Life sometimes throws us a curve. David lived by King Saul: he worked for him, ate with him, sang and played the harp for him, and married his daughter. All of his financial and family security was wrapped up in that job. Then suddenly everything drastically changed. Isnt that always what happens? Everythings just rolling along, were up to our neck with an unbelievable workload, and then BOOM!—out of the blue we get notice our services are no longer needed. When Saul threw a spear at David to kill him,51 that was the equivalent of todays pink slip. (Getting fired was more direct and blunt 3,000 years ago.) Given that David had never felt the sting of a job loss, he was hard hit by the unexpected unemployment. Davids job loss was a big surprise to everyone but God. As David mulled over what had happened, he felt the immense pain of loneliness that usually accompanies the unanticipated loss of everything formerly relied upon. But God was in control, and He had allowed that unemployment for a refining purpose. So everything changed for David except what was most important—his growing relationship with God. Heres a key point: habits youre forming now will determine your response to God when youre caught off guard by a new heartache. If youve made a habit of turning to God in all circumstances, it will be natural to flee to Christ as your Refuge the moment trouble strikes. Should you lose your job, or face a different trauma, everything will change except this: God—and His great love for you! David reverted to his default system. If you work with computers, you know that occasionally a malfunction causes a changed setting to revert back to its default, or original setting. When his unemployment malfunction occurred, David reverted back to his original settings, and that is reflected in Psalm 52. In fact, Psalm 52:1 is a good example of what I call Davids reflex action when, without even thinking about it, he declared: The goodness of God endures continually. When I was a new pastor at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, I remember coming home from a hard days work and finding a bassinet in the middle of the walkway of our tiny, step-saver apartment. (That place was so small I could lie in bed to change Johnnys diaper and put it in the bathroom sink—and not even get up!) Anyhow, as I quietly crept in, trying to not wake the baby, I happened to brush against his bassinet. As soon as I bumped it, as soon as little Johnnys world got jostled, his arms jerked straight up. Well, I loved that response! So I passed by him at least once a day and kicked the bassinet just to see our precious babys arms go up again (which probably affected him for life!). Why would I do that? Because, when Johnnys world got shaken, I enjoyed seeing his response of wanting someone bigger and stronger and outside of him to come and rescue him—and that was ME. When I kicked his bed, he instinctively put his little arms up, and I got to cuddle him—to be his hero—his comforter. (Then Bonnie would say, I was trying to put him to sleep, you know.) Similarly, God often kicked Davids bassinet. He knew his arms would instinctively reach out for Him because that was His childs habit, His reflexive mode. Having trusted the Lord from his youth, Davids abrupt and painful job loss quickly drove him to the God of All Comfort—and his relationship with his Hero grew even closer. Were going to see an example of that in Psalm 52 shortly, but first I want to give you some background information to help you better understand this psalm. Drawn from How to Survive an Unexpected Job Loss, chapter 7 of Davids Spiritual Secret, eBook on Amazon.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 11:46:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015