Today began with dark gray skies and a downpour of heavy rain. I tried to fight the gloominess by lighting candles, but, truth be told I felt like having a bit of a meltdown. It's one thing to be quarantined due to the coronavirus pandemic for weeks on end, but the thought of being stuck indoors all day with relentless rain had me feeling literally claustrophobic. This pandemic and the subsequent shutdown of normal life has been difficult but for some who have experienced a job loss or the loss of a loved one it has been horrific.
In 1 Samuel 30:6 King David is facing some horrible circumstances. The town where David, his family and his followers had settled, Ziklag, had been raided and burned by the Amalekites and the women and families had all been taken captive.David's own wives had been captured. His men blamed David, their leader, for this situation and threatened to stone him.This is the setting when the Bible says that David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord.
I'm not minimizing what anyone may be going through right now as we walk through these unprecedented times. I'm not tritely, glibly telling you to just go encourage yourself in the Lord. Whatever you are facing, whether it be the biggest trial of your whole life or simply a case of the quarantine blues, everyone, at one time or another, needs some simple and practical ways to encourage yourself in God.
The word for encouraged used in 1 Samuel 30:6 is "chazak", to strengthen, prevail, become strong, restore to strength. The word also denotes that this is a constant strengthening, an ongoing strengthening.
I imagine myself breathing in courage and strength from the source, from God Himself.
Some practical ways I do this are... (Join me for the rest of this post on Sunday, April 26th, at Woman to Woman Ministries, where each Sunday I share a bit of Sunday Soul Food!)
still following,
So true. You know, meltdowns are natural. Thank God we have Him to go to for our strength! Thank you for sharing!
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