Living the life God intended

Hi friends how was your week? We had a lot of rain at our house on Tuesday night. It was so welcome after it has been dry for so long.

I have been reading the book of 1 Samuel recently. I have blogged before on the story of David and his men recovering all after their town of Ziklag was burned and their wives and children captured. Equal provision was given to those who fought and those who stayed with the stuff.

I want to look at this story but in context of the story before. Let’s pick the story up in 1 Samuel 29. David and his men and their families had been living in the Philistine territory for a while, since Saul was intent on hunting David. To get away from Saul, David decided to live there. Whilst living there, David and his men would go on raids and tell the king what they had done and where but not tell the whole truth.

So when the Philistines decided to fight Israel, the king wanted to take David and his men along. But the rest of the Philistines men were suspicious that they might want to change sides in the middle of the battle, so they didn’t want them along. The king told David that his services were not wanted and David was offended and questioned the king. But David knew to obey authority so the next morning they left the camp to return home.

But who knows that God had a different battle that He wanted David to fight – one that involved his family and community. As we know David and his men returned to Ziklag and their wives, children and stuff had been captured. This is the battle they needed to fight.

Sometimes, we question God about the reason He doesn’t want us involved in bigger things in the church or the reason we miss out on a promotion at work. But I believe God is saying to you and I today that there are more important battles to be fighting and those involve our family and community. We know from Ephesians 6:12 that we do not fight against flesh and blood. The fight for our family is not physical but is spiritual. This fight involves finding a scripture verse, praying over it, standing on it and thanking God for the answers.

Just like David, sometimes God puts a situation in front of us where we need to make a decision. If David had disobeyed the king, he would never have been able to recover his wives, his children or his stuff. His men would have deserted him because they would have lost all too. David and his men might have suffered casualties in the war as they were out of the will of God. God had not called them to fight against their own people and to do so would have been a grave mistake.

So this week, see where God wants to position you? Does He want you fighting for a bigger cause or your family? I know which is important to God – your family – the one you have been anointed and appointed to lead. So ask God for your battle strategy and then let’s go.

Bless you heaps and keep living the life God intended for you.

Karen