responding to a less than ideal situation

Ran across this piece of history today*…

David and his men were out doing their thing.  While they were away, a neighboring group of banditos rolled up on their little town and carted off all the women and children.  When David and his 600 men came home, not only was supper NOT on the table, there were no wives and kiddos around.  The 600 men were displeased.

They wept.  They were jacked.  They wanted to throw rocks at this David character until he stopped living.  David’s legacy–and his life–hung by a slender thread.

How does that compare to your latest bad day?

What David does remarkable, and so far from my average response to difficulties.  God is showing me a life lesson that I hope to learn soon, and one that can redefine who we are.  David takes 3 decisive steps to dealing with the problem:

1.  He strengthened himself with the Lord his God.  David got away, intentionally connected with the Lord his God.  A personal relationship with the Lord is is vital to our thriving.  Not an after-thought, not a Sunday-morning-obligation, not a cultural peculiarity.  He knew the Lord his God.  Personal.  Real.  Strengthening.  Real results in real life.
2.  He sought God’s will.  David asked his God “What do you want me to do?”  God answered.  David listened, knowing that God wanted him to know.
3.  He set out.  When God spoke about the situation, David was off in the direction revealed by God.  No hesitation.  No excuses.  No negotiation.  God spoke; David moved.

I want to be a man who responds well to difficulty.  Everyone deals with surprises, with tragedy, with disappointment, with unexpected bumps in the road.  I want to handle them with grace, with confidence, like David.  I want to run to the Lord–not to whine, asking him to take away the difficulty.  I want to embrace suffering as it comes, to deal with adversity, to see the character of Christ formed in me, to meet problems with faith and hope and grace.

As such, I will give thanks to God for opportunities to practice responding well.  I will remind myself that each day has the potential to present new challenges for me to hone my skills.  Regardless of how I fared today, tomorrow is a new day.

*1 Samuel 30.  It doesn’t look good for David, but he totally pulls it off.  That’s because God   was with him!  And that same God is with me.  And you.