I Samuel 30:
1. Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire,
2. and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way.
3. So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.
4. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
5. And David's two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive.
6. Then David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his New King James Bible
David was in a position where a lesser man would have crumbled. He was without human help and worse yet, he was at the mercy of a dangerously irrational group of soldiers who were bent on stoning him.
He could have taken up the attitude of his men, become totally depressed, given up all hope in God,given up the will to have faith in God and life.
Or he could have accepted the blame they were intent on heaping upon him.
Since there was no human support for him, David had to do what he had done since he was a teenager:he had to lean on his past experience of faith and strengthen himself in God.
What does it mean to strengthen himself in the Lord his God?
First, it means that he had the inner assurance that GOD was not blaming him for the situation,and he was not to accept any blame and let it get him down.
Next, it means he had learned to focus on how mighty God is, instead of on the terrible challenge he was facing at that moment.
Choosing your focus does NOT mean pretending the terrible challenge isn't there.
It means remembering how great and mighty God is, and trust God to bring a good conclusion to the situation.
It was this choice that caused David to face this challenge and conquer.
Where is your focus today?
Prayer:
Father, teach me how to focus on how great and mighty You are, and how to trust You to bring this situation to a good end,
in Jesus' name,
Amen.