[Life of David] Unlikely Trial, Teacher, TimingSample

An Unlikely Teacher

You are going to have unlikely trials in your life. You will experience things that are not fair and don’t make sense. People who should have been for you can turn against you. You might ask, “What in the world? Why, God?” But you have to walk through your unlikely trial realizing that it is an unlikely teacher.

David was 20 years old, but he had to go through ten years of roaming. At 30, he would become king, as 2 Samuel 5:4 says, but first he faced an unlikely trial—King Saul’s jealousy, anger, and fear. And because of this, David had an unlikely teacher. The wilderness was God’s teacher for David. 

God was preparing David to be king. For David to be ready, he must be able to face adversity and persevere when everything seems to be coming against him. David was trained with Saul pursuing him. He was trained for all the battles he would fight. The wilderness was even training for when Absalom, David’s own son, would come against him someday. The wilderness was an unlikely teacher. 

Allow COVID-19 to be an unlikely teacher in your life. Allow grief to be an unlikely teacher in your life. Allow becoming a widow, or widower, or the journey of singleness to be an unlikely teacher in your life. Allow a marital conflict or financial setbacks or pain or illness to be a doorway to something deeper in your soul. Don’t just keep things superficial; let your trials transform your character. 

The wilderness is an unlikely teacher. Is it fun? Absolutely not! You did not want it, you did not request it, but here you are. It may be a tough year, a tough decade, or just a tough week. I don’t know! Allow the wilderness to be an unlikely teacher. 

Because Saul pursued David, David pursued God. You’ll be misunderstood, you’ll be maligned, you’ll be alienated, you’ll have difficult circumstances. All of us will have things coming against us—unlikely trials. What we need to do then is to pursue God. We don’t pick up the spear and throw it back; we pursue God. David pursued God and his victories in battle came through the pursuit of God. Saul pursued David, but David pursued God. We must be people who are after God, not just after other folks, or we’re going to be just like Saul.