“Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmen. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD.” (1 Samuel 30:4-6)
Victory has a way of arriving just when all seems lost. This is a shocking realization when we reach the other side of difficulty and can identify clearly that if we had given up at our lowest point, we’d have never lived to tell the victory!
With all the intensity of struggle, David faced in his lifetime, there is one event that strikes me in this way - the raid of Ziklag. While gone to serve King Achish, the Amalekites had captured all who were there and burned it to the ground. David had lost everything, including the trust of his own forces. If ever there were a time he may have given up, this low point would be one of them.
This was a pivotal moment. As he had done many times before, David “strengthened himself in the LORD his God.“ (1 Sam 30:6). What David could not have known was just how near Saul’s defeat was, thus making way for his own crown’s fruition.
What if he had given up?
What if his faith had failed?
Instead, the man after “God’s own heart“ continued to seek his face even in such travesty.
Dear one, are your circumstances causing such a spirit of defeat in you that you feel like giving up? Seek your strength in your LORD today, and trust him for the battle like David did. Victory may be just around the bend. Don’t give up now.
