Nothing Left
Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. – 1 Samuel 30:1-6 NKJV.
The fires are still burning in California (2007) and we need to pray for God to intervene, and help all those affected. I watched and heard so many heart breaking stories yesterday on the news, sadly there are many more today. Many have been injured, and two have died in the fires. I received an email today to pray for a family of nine that had lost everything except for the clothes they are wearing.
Yesterday, one family told of how they were able to load up their cars and barely evacuate in time before the fires burned it to the ground. They thought they were safe when they stopped their cars, but the wife’s car caught on fire, and burned up with everything in it that they had tried to save. Ten minutes later the husband’s car also burned up, leaving them thankful just to be alive and together.
Of course, we need to remember that the rain falls upon the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). It appears that the fires in California are doing the same, burning down the homes of those living for God, and those who are not living for God. Why? Because bad things have happened on Planet Earth, ever since Adam and Eve sinned. God loves us so much that He has a plan to correct everything, but that plan required Jesus Christ to suffer and die on the cross for our sins. Someday, everything again will be perfect like it was in the Garden of Eden for those who know Jesus as their Savior. No matter what may happen to us here on this Earth, we must always remember that God cares, and He has proven that by what was done on the cross.
What do you do when you lose everything? David had lost everything; he had lost his possessions, his home, and his family. He had nothing left. How could he recover from such a loss? The Amalekites had taken everything, but God was just using them to bring David back to Him. David had lost his focus and we can understand. He had been the hero of the nation, but had become a hunted man. David had begun to listen to his own voice instead of to the Voice of the Lord. As a consequence, David was living among the enemies of his people, the Philistines. Fighting in some ways against his own people, the people of God.
We see people doing the same kind of thing today. Things get a little tough, they become discouraged and instead of moving closer to the Lord, they move further away. They blame the Lord for their problems. They stop praying, they stop coming to church, they stop reading God’s Word, and they stop doing anything for the Lord. Some actively oppose the work of God’s people. But for many it becomes even worse. So many times people turn to alcohol, or drugs or they gamble, or they become angry and bitter; and they too end up losing everything.
David had a similar situation. He had lost everything. What would he do? Give up? Take some sleeping pills? Drink some wine? No! David did what we need to do if we have lost it all. David we are told in 1 Samuel 30:6, “…encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” This was while the people were talking about stoning him!! David turned to God and asked God what to do. God gave him a plan, and as a result, in verse 19 we read, “…David recovered all!”
If you have lost it all, why not turn to God? Ask God what His plan is for your life at this point in time. Ask God how you too can recover. He’s waiting.
(When you have lost everything except for life itself what do you do? Where do you turn? How do you move forward?)