Many have been raised in church Sunday schools where, due to our attention span and age, the Bible stories have been told in 5-10 minutes and we color a Bible page to show our parents. We carry this into our adult life and underestimate the stories of the Bible and what they mean. I don't mean just knowing the story but rather KNOWING the story. For example, we know that David, while on the run from King Saul, was found to be cornered in a dead end canyon, in a cave, with his mighty men. Saul was approaching the soon to be King David when the story changes. Two things happened. First is David prayed. Second, Saul was turned away. But how? The 23rd Psalm is the prayer David prayed. The reason Saul turned away isn't quite so obvious. Here is what happened. A messenger (on foot or horse) came up to Saul and told him that the Egyptians were raiding and attacking in the southern part of the kingdom. Keep in mind that Saul and his army were in northern Israel in a canyon. The messenger would have taken several days to reach Saul. After all, it's across a country and not just around the corner. What is important is what was going on behind the scene. Remember that David prayed. This activated the plan of God and that plan was to keep David alive to become King. So, God put it into the Egyptians minds to attack Israel to distract Saul from killing his chosen King. Once again, keep in mind that this doesn't happen overnight. The king of Egypt would have had to muster up the troops, get supplies ready and then travel to the southern border of Israel (remember they had to cross the river). Then they entered Israel (most likely a couple of weeks had gone by) and a "runner" went to fetch King Saul to come and defeat the Egyptians. Israel and it's people were being attacked. King Saul was at the northern part of the kingdom. The runner took several days to a week to reach him. So, we are looking at about 3 weeks time from when the king of Egypt marched to Israel and when Saul received word of the attack. Then it took several days for Saul and his army to go and defeat the Egyptians. Thus freeing up David to be in a peaceful place with no fear of King Saul's desire to have him killed. This all started with a prayer by David where he acknowledged that he was submitted to God and that God would answer his prayer of almost a month prior.
One other issue is the unseen. God works through divine intervention. He uses angels to combat the "unseen" enemy, Satan's demons and Satan himself. We are told repeatedly in the Word that the angels are constantly at battle to deliver and protect the saints and to bring about the will of God. Satan and his demons are there constantly trying to bring about the very opposite. The picture painted in the Word of King Saul's attack on David to kill him was driven by Satan and his demons. The picture painted of the rescue of David from his hands was the result of God answering prayer through his angels and servants.
Here is the key to the story. It's my story. It's your story. It's our story. That same battle between angels and demons goes on in the lives of those who choose to serve the Lord Jesus. The same weapon defeats Satan and his demons; prayer. Sometimes the answers to our prayers is instantaneous and other times it "seems" like God isn't answering our prayers at all. But he does answer prayer in his time, his way and for his people. It's all about whether we choose, like David, to trust that God's will be done with no effort on his part other than to pray. Trust is difficult for people who don't rely on God. The world sees the believer as foolish for trusting a God they cannot see and yet will have to acknowledge as Lord and Savior one day. The story is your story and my story and it's not over until God says so. Choose wisely and pray often. It's your choice.
No comments:
Post a Comment