journey onWord with us

Some years back there was a book that became all the rage.  Topping many best seller lists, it was entitled When Bad Things Happen To Good People (by Harold S. Kushner).  I can only assume that the public became so interested in the book because … well … bad things DO happen to good people.  People who are kind and honest, hard-working and loyal – people who love God and try to please Him.  So we all ask the question, Why?  Part of that answer can be found in the story of David, the future king of Israel.  For 11 years he ran, literally running for his very life, from the murderous king Saul.  David was passionate and honorable and loyal – and he loved God greatly.  So again, let’s ask the question … Why?

There has to be a very important principle here that the Lord wants us to see because 14 chapters of the Bible are devoted to David’s time running as a fugitive.  Fourteen chapters and eleven years that David had to always be ready to flee.  He had been anointed king but he had no throne.  Caves became his dwellings, and when he did have the luxury of staying in a town, he had to be on guard, for Saul had spies everywhere.

I Samuel 27:1
But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul.”

Can you imagine running for your life, day after day, month after month … year after year?!  It’s no wonder that David became despondent sometimes, feeling that it was inevitable that Saul would indeed catch him one day.  But it was during these desperate times for David that he wrote some of the most beautiful and inspiring poetry in history, the Psalms.  He pours his heart out on paper as he speaks of desperation, exhaustion, betrayal … and God’s faithfulness, power, and loyalty.  How many people have those beautiful Psalms aided and renewed through the years?  In times of trouble they have been an inspiration to thousands.

Ok, so David’s fugitive years gave us some beautiful literature – what else?  David had 2 golden opportunities to kill Saul, end his running and assume the throne – and he walked away both times.  David learned restraint.  He learned respect for authority, even when that authority was evil. He learned about diplomacy and how to deal with all types of people.  In other words, he learned how to be a king.

It can be a cliché but please bear with me; God’s timing is perfect, God knows what he is doing and we have to trust Him.  During these terrible years of running for David, God was refining and molding David knowing that he could, and would, become the greatest king Israel ever saw!  I can’t explain why bad things happen to good people, but I can trust enough to believe that God could have a future purpose that I don’t know anything about or may not even be able to understand at that point.

Sometimes its only ours to hold on tight and just Trust.