Encourage Yourself in Your God by Anyasi U. R

Text: ISam.30:4-6

(4)- then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. (5) And David's two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. (6) 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 son and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. (KJV)

In the scripture above, a terrible calamity had befallen

David and his men after they returned from Aphek. Their possessions and children and wives had been taken away when the Amalekites raided Ziklag. This is a tragedy of unthinkable magnitude. David had the bigger burden here, not only was his own wives and children taken away, the rest of the men with him who were in the same shoes with him were planning to stone him to death. David had the right to lament and mourn, he did that. David also had the right to give up, but he did not because he had a better option.

This was where David was better than the other men. He knew there was someone bigger to turn to. The other men only knew to blame man for their woes, but David knew his God. He acknowledged that God had the final decision. So he turned to Him and asked what to do next. The passage we read in our opening says that David "encouraged himself in God". We were not expressly told in details how exactly he did that, but an incident of some similarities in the past can tell us how.

Look at how David encouraged himself in his God when he came up against Goliath with only a sling and five pebbles.

ISam.17:45-47

(45) then said David to the Philistine, thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. (46) this day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the hosts of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. (47) and all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands.

Wow. Just take a look at that! That was how he encouraged himself in his God before Goliath. He spoke of how big his God is. He talked of how his God will give him victory. This must be the same way he talked after the Amalekites raided his city in the opening passage.

I don't know what challenge is sitting in front of you today as you read this, but I want you to take notice that it can't be bigger than what David had to face in the two situations we have seen. Do the same thing he did and you will find new courage to charge at your adversaries. You will see that God will move for you. Encourage yourself in God. It means to remind yourself of how big your God is. It means to remind yourself that there is nothing He cannot do for you if you trust in Him. It means to remember the bigger things He has done in the past both for you and others. To encourage yourself in your God is the way to win all life's battle.

The story of David's encounter with the Amalelites is not completely told until you read verse 19 of our opening passage. "And there was nothing lacking of them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoils or anything they had taken to them: David recovered all."

David recovered all...you shall recover all. In the name of Jesus you shall recover all. Boast in your God. Be encouraged by his Mighty Power. Be encouraged by the fact that He is your shield and buckler even in the face of the hardest trials. Because this is the victory that overcomes the world, your faith in the power of God. 1John 5:4.

God bless you.