Encourage Yourself In The Lord

"But David encouraged himself in the LORD his God." 1 Samuel 30:6b.

After three days, when David and his men arrived home at their town of Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had made a raid into the Negev and had burned Ziklag to the ground. They had carried off the women and children and everyone else but without killing anyone. When David and his men saw the ruins and realized what had happened to their families, they wept until they could weep no more. David's two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel, were among those captured. At this point of time all of them were already exhausted because of their three-day journey. David himself was in deep sorrow and distress of what had taken place. But his situation became even worse and serious when his own men were very bitter about losing their wives and children, and they began to talk of stoning him, "Read 1 Samuel 30:1-5".

Just take a moment and put yourself in David's shoes. What would be your reaction? Some will find self-pity. Some will be thinking of giving up. Some will be thinking of running away. Some will be thinking that they have no way out of this situation. It's normal to have those thoughts when things don't go our way. But is "giving up and running away" the solution for bad times? As a child of God, are we supposed to live in such a way?

Definitely, "giving up and running away" were not the solutions for David. He faced the situation. And true enough, David won the battle together with his men that had thought of stoning him earlier. The Bible says, "David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back. 1 Samuel 30: 18-19.

How could David have done that? What was his starting point for that victory? When David was distressed, sad and so down without any support from his own men (even his own men thought of stoning him) he did not give up or run away! But the Bible says, "David encouraged himself in the LORD his God." 1 Samuel 30: 6b. Who encouraged David to continue on? No one else but David encouraged David!

Dearest, there are times where people will be around us to encourage us but at times we will have to encourage ourselves in the Lord like David did. We all face battles in life but instead of self-pity and giving up, continue to encourage yourself in the Lord, knowing that He is your source of strength and solution for all kinds of battles. When you learn to encourage yourself in the Lord and make the Lord as your great source of life you will reign in life and be a victor not a victim.