We are due for some later today. We central Texans look forward to that, but at the same time, we kind of worry about it. We are not used to it and things kind of shut down when it happens.
So, maybe the school will close early and the snowballs will fly! Who knows.
One thing I have been thinking on this a.m. is something about the biblical figure of David. I did a study or two on David; Beth Moore studies in fact, and I thoroughly enjoyed them.
David was a man after God’s own heart. I have heard that over and over again.
I was thinking this morning, even after I have studied David’s life - "Why was he a man after God’s own heart?"
God loved him. God loves us. That’s evidently clear in what God did in sending His only Son Jesus Christ so that we might receive eternal forgiveness and love, instead of eternal damnation.
So- I ask again the question.
Why was he a man after God’s own heart?
It is now coming to me - crystal clear ! David was wanting more and more of God!He was desiring the absolute ‘heart of God’. Realize that David had not witnessed the life of Jesus Christ on this earth. David certainly knew of the coming Messiah, but had witnessed the love of God in so many ways. Yes he witnessed God's power, but also learned of God's compassion and forgiveness for his sins.
Why wouldn’t he desire to have God’s own heart?
We know from reading about his life on this earth, that he was chosen by God early on. He was a shepherd boy that defeated a giant. David as a young lad knew what he knew to be true. That God was his source. God was who he trusted in. He knew who his shepherd was. Psalms 23.
He stood his ground with that giant because he knew that God was able to overcome anything in his life. How that must have pleased God.
So many times, countless times, I have not trusted God. Maybe later, after giving up on all my efforts. I have never liked 'facing giants', but I have seen God work in behalf so much quicker when I lean completely on him thru the situation.
Later on after David became king and he faced temptation of a new sort. What he did was despicable, for in pursuit of his adulterous affair with Bathsheba, he sent her husband off to the front lines of war to be killed.
A man after God’s own heart?
If we read about this account in 2nd Samuel, you will find as I did, that David was rebuked for this action by Nathan the prophet. David suffered consequences to his action. Bathsheba suffered consequences to hers, for they both lost the son that Uriah’s wife had borne to David.
David had pleaded with God to spare that child’s life. David fasted. David wept. The child still died, but David experienced something so great through that whole process. He experienced God’s love and forgiveness for him. David knew God would still be with him.
There are always consequences to our actions. Sometimes they are not so severe, but they are still there. Even in this, we are shown God’s compassion and love. They are new every morning. He is faithful. He is forgiving. He is just.
David and Bathsheba were again blessed with a son and his name was Solomon. There is more scripture that indicates that the Lord’s special favor rested on Solomon from his birth.
You know David fought many battles in this life, and so many of them were physical. He was a great king and he had to fight against real enemies. He saw God's power time and again as he trusted in the Lord.
God knew something special about David. God knew that David, even though a man and human in his efforts to be like himself, wanted to be more like the King he served. I know he witnessed God’s love in his life time and time again, and I believe that happened because he drew aside and prayed . He spent time with the Lord- he got to know him in a real way. In the book of Psalms, his petitions are sometimes despairing. Loud cries to God for help, but in every instance, David praises God for who God is and what He will do. He knows the Lord he serves.
Most of us are not called into the kind of battles - the kind of giants- that David faced in this life.
I know in my own life, I get so frustrated with the little things that daily come at me. Forget the big ones! My sister has a blog titled little foxes. She and I have talked before about the little foxes that steal our joy. They steal our happiness. They steal our faith. If we allow them, they can overtake the good in our lives. We have to recognize our battles in this life, and we have to realize that God is with us in all that we go through. Maybe our battles aren’t battles at all, but our selfishness of heart?
In my trying to justify my actions, triteness enters in. The same words come forth out of my mouth- over and over again. Should I begin to now see some of my thoughts and words may not be pleasing God? Is there a better way?
Can we as God's people, just be quiet and still, and 'know' beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Lord understands all our circumstances, and will give us strength to overcome every situation?
Can we somehow believe that God is in it all? There is nothing hidden from him. Nothing.
David knew that. He wanted, even though he failed God at times, he wanted to be like the Lord. He wanted to have that same love and compassion.
I desperately want it for myself. I want it for us all. God wants it.
"Lord above, how many times have I cried out to you. How many times have I gotten discouraged and frustrated over the silliest of things? How many times have I thought that I needed to justify myself? How many times have I been unwilling to forgive? The Bible says you are greater in us than he (the devil) who is in this world. Can we trust in that? Can I?
You are everything to me. Your desire for me is to serve you with gladness, and to know that all these things that fly in our face that seem overwhelming, are but gnats to you. We can overcome anything with your help Lord. Large or small. Giants aren’t so big when we realize that as we serve you, they will shrink and become as nothing before us. You want us to grow Lord.
You are not there to whack down everyone that is frustrating us Lord. You are there to show us your heart. Oh, that we might desire it like David did. Thank you Father for your love- your compassion- your goodness and your mercy. Thank you for speaking to us your people and helping us stay on an even keel trusting in your overtaking every situation for our good and for your glory. In Jesus’s precious Name. Amen.
Well, we did get some snow - it didn't stay long, but it was beautiful!
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