Everyone of us have experienced those times in life when things just don't go the way we had imagined. In fact, there are times when not only has life not gone the way we had imagined, but it went worse then we had imagined. During those times when we've experienced a beat down we can feel like staying down. Like a boxer who has been beat up round after round when they finally go down instead of getting back up, they just stay down. But we all know that in life that we have to keep getting back up.
We are presented with many options when we want to get back up. What will we cling to in order to get back up? Where will we go for help in order to get back up? Many of the options presented to us can just lead to another beat down in life. I think many of us have gone down that road. I know I have before.
In the Bible we are told the story of David. In this particular story, David experiences a beat down. David and his army had been gone, when they came back to where they were staying they discovered that it had been burned with fire by their enemies the Amalekites. As if that wasn't bad enough the Amalekites had taken the women, and the sons and daughters of David and his men. The Bible tells us that David and his people wept until they had no strength left to weep. (Anyone ever been there before?) As if all this wasn't bad enough, David became distressed because the people began to talk of stoning him. In the midst of all of this the Bible tells us that David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. Here is how that story is told:
1 Then it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire ; 2 and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way. 3 When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. 5 Now David's two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
1 Samuel 30:1-6
So when the beat downs of life come (and they do come) we have found that the Bible tells us that we can follow the example of David and strengthen ourselves in the LORD. But how do we do that? What does that mean? Though I am sure different people have different ways of strengthening themselves in the LORD,I think a few actions are consistent with everyone.
1: Keep Praying.
Many times a thought will come to us and say," prayer must not work since we had been praying and yet this happened in life." Don't listen to that thought. Reflect on all the answered prayers you have experienced. Reflect on all the good things that God has done for you even when you didn't pray to Him for them to happen.
2: Keep Reading Your Bible.
This action can help us with our thought process. When those negative thoughts come (and they will) we have to counter them with the truth from Scripture. We can only do this as we keep reading our Bibles in the midst of the beat downs of life. We have to keep talking Scriptures to ourselves. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said the central cause of spiritual depression," is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself." You see we keep listening to those negative thoughts instead of speaking scripture to ourselves.
Doing these two actions isn't always easy in the midst of the beat downs of life but they are critical to strengthening ourselves in the LORD. Sometimes we have to trust even when we don't see any change. I would like to end with an example from the Psalms. In Psalm 42 the person speaks of their soul being in despair. But then he reminds himself of God. He reminds himself of the goodness of God. You see he couldn't just let his soul stay in despair, he had to remind himself of God. He had to action.
5 Why are you in despair, O my soul ? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence. 6 O my God, my soul is in despair within me; Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls ; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me. 8 The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime ; And His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life. 9 I will say to God my rock, "Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy ?" 10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me, While they say to me all day long, "Where is your God ?" 11 Why are you in despair, O my soul ? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
Psalm 42:5-11
I hope you are encouraged and remember that when those beat downs come in life we can get back up by strengthening ourselves in the LORD our God.
Troy
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