Tuesday, February 9, 2021
Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted. 2 Samuel 21:15
Here I Am Again…
Trials and battles in life are never one and done. It is true for us and it was true for David as well. A lot of the teaching we study so often from David came from what he wrote in the midst of trials.
Most of us know the story of David and Goliath and don’t pay much attention to the fact that there were other battles with the Philistines. They didn’t go away after Goliath was killed, and David was not done with that battle. Over two decades later, he was still fighting the Philistines - and he was exhausted.
Trials are heavy and carrying them in our own strength will crush us, just as fighting battles in our own strength will wear us out. Satan will continue to throw the same battles at us because he knows our weaknesses, and although he cannot have us when we belong to God, he likes to taunt us. He wants us to stumble and is always ready with just the right obstacle. He knows our weaknesses and sometimes it is the same weakness that weaves its way into many of our battles. If we have an addiction problem, maybe it stems from something in our childhood that we to want to forget. We might kick the addiction, but we won’t cure the cause until we deal with the root. It is not an excuse, but the devil will use whatever weakness he can to take us out of the fight.
Some people are more plagued by trials than others, but all of us experience them all through life - beginning to end. Some battles we have to fight, and we don’t have a choice about it. There are tragedies and illness in life, and we have no control over it, but we have to walk through it to get to the other side. So how do we power through the trials of life? The way we power through, is that WE don’t power through. Fighting battles and trudging through trials in our own power will leave us feeling weary, weak, drained, and defeated. Satan wants us to feel defeated, and when we feel defeated we can become hopeless in a hurry.
We all feel defeated and hopeless sometimes, because no matter what we know, we still try in our human power to do the things that require the power of God. Because He loves us so much, our Father has given us the same power that rose Jesus from the grave - resurrection power! This is the power that we walk through life in, the mountaintop joyful experiences, along with every valley and battle along the way. The key is abiding in Christ. Through our times of struggle, we draw closer to God. We never know we need Him more than when we are suffering. Suffering and trials keep us tethered to Him, seeking Him and open to His leading. When we stay tethered to Christ in a relationship with Him, we can face anything, trusting in His power and leaning on Him all the way.
O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of
my soul there is no salvation for him in God, Selah. Psalm 3:1-2
