Apples of Gold

Have you ever skeptically observed a father tossing his small child up in the air and felt your breath catch as concern for their safety rises and falls with each toss?  The more you know the father the less likely you are to be concerned-that is if you have observed them to be trustworthy! The child is rarely concerned. The child’s complete confidence in their safety is reflected in cascading giggles and requests to be tossed again. The father’s eyes never leave his child from the time they are launched from his hands until they are safely nestled in his grasp once more. 

Free-falling is not a feeling many of us enjoy. I would not choose to bungee jump or sky dive unless it was absolutely necessary. I probably wouldn’t spend much time enjoying the scenery on the way down because my eyes would likely be shut tight as every possibly disastrous scenario scrolled through my mind until my feet felt the security of solid ground under them once again. 

In Samuel chapter 30, David and his men probably felt like they were free-falling when they returned from battle to find this:

Three days later, when David and his men arrived home at their town of Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had made a raid into the Negev and Ziklag; they had crushed Ziklag and burned it to the ground. They had carried off the women and children and everyone else but without killing anyone. When David and his men saw the ruins and realized what had happened to their families, they wept until they could weep no more. 1 Samuel 30:1-3

If that wasn’t enough the men were so upset that they thought stoning David might be a good idea!  Thankfully David didn’t panic. Verse 6 tells us that David found strength in the LORD his God.

A good indicator of how well we truly know our Father is our response when the bottom falls out and we find ourselves in a spiritual free-fall. If tumultuous circumstances cause us to freeze in panic, or lash out irrationally at the most convenient target, we might want to check our spiritual thermometers. 

A quick read of the rest of 1 Samuel 30 reveals that God had everything under control. What felt like a disorderly disaster was actually an opportunity to trust God to work it out. 

David got back everything the Amalekites had taken, and he rescued his two wives. Nothing was missing: small or great, son or daughter, nor anything else that had been taken. David brought everything back. I Samuel 30:18-19

If the men had gone with their initial impulse and stoned David, they likely would not have recovered their wives, children and all their stuff and to top it off, their leader would have been dead as well. Thankfully David knew what to do. Rather than join the mob in despair he retained his confidence in the One who had his heart and life in his hands. Psalm 61 was likely written in a moment similar to this tragedy:

O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. Psalm 61:1-3

Many of us are all too familiar with the feeling of being overwhelmed. Difficulties often seem to come in groups that continually batter us like the choppy waves of an incoming tide. We can find ourselves wondering, what next, as we try to regain our footing from the previous blow. 

We can panic like David’s troops or we can enjoy the ride like a child who knows that their Father will catch them at just the right moment. Ok, enjoy might be a bit of a stretch-but we can bathe in the peace of God even as the storm rages around us when we remind ourselves that we are safe when God is our refuge. 

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock. Isaiah 26:3-4

And here is the secret to remaining calm in the struggle. God is worthy of our trust. How many times has he proven himself faithful in your life? So when you feel yourself free-falling remember who has their eyes fixed on you and will catch you at precisely the right time! If we lock gazes with God instead of focusing on our circumstances his peace will surround us.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7