Triumph & TurmoilSample

A Rocky Transition

What is your favorite story?

The Lord of the Rings trilogy rises close to the top for me.

One reason is that it is not just a simple story of good defeating evil. Rather, the story is complicated—at least, the characters are complicated. Even those characters on the side of the heroes are painted with multi-colored brushes, revealing their often conflicted and even contradictory thoughts and motivations.

Characters with both good and less-than-good sides are easy to relate to because we find those same inclinations in ourselves.

Men, we often find ourselves relating to Paul’s words in Romans 7:14-24 when he laments that he cannot do the good he wants to do but cannot avoid the evil he detests. We, too, are complicated characters. But we are not the first, and certainly not alone.

From Adam through Paul to you and me, we are all complicated characters.

And King David may just set the standard for us in that arena.

From the historical accounts of 1 and 2 Samuel to the emotionally driven Psalms of praise, lament, frustration, and confusion, Scripture paints a thorough picture of David the man. It is a picture that is both lamentable and laudable, words and deeds to emulate and avoid.

While 1 and 2 Samuel were originally written as a single work, our Bibles divide them into two books. We will be spending this week looking at David's life in 2 Samuel. The deaths of Samuel and Saul in 1 Samuel leave David to step into the spotlight at center stage in 2 Samuel.

Though anointed by Samuel long before, David finally becomes king of Israel in 2 Samuel. But the transition to kingship is not smooth or sudden. David has to fight for what God has promised him. The house of Saul does not simply step aside after the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, and so there is war between David’s men and Saul’s army.

God’s promises often work that way. We may want to simply be handed things, but God may be asking us to step into what He has for us rather than Him simply draping it over us. David had to fight to become the king God wanted him to be.

Is God calling you to “fight” for what He has for you?

Prayer: God of promises, thank You for the promises You have made about our hope and our future. Help me today to not simply sit and wait for those things You have placed in my life. Give me the courage and the wisdom to keep in step with Your Spirit as I seek to live for You. Amen.

Reflection: Do you expect the things God calls you into to be easy? Does the hard work of following God surprise you and sometimes make you want to give up? Find someone with whom to share your struggles today.