Cease Faltering

Then David said to himself, “Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul.  There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines.  Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.  1 Sam 27:1

I read this verse and had the immediate judgmental response of, “Um, David, don’t you know God promised you’d be king?  Over Israel, not the Philistines.  Doesn’t that mean you will not die at the hands of Saul?  Doesn’t that mean God will protect you, no matter how bleak it seems?  Doesn’t that mean you need to be in Israel?!”

But the moment the thought was in my mind, I was convicted. 

David had been running for years upon years.  I get antsy, impatient, and discouraged after barely a week of uncertainty, much less months or years.  I begin to despair when promises are not fulfilled immediately.  Not only that, but I try to push the promises along.  To make them work, definitely at a much lesser quality than God’s fulfillments. 

Yes, David faltered and swerved a few times in his life, but who am I to judge?  I’ve never dealt with anything that comes near what he went through, and yet I falter on a regular basis.

I am challenged in multiple ways today.  1) My judgmental attitude has got to go.  I don’t like to admit that I’m judgmental because I hate to be!  But, it still creeps up in my heart.  I need to recognize it and give it the boot each time.  2) My faltering and swerving must decrease.  Even ten times the faltering of David would be an exceedingly phenomenal improvement over where I am now. 

If I really trust God and take Him at His Word, I need to live like it!