David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, "Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him." – 1 Samuel 16: 21-22
This must have been interesting for David.
Saul just screwed up and now is out of favor with God. As a result God chose David to be king. But there are a few problems with this…
Problem #1: Saul is still king.
Problem #2: David is a youngster
Problem #3: Sure God anointed David king, but the people still view Saul as King.
So just like anyone with a purpose, David had to pay his dues. His paying of dues presented itself in the form of being Saul’s servant!
Not the safest occupation for the man who would take power from the king...
It is an interesting lesson though. Just like Joseph, David has to take the path that seems to be of most resistance to get where he is supposed to be.
Now, I’m not the biggest fan of this notion of taking your lumps or that we have to go through bad things in order to get to the good places that we want to be. There is something about when people say that hard times are God’s version of getting you ready for your blessing that makes me cringe.
To be honest, I don’t know how all of that works nor does anyone else. Maybe I’ll ask God about that one day…
But what is clear to me is that God really does use the trials in our life to our benefit. He is great at turning lemons into lemonade.
So from this perspective I try to remain positive when times are tough. Instead of saying “woe is me” or complaining. I do my best to say ok God… what can I learn from this? How can this season make me a better person?
Some days are better than others I must admit.
David did end up becoming king just like Joseph ended up as the right hand man of Pharaoh. But, another thing that they had in common is that they made the best of every situation they were in whether that was in the service of a dangerously manic king or locked up in jail.
How can you make the best of the situations that you are in now?
Food for thought…
Today’s Reading: 1 Samuel 15-16; Luke 10:25-42
That is a good takeaway - see what you can extract from every situation, no matter how foul or uncomfortable. It could very well be the tool that you need on the next leg of the race.
ReplyDeleteAnd I also struggle with that 'you gotta be going through something' theology.