loyal to the king for the entire 40 years that he rules the nation.
The fact of the matter in David’s life was this: It wasn’t that God had forgotten about him during all those trying years, it was just that God needed to mature him to become the man that God needed him to be!
Just a Thought,
Pastor Ken Jones
No comments:
Post a Comment