Believe To See Good
I would have despaired unless I had believed…
Friend, let me encourage you to never give up! You may be suffering from a great loss, but you are not alone. David, who would become the greatest King of Israel went through many hardships and trials along the way. Just picture him as he walked about Ziklag surveying the village with everyone safe and busily mending their ruined homes. A painful ordeal was over, but the outcome could have been much more devastating!
Just a few days earlier he and his men had returned to the village to find their possessions stolen, their homes burned with fire and their wives and children taken away as captives. Their desperation was so debilitating that they wept until they couldn’t weep anymore. That is when their despair turned into anger, and all the blame came down upon David. But that was also when he did something that changed their circumstances entirely. David encouraged himself in the Lord his God! So, with six hundred men, he led a campaign against their enemies and recovered all that had been taken.
Now at home again, the reunited families set to work building their lives afresh. As he observed their renewed joy, David recorded a few words in a song; I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. When the gloom of despair closes in, there’s a choice to make. You can agree with the ‘facts’ and continue down a darkening path toward anger and bitterness, or you can choose to believe in the goodness of God, knowing that He will work all things for good for those who love him. David’s song ends with these words; wait on the Lord and take courage, He will strengthen your heart. In this world, you will have loss and heartache, but never give up on this eternal truth; God is absolutely good! Belief doesn’t come in contradicting the evidence, but in knowing whom to trust unreservedly. Wouldn’t it be better to say, ‘I will believe,’ than ‘I have despaired’?
Read: Psalm 27:13, 1 Samuel 30:1-20
Listen: Every Victory