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And David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? The Lord answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.

                                                1 Samuel 30 :8

The other day, our pastor was teaching from the book of Samuel, chapter 30. He was explaining to us how David strengthened himself in the presence of the Lord, in spite of the challenge he faced at Ziklag. When David and his troop returned to Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had destroyed the whole place and had taken their wives and children as captives. David and his men was greatly despised and wept until they had no more strength to weep.

David was greatly troubled because his own people were thinking of stoning him to death because of their grief in losing their families. For David, the grief was double folded because he not only lost his family, but he is about to lose the trust of his own people… and he could not take it any longer. But we read there that he encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

While pastor was explaining how each one of us need to find our strength in God alone while facing similar Ziklag experiences, God revealed to me another thought from the same scripture which was exactly what I needed to hear that day. In verse 8, we read David inquiring the Lord about his next step in the midst of his challenges. When I read that verse, few questions started stirring up in my mind.

Why did David ask God about his next step? After all, he was God’s anointed…and his need was definitely legitimate. God will never want his chosen to be without family and possessions ..would He?? If it was me, then I would have said…bringing back my family is the greatest priority of my life and I’m sure God would never be a hindrance in that…God would love to see the enemy defeated. He’ll love to see the victory through his anointed. So why should I ask His opinion…The answer could be yes and yes alone. I would have just prayed a long prayer…”Lord, here I’m leaving to bring back your people…be with me and make me victorious.. Defeat the Amalekites and show them that You are with me…Let these people of mine also start to trust me…Amen”

Instead, David inquired of the Lord. How did he have the state of mind to ask God when everything was lost…I do not know. David definitely knew his position in God. He knew that he had favor in God’s eyes…but he did not take that position as an authority to do what he wanted to do. He knew that obeying God was his first priority whether he recover all that is lost or not.

As a king, David has seen many other victories and he had all the resources to fight this battle too..Especially when his family was involved, the defeat of the Amalekites would bring more pleasure to him. Yet David knew that unless he has the approval of His LORD..he cannot win this battle. The will of God mattered a lot to David and also in the outcome of the battle. So he asked..”Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?”

Dear child of God, when we are faced with challenges…how often do we say..there is no better way out of it other than what I’m feeling right now…and I know that its the most rightful thing to do at this time. We forget to ask God his opinion regarding our next step. Today, examine yourself and find out your reasons for not inquiring the Lord. That day, when God asked me the same question…I had couple of reasons and that explained why some of my battles were lost. Find out yours….because God says..He do not want us to be defeated..He wants us to be victorious and retrieve everything that was lost…but He expects our willingness to trust in Him for the victory.

God Bless,

Rani John

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