“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:
but David encouraged himself
in the LORD his God.”
I Samuel 30:6 (KJV)
Atta-boy!
Way to go!
Keep up the good work!
We all love and need to hear
encouragement.
But what do you do when all your
struggles and all of your best efforts are met with silence?
More importantly, what do you do when
you think you cannot take another step unless you hear the cheers of those on
the sidelines?
What do you do when you are in the
midst of, what seems to you, the greatest test you have ever faced and absolutely
no one slaps you on the back and says: “You can make it!”?
The first thing you can do is realize
that we all will face a discouragement
test.
God brings that test into your life
to teach you how to draw strength and encouragement from Him.
You see, sometimes serving God can be
very unpopular.
Not everyone will agree with your
choices and decisions.
Not everyone will agree with the
direction your life is taking.
Sometimes God will require you to do
things that just don’t seem to make sense.
There may be a lot of people with
words for you – but they are words of discouragement!
What do you do then?
Have you learned through testing how
to encourage yourself in the Lord?
David did.
Where else could he turn?
We are told in todays verse that the souls
of all the people were grieved.
David couldn’t expect encouragement
from the people.
As a matter of fact they were
inclined to stone him, not to lift his spirit.
The word ‘encouraged’ in our text today is a Hebrew word which means to ‘fasten
upon’.
You might say David knew he was in
for a bumpy ride so he ‘fastened himself’
upon God.
Did he worship?
Did he pray?
Did he rehearse in his mind what God
had done for him in the past?
We are not told how he encouraged
himself but we are told in whom he encouraged himself.
Are you in a rough patch in life?
Don’t rely on your own past exploits,
your own strength; instead –
Encourage yourself in the Lord!
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