“Look to Jehovah for Strength” (10 min.)
I could say the following without fear of being wrong, that most of us have had our lives changed in the last two years. There are so many things that we have lost in that period of time, relatives with whom we live all our lives. We have gotten diseases that we didn't have before. Our economy is getting very bad. Some of our brothers lost their jobs and maybe they are still out of work.
All these things that for some have recently begun to be felt, others have been experiencing for decades and even since they were born with situations that cannot be dealt with in this system of things. That is why Jehovah helps us lift our spirits with this topic in Bible Treasures, entitled “Look to Jehovah for Strength.”
And it is that all of us have gone through situations that we really need to lean on Jehovah. And for this we are going to examine the example of King David. A warrior, a mighty man, someone who had seen death on several occasions, but who always turned to Jehovah for the necessary encouragement to continue. To do so, we are going to focus on the situation that has been talked about during these days in our Bible reading.
They lived in Ziclag, were refugees there for more than a year and tried to lead a more or less normal life until things happened that they did not expect. From one moment to another they emerged.
LET'S READ: 1 Samuel 30:1,2.
1 When David and his men arrived at Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had invaded the south and Ziklag, and Ziklag had been attacked and burned. 2 They had taken the women and everyone who was in the city, from the youngest to the greatest. They didn't kill anyone, but they took them with them.
For David and his men it was something they had never imagined would happen, from one moment to another it came up. Attack a city where they lived. They took people they knew, people they had lived with for more than a year. From the smallest to the oldest. They were taken captive.
Isn't it similar to our situation? Two years ago, from one moment to the next, something that we had never imagined arose, although of course because we studied the Word of God we knew of things that had to happen, such as plagues or pandemics. However, we had not lived it and we did not know how it was going to change our lives. And yes, it changed us like David.
Suddenly he found himself in a situation that he did not know what to do. How did they act? What did David and his men do to try to get out of this situation?
LET'S READ: 1 Samuel 30:3,5.
3 Upon arrival, David and his men found that the city had been set on fire and their wives, sons, and daughters taken captive. 4 And David and his men began to cry uncontrollably. They cried until they had no strength to cry anymore. 5 The two wives of David Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite had also been taken away.
What a difficult situation we read about! And that we are only reading it. Having lived it must have been something really painful. Warrior men like David and others who came face to face with death against the Philistines and other nations. However, they were now crying uncontrollably. They found no comfort. They couldn't find something that really tells them why this situation.
It is not true that this has also happened to us in recent years. Our wives, children, relatives, dear friends, brothers and sisters whom we have loved so much and with whom we have lived beautiful situations have been taken away or taken captive. And it is that death took these loved ones from us. The same thing happened to us as David and his men. We cried inconsolably until we ran out of strength.
There are situations in which they have happened and we could even be blamed for bad decisions or not having made decisions that in the end, if they had been made, sooner or later would have had the same result. The one that someone dies. When someone is out of a job. The fact that someone now has a disease.
And it is that when we review what happened to David after encountering this scene, of having taken his wives, his children, the whole town, David did not do so well either because he even felt humiliated on behalf of their men.
LET'S READ: 1 Samuel 30:6.
6 David was very distressed, and the men were talking about stoning him, because they were all very bitter for having lost their sons and daughters. But David turned to Jehovah his God to strengthen himself.
What a tough situation for David. His two wives had also been kidnapped and now his warriors, his fellow fighters, wanted to stone him because they believed he was to blame for everything that was happening. This has happened to us on occasions, who have also said that we have done something wrong, or perhaps we ourselves think that we were wrong in certain decisions.
How was David able to get out of this situation? At the end of verse 6 he said. But David turned to Jehovah his God to strengthen himself. That is the key for us to get out of these situations, or at least we can face them. Jehovah our Almighty God. Our loving Heavenly Father.
And how does Jehovah strengthen us today? As we saw in the photograph and the activity guide with his Word, the Bible, with biblical texts that we used to read but they did not have the same impact as now that we live in difficult situations. Jehovah wants to lift us up, strengthen us. Maybe he doesn't take away the problem we have, but he does want us to endure the situation by giving us the strength that he possesses.
We can only see our songbook of let's sing with joy and what beautiful melodies bump into us and give us encouragement. To say one if we have lost relatives or loved ones who have passed away. It is not true that when we hear the song 151 that says Jehovah will call them, it lifts our spirits a lot, although it makes us cry.
But we see that Jehovah loves us and gives us hope or words of encouragement from a brother who sometimes says very little to strengthen us, help us. Jehovah will always be by our side wanting to lift us up, he will lift us up. Just as David and his warriors went through very painful situations, we also went through them. But just as Jehovah strengthened David and his warriors, so Jehovah will do the same to us.
Rest assured that the tears you have shed in recent months or years, or throughout your life, will be turned into tears of happiness, tears that Jehovah will compensate with the happiness that we have never experienced and for which we will be grateful to Jehovah for all the eternity.
Comments
Post a Comment