“And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” ~ 1 Samuel 30:6
This verse begins with saying David was greatly distressed. Like everyone else, even David has been distressed, overwhelmed, frightened, but he didn’t stop there. He didn’t stop at distressed. The majority of us, we stop at distressed. We stay there hurt and broken. It’s almost like we don’t want to get better. Like we don’t want to be comforted by God, but instead, we want to stay distressed. But no-one wants that… right? When something happens, the majority do one of two things, they go to a friend, and they complain about it, and then they rant about it, and then they freak out about it. Or they do absolutely nothing and keep it all bottled up. And they try to pretend it didn’t happen, but it keeps coming back to their thoughts until that’s their only thought then distressed becomes depressed and they just keep sinking lower and lower.
The majority usually chooses one of the two, but never chooses God. They never choose Jesus. See David knew he had to lead. David knew that leading was his calling. So, he didn’t want to be overcome by the distressing feeling he had, so he took it before the LORD. He didn’t take it to a friend, or keep it to himself, but instead, he went to God. It’s like that old hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” when the verse goes:
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Imagine how much we would overcome if we took our troubles to God, instead of holding on to our pain and making it our ‘friend.’
Peace. Love. Go Forth and take your distress to God.
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