Encouraged from within

"1And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; 2And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. 3So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. 4Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 6And 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." I Samuel 30:1-6

David and His men had been pursued by King Saul and His army. They aligned themselves with Saul's enemies the Philitines and had made a home for themselves in Ziglag. They found a place they could find comfort. In the passage we find David and His men come to Ziglag and all that they had was gone. Their houses were burned, their wives and children were taken away. Just think about that. You go to the church and when you come home all that you have to gone. Your family has been taken away from you. You have nothing but the shirt on your back. Those men wept over their lost. They had been separated from their home country now in the place that they made for themselves was burned to the ground.

They had trusted David, They would have died for him. But now as they wept over their lost they wanted to stone their leader. David just like all the men had lost everything but in distress everyone turned their back on him. There will be a time when everyone will turn their backs on you. We all are placed into situations that we will be isolated from all that we know. In that time we must learn to encourage ourselves in the Lord. Encouraging yourself is not a false sense of power that we don't need anybody but it comes from the within. When all hope is lost and we have no one that loves us we can turn to God and find courage for any storms. Why would God allow our enemies to take all that we had? The answer is simple so that we can draw closer to Him. He wants us to lean on Him not our friends or family. God's unconditional love is evident when we can't even love ourselves. If you have God's love you don't need the encouragement of men. You don't need to be told "good job" God has already showered His grace on you. There is nothing that can satisfy or encourage like His Love.

In this moment or day take courage in knowing that God loves you and is for you. He is not placing you in trying situations to destroy you but to empower you. When you don't know what to do turn to God and be encouraged in Him. He will never leave you nor forsake you. God empowered David and His men in their weakness and they got their family back and took the spoil of their enemies. God has great things in store for all those that will trust Him. Trust God in the good days and bad days He can't and won't fail you. God bless you.