Hi Online Fam! My prayer is that you are all kept by the Lord.I wanted to come on here to give an encouragement for those of you who are facing opposition. I have been reading the book of 1 Samuel and the Lord has used the story of David to teach me so many different topics such as praise and friendship
This time, the Spirit of God began to speak to me about opposition and especially how it (opposition) is good for us through the story of David. David was chosen by God as the 2nd king of Israel after He rejected Saul due to his disobedience (read the entire story here in 1 Samuel 15)
The Lord Rejects Saul Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.” Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the Lord all night. (1 Samuel 15:10-11)
In the next few chapters, we see Saul turn against David after he killed Goliath, the Philistine giant. Things get so out of control that Saul actually launches a manhunt with the intention of killing David. The interesting thing is that David, has not wronged Saul in any way, he is completely innocent!
Are there some of you who are currently going through a similar situation where people have turned against you for absolutely no reason at all? And you have been trying to figure out what exactly you did to these people who harbour a deep rooted hatred towards you? The answer is, absolutely nothing. Sometimes, people will turn against you for absolutely no reason at all. You will be innocently going about your business and someone somewhere will catch offense. It is not your fault!
1 Samuel 18: 6-9 When David returned from killing the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, playing songs of joy on timbrels. 7 The women sang as they played, and said, “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” 8 Then Saul became very angry. This saying did not please him. He said, “They have given David honor for ten thousands, but for me only thousands. Now what more can he have but to be king?” 9 And Saul was jealous and did not trust David from that day on.
David was on the run for nearly 7 years according to some commentaries and during these time he had to move from city to city, lived in the wilderness and caves. Note that he had already been anointed as King (1 Samuel 16:1 -13) and he had a few opportunities where he could have murdered Saul and taken over as the King. However, he did not take this route.
Here are some of the take homes from this story that I pray will encourage those of you going through opposition:
- Keep your heart pure. Do not allow bitterness or spitefulness to take root in your heart.
- Sometimes God will allow us to go through difficult seasons, not because we have sinned but to develop our character. Apostle Paul in Romans 5:3-5 says that:
- We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment.For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
- Allow the Lord to vindicate you. It is very easy to fall into the trap of relying on your own strength which is usually in the flesh. This is not the time to compromise as well. Trust God to work this out. 1 Samuel 17:47 says: And that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”)
- Once the Lord has willed the season to end, He will remove the opposition. When the time for Saul to exit the stage came, the Lord ensured that David was not part of the battle where Saul and his son Jonathan were eventually killed.
- Most importantly, do not faint for the Lord is with you. Your enemies will not be sucesful in their plots against you.
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