Recently I was traveling back from Valparai, and eyes caught the beauty of tall trees. Their trunks were like made of iron and the roots embedded on the rock looked like rock itself.
As I looked at those mighty trees, I thought about all the years it took to grow so large and tall! How many storms and winds they had to face to become so strong like iron!
This evening I was looking at the life of David where he said in his heart,
I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any more within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand. (I Sam 27: 1)
David, like many people, knowing he was not safe in Israel, decided to head off to the land of the Philistines.
Yes, the very David, who killed the Philistine giant Goliath, decided it would be safer to run to the Philistines than to stay in Israel and ask his heavenly Father to keep him under the “shelter of His wings.” In the valley of discouragement, David forgot who his protector really was and he went, seeking shelter, from the enemy of God.
Like David when we face challenges in our life, we long for life to be easier. We want things to improve. This is not a ridiculous desire. Who among us loves to have trouble heaped on our heads all the time? I know I don’t and I imagine you don’t like living under a cloud of adversity either.
In the case of David, faced with a future that appeared to be filled with one difficulty after another, he took things into his own hands and decided to take shelter in the land of Philistines.
BUT very soon as he writes one of my favorite Psalms,
‘As for you, the one who lives in the shelter of the sovereign One, and resides in the protective shadow of the mighty king’ ( Psa 91:1) David found out that He is safe only under the protective wings of the Father!
It is my prayer this evening that in times of discouragement and adversity I should not try to solve the problems by myself BUT allow my Father to make a way for me through my difficulties!
Prema Sunder Raj
Prema's Tamil Bible Study & Devotions 