You vs. The World

Have there been days when you felt as if the world and everyone in it was against you? Days when you believed that one individual was singlehandedly attempting to tarnish your reputation, or even wreck your life? Days when seemingly everything that you said and done was wrong? Days when a situation seemed hopeless?

Come on, you’ve had at least one of those days, haven’t you? I’ve had more of them that I can recall, and to be honest with you, I don’t know that I want to. I mean, who wants to spend time reflecting on the bad times when it’s a whole lot more fun thinking about the good ones?

Consider David.

Yeah, I’m well aware of the fact that I’ve written about David before, but that’s because David has such a remarkable story…

David was a young boy who was in God’s favor; God loved him. David had been anointed with oil by Samuel, and was filled with the power of the Spirit. David was chosen to live and serve as an armor bearer in the house of Saul, the king of Israel. Yes, this was the same David who would slay Goliath, the Philistines mightiest warrior, with a slingshot and a rock! David would become one of Saul’s greatest commanders, and would lead Saul’s armies to many victories. He would, in fact, eventually become Saul’s son-in-law. David was indeed in God’s favor.

It was just after David’s slaying of Goliath that Saul became extremely jealous of David’s favor with God, of his power, and of his ever-growing popularity among the people. After several failed attempts to place David in a place where he would surely die in battle, Saul decided to murder David with his own hands.

It was during his flight from Saul that David was captured by the Philistines in Gath. Weary from fleeing Saul, and fearful for his life, David cried out to God in Psalm 56, for His mercy and protection.

1 Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me; all day long they press on their attack.

5 All day long they twist my words; they are always plotting to harm me. 6They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, eager to take my life.

9 Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me.

11 in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

Still believe that David was in God’s favor? He was, to be sure. God rescued him from the Philistines and protected him from Saul’s obsession to kill him, and used David to serve Him and His people for many years.

So how does David’s plight apply to you today? You probably haven’t slain a goliath recently, it’s doubtful that a jealous king wants to kill you, and odds are that you haven’t been imprisoned for being an Israelite. So what’s the connection?

We face people every day who are jealous of what we have, or of the favor that we may have with God and with other people. These people will slander us, threaten us, and seemingly go to any extremes to ruin our lives. More often than not, their actions aren’t the result of what we do have, but of what they don’t have.

I believe that jealousy is often born of the fear of not have enough of something, like money, material possessions, good looks, and notoriety. In the case of David, and as is frequently the case with hungry-for-God Christians, this jealousy wasn’t only about the favor of God, but God’s love.

“Mom loves YOU more!”

I wonder how many times this statement has been spoken by one sibling to another throughout the annals of history. I’ll unashamedly admit that it was my favorite “war-cry” when I was a child. I was convinced that my Mom loved my younger brother Ronny more than she loved me, and because of that I just knew that he was her favorite! And because of that, I was always ready to take it out on him.

You see, Saul fell into the trap of thinking that God loved David more, thereby making David his favorite. And because of that, Saul wanted to kill David.

So what did David do? He cried out to God. He prayed harder. He pressed-in even closer, knowing that his cover, and indeed his very life, was in God’s hands.

You vs. the world…

When it feels as if it’s you against the world and the enemy is closing in, always seek refuge in the Lord. You already know that you don’t have to have a jealous king trying to take your life to feel like it’s in peril, don’t you? Some days it just feels as if there’s no hope, that God has forgotten all about you and has left you to the wolves.

Pray harder. Press in closer. Take shelter under His wing. He’s our protector, our strength, and our conqueror. Our love for Him, and more importantly, His love for us, will protect us from our accusers, our pursuers, and anything else that comes against us.

Anything.