Discouragement Can Lead to a Lack of Trust - I Samuel 27-29 and Luke 13:1-22
David was trusting God to deliver him, until he became discouraged because of the length of time Saul had been chasing him. His discouragement caused him to turn from trusting God and to take things into his own hands. He left the country and went to live with the enemy, the Philistines. Of course, he had to lie to the king to do this. God did not depart from David at this time, but I am sure He hated to see him get discouraged and begin to try to work things out himself. I think we make God sad a lot when we do this, too. He wishes He could bless us, but He can't reward our lack of faith. Saul did even worse, because he really had something to discourage him. God had left him, and He would not answer his prayers for guidance, so Saul turned to a medium to call up Samuel. I believe this is the only time in history a medium actually called a person back from eternity. The cases we hear of are just demons pretending to be that person. However, this should show us how off base a discouraged person can get. Saul would not turn back to God, but he would turn to the occult. This happens even today, when people give up on God. They will do just about anything. Satan uses discouragement to drive them from God.
Luke 13 is a call to resist giving up on God. Our sin should not cause us to be defeated and to feel there is no hope. It should lead us to repent and turn back to God as our only hope. Just like the fig tree God will give us another chance. God can loose us from our bondage as he did the woman who was bent over for 18 years. What if she had given up after 17 years? She would not have been healed. However, if we see the potential of having a little faith in God, like the small mustard seed, we can see a lot of growth. If we remember the power of leaven to change things, we can be changed and help change others. This is what God wants us to do. He wants us to resist discouragement at any cost. When we feel it coming on, we must run to him in repentance and faith. We must praise Him as the one who can do anything. We must resist Satan's attack, and he will flee from us.
Tomorrow, I Intend to read I Samuel 30-31 and Luke 13:23-35.
Luke 13 is a call to resist giving up on God. Our sin should not cause us to be defeated and to feel there is no hope. It should lead us to repent and turn back to God as our only hope. Just like the fig tree God will give us another chance. God can loose us from our bondage as he did the woman who was bent over for 18 years. What if she had given up after 17 years? She would not have been healed. However, if we see the potential of having a little faith in God, like the small mustard seed, we can see a lot of growth. If we remember the power of leaven to change things, we can be changed and help change others. This is what God wants us to do. He wants us to resist discouragement at any cost. When we feel it coming on, we must run to him in repentance and faith. We must praise Him as the one who can do anything. We must resist Satan's attack, and he will flee from us.
Tomorrow, I Intend to read I Samuel 30-31 and Luke 13:23-35.