Sometimes difficulties and rejections come our way. Other times we invite them to ourselves. Either way, we must deal with them. The question of the day is, how do you handle life when you are rejected?
David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the Lord his God. 1 Samuel 30:6
Those who followed David were probably men who had been rejected in other circles of life. As their leader, David made this band into warriors. Their victories created wealth and gave them purpose. Now he was the one they wanted to kill.
The situation they found themselves in was: while David and his men were on a crusade, the Amalekites raided their town. They burned it to the ground and carried off their women, children, and everyone else.
David’s men never stopped to realize that he too, lost his wives. Now they want to kill the one who was caring for, providing for, and hiding them. Maybe they didn’t understand that they too had a price on their heads, just like David did?
There were 600 men and they were a band of brothers. You know, all for one and one for all. No one could defeat them and nothing was going to separate them. That is until an adversary burned their town to the ground. And carried off the women and children and everyone else.
People Handle Rejection The Same Way Today
These men didn’t react much differently than people do today. Think about when we find ourselves in a bad situation. Right away we’re inclined to make rash decisions.
Usually, those decisions don’t make much sense, but then we are not looking for a sensible decision. We just have to do something; to blame someone. Some even go as far as blaming God for what happened in their life.
David quickly got his wits about himself and inquired of the Lord. Look what the end of our verse for today says. But David found strength in the Lord his God. And of course, God gave him the answer.
In today’s Christianity, people are more apt to pull up to God’s drive-thru window service. They tell God what is bothering them almost the same way they would order a hamburger.
Then it’s like they drive around the building expecting to get a quick answer. Of course, they wouldn’t tell the person at the drive-thru how to cook the hamburger. But many times we are quick to tell God how to answer our prayer.
Fortunately, God doesn’t work the drive-thru. He wants to sit with us. Jesus told his disciples “Come and dine.” He cares about our dilemmas and His solutions are always the best for us.
Lord, help us to keep our wits about us and to be patient as we wait for your answer to our situations.
Read about the answer that God gave to David in 1 Samuel 30
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on ramckinley.com
Featured Image by Ashim D’Silva on Unsplash
