A King in Training
In 1 Samuel 26, David is on the run again from King Saul. Apparently, the event in the cave where David spared Saul’s life while he took a potty break was a very short account. Saul once again brings his heavy hitters, 3,000 elite troops to hunt for David. Saul’s obsession to kill the object of his jealously and threat to his kingdom rendered him insane. When we allow our fears and insecurities to envelope our whole being, our sense of reality dissipates and it renders us into a position of insanity. Logic and reason will not penetrate a mind that is encapsulated or bound by fear.
David aware of the hunting party sends out spies from his hiding place in the wilderness to verify the report of Saul’s arrival. David must of thought, “you have got to be kidding me, I thought we came to an agreement, I thought he was through chasing me, what is he doing?” David decided to peruse Saul’s camp one night to look around. Inside a circle of slumbering warriors lay Saul with his spear and jug of water next to his head. David was given another opportunity, another test, another chance to rid himself of his enemy, another step towards the kingship that he was rightly his. David was tired of running, his men were tired of being away from their families and the men began to doubt David’s leadership. I imagine his men telling him to just kill Saul so they can all get on with their lives. Abishai even went as far as bringing God into the conversation, “God has surely handed your enemy over to you this time!” “Let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t need to strike twice!” (v.8). David again plays the “anointing of God” card and doesn’t allow anyone to harm Saul. Instead, he walks inside the circle of snoring warriors and takes Saul’s spear and water jug as proof of his innocence. Nobody wakes up! God had put the men into a deep sleep while all the drama too place. More proof that this episode was yet another challenge, another lesson in character building that would shape God’s apprentice king.
To me the idea of all this chasing and running was a waste of time. I hate wasting time! What I fail to realize in the midst of the mundane, in the midst of the unexplained and seemingly waste of time are lessons in character shaping; life lessons that prepare us for the next steps in our faith adventure. David would not have been the king that he was without this time of testing and adversity. You and I would not be the men and women of God that we are without the areas of character development that we have gone through. I think we waste time trying to find out what God is doing in the midst of the unexplained trials of life. We should just embrace it and believe that God is on the move whether we figure it out of not. The more we trust, the more we relinquish control and the need to be in the know the better our spiritual development will go.
I close with the words of James, Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:2-4 (NLT)
