Scripture: 1 Samuel 30:3-4, 6 When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. ... David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.
Devotional: Certainly, you’ve experienced a time when you let people down. You disappointed them, and you disappointed yourself. The negative thoughts you think about yourself keep coming. So, you begin to beat yourself up, think the worst about yourself, and even get to the point of thinking others will be better off without you.
How grateful are we to have David’s story to encourage us when this happens. In his story, it doesn’t get any worse than this in regard to letting others down. Because of David, his men’s homes had been destroyed and their families were taken captive. Can you even imagine how much David wanted to crawl into a hole? Perhaps he should have because they were so angry that they were looking to kill him.
But David doesn’t crawl into a hole. No.
David found strength in God. It didn’t change what he did, but it did give him the strength to combat the negative thoughts, the distress, and the grief.
David would go on to seek God’s will in the matter, which led him to chase down the Amalekites and recover everything and everyone who was taken from them. They defeated the Amalekites and the families were reunited.
If David had given in to his negative thoughts, he most likely would have been paralyzed and all would have been lost. But he found strength in God. How might you do the same the next time you are plagued by negative thoughts?
Reflect:
- Are there any ways in which you are holding onto negative thoughts regarding a decision you made that affected others? How might you find strength in God rather than beating yourself up?