Scripture Passage: 1 Samuel 30:1-6
30:1 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,
30:2 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.
30:3 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.
30:4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
30:5 And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive.
30:6 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.
Devotional Reflection:
If you want God’s best for your life and desire to be used by Him, at some point you will have to travel the road to adversity. This means that God can and will use adversity in your life for a good purpose-and yet, sadly, many people view adversity as only negative defeating. Yet you don’t have to be among them!
God has designed adversity, regardless of its source, to become a turning point from which you take your greatest leaps forward in spiritual growth. He allows adversity to remain in your life only until He accomplishes His Purpose In you. He will not keep it in your life one second longer than is necessary.
Some people are almost wiped out by trials, while others learn to stand in the confidence of God’s faithfulness. The latter have an overal sense of stability and immovable strength. They weather the storms, heads held high, confident, bold, and not discouraged by any obstacle that comes along. They feel absolutely certain that God is going to see them through the heartache and bring them out whole, joyful, and more mature on the other side.
Adversity also shows us where we stand in our faith. Do we doubt God? Or do we thank Him for His faithfulness during the stressful, heart-wrenching times? Do we trust that He will never leave or forsake us? Adversity is God’s most accurate measure of our faith-it reveals our endurance level. None of us knows how much difficulty we can withstand until we are tried.
Right now, right where you are, remember this: _God has put a limit on all adversity._Because you are a child of God, the Holy Spirit is living inside of you, and He knows how much you can bear. The psalmist said: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all” ( Psalm 34:19).
And, “As A father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” (Psalms 103: 13,14)
When we learn and mature in the midst of tremendous adversity, God is pleased because He sees His Purpose being fulfilled in us. We are growing spiritually, becoming stronger in areas of weakness, and increasingly being confirmed to the likeness of Christ. God is thrilled when we respond correctly to adversity!
There are three principles we can learn when we face adversity:
1. Adversity is God’s choice tool for building godly, spiritual character into our lives. Until we experience heartache, disappointment, and pain, we are not properly equipped for service (2 Corinthians 1:3-7). He uses adversity to mold and shape us; He does not bring it into our lives without purpose.
2. Adversity usually comes in the areas where we feel the most confident. God wants to break us of the idea that we are sufficient on our own. He made us for a loving, intimate relationship with Himself, and He uses adversity to remind us of the fact that we are dependent upon Him.
3. God’s ultimate design is to conform us to the likeness of Jesus. Through adversity, God develops the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) – in us.
In the tapestry of our lives, adversity weaves threads of resilience, faith, and spiritual growth. As children of God, we are assured that adversity has a purpose—a purpose rooted in God’s love and sovereignty. So, let us embrace adversity, knowing that through its refining fire, God is crafting us into vessels fit for His service and glory.
