Encourage yourself in the Lord

"And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God" (1 Sam. 30:6).

When David and his men were away from their village the enemy came and invaded their land. As they were returning to their village, they discovered that their homes were burned down and their families taken captive. Then David and his men were overcome with grief and wept until they had no more power to weep. In their grief David's men blamed him for what happen and conspired to kill him. If we are not careful our grief can turned to bitterness and bitterness can cause us to want to hurt somebody. David, on the other hand, did not allow his grief to turn to bitterness. Instead, David turn to God and encouraged himself in the Lord. One of our biggest problems is that in our minds we allow our circumstances to become bigger than God. Often when we our distressed about our problems we resort to carnal means to try and resolved them and create bigger problems for ourselves. Too often God is not our first resource but our last resort (see blog entitled, “Is God your first resource or your last resort?) If we do get around to praying, more often than not our prayers are more about petition than God’s person. But prayer is more than just giving God a Christmas list. The most important thing about prayer is that we see God. Oswald Chambers wrote, “The whole meaning of prayer is that we may know God.” “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10). The greatest blessing of coming before God in prayer is God himself. The Psalmist wrote, “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. 5The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. 6O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker” (Psalm 95:1-6). Do you kneel before God to worship and adore him as you reflect upon his glory and majesty? Fear will turn to faith when worry turns to worship. God is bigger than your problems. Trust him to see you through.