As of this writing, conservatives are reeling, at least a bit and some maybe a lot, at the apparent loss of the Presidency to Joe Biden in our country. There’s a lot that could be said about that, but at the moment I’m thinking of a couple of bible stories…

The first one I’m thinking of is King David. But I’m thinking of the time BEFORE he was accepted as king. I’m thinking of the time when he had officially been anointed and chosen as king, but he wasn’t on the throne yet…in fact…

King Saul was in the position of power in Israel in 1 Kings and Saul disobeyed God. He was told by the prophet that the kingdom would be taken from his leadership. This put him in a sour mood, so David the shepherd boy, was brought in to play music for him, to soothe his frayed nerves. There came a time that Saul became jealous of David after David had taken on the giant Goliath and won. Apparently, songs in that time period were stories, and the people sang songs that Saul had slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” This made Saul, well…grumpy, to say the least. This is what insecurity breeds. When a person is insecure, they can only compare themselves with others and be jealous. They are unable to rejoice and be glad for someone who has something they themselves want. Saul was out of favor with God and was going to be replaced. The prophet’s words had foretold it. Saul had done some very stupid things. One thing was trying to kill David. Now remember, David had already been told that he would be king. He wasn’t told when it would happen. I would submit he actually had no idea when it would happen, because it certainly didn’t LOOK as if things were moving in that direction. David was forced to flee Saul’s presence and go into hiding, living in the woods and in caves. There were men who joined with David and left the “establishment” king.

There were battles, even in hiding, but David insisted on keeping his heart right towards Saul, who was actually his father-in-law. Remember that Saul had given David his daughter as a wife as a reward for killing Goliath. Once, when Saul happened to lay down and sleep in the cave where David was hiding, David was prodded by one of the men who said “God has put Saul in your hands.” The most that David could do was cut off a piece of Saul’s tunic, but his heart bothered him about even doing that.

Saul, in his madness, eventually met a violent end, but that still didn’t put David on the throne. Those who followed Saul wanted to keep the throne and set one of Saul’s heirs as king. Eventually, those who had followed Saul recognized and accepted David as their king too. And so, the nation was reunited with the warrior King David in the position that the prophet had foretold he would occupy.

David had many chances to give up, in despair and gloom and pessimism. And there were several times he may have done it for a time. At one point in the wilderness, after a group of marauders had ran off with everyone’s wives and children, his own men were at the point of stoning David. But David prayed. Will we give up when things don’t go the way we think they should?

Romans 8:28 says that ALL things work together for the good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Even the delay, the resistance, the dark days work together for our good. Believing that is the only way we can push through those times. As long as we live on this earth, we will experience opposition because there is a devil who hates us and he is on the loose in this world. God does not bring us evil, but we are allowed to experience the opposition to build up our faith. If I don’t exercise my muscles, they will become weak and flabby. It’s the same way with our faith. We need that resistance to stay strong in faith. Exercising it is the only way to keep it that way!

Dear Jesus, Help us today to understand Your ways and Your plan for our lives. Open our eyes to see Your workings more and more. We lean on You for everything and thank and praise You for all You have done for us.