"When Life SEEMS Crushed"

“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.” ~ 1 Samuel 30:1-2 (NLT)

What do we do when life is crushed, when it seems un-repairable, unfixable, and unable to deal with or even cope with? What we do reflects what we know, so what do YOU do? Think about that for a second. In life we will all face tremendous challenges, some of us have or might face financial difficulties, challenges in our health, cancer, career loss, loss of loved ones, marriage, divorce, struggles internally or even spiritual failure. Life will bring tragedy, not always because God wants it, because God didn’t, but because we live in a fallen and sinful world. Adam and Eve’s sin tainted the world; it crushed the world, sending it into something that was not the wanted, intended and desired will of God.

David was coming back from doing what he needed to do and saw his life crushed, his wives were gone. Bad got worse, his whole “teams” children and wives were gone too. It seemed unbearable, yet he reached towards prayer. He asked the High Priest for the “ephod” which was a garment worn by the High Priest who represented the people to God and God to the people, it set the High Priest apart from the “regular” priests. This was significant, because as a godly Leader, David was given responsibility to take care of those who followed, he was Gods Leader. In this moment, David reached towards intercessory prayer; he prayed for his crew and through seeking God David experienced refreshment. Soon after, God led David to his full recovery and victory, but what would have happened if David’s reaction was often like ours, to run FROM God instead of TO God, to go back to what we used to do, to drink again, to find that number again, etc. etc. The story would have been different and lives wouldn’t have just been crushed, they would have been lost. This story tells us that prayer, praying for people and reacting in a godly way gives God capability to lead us to spiritual victory and restoration of what was lost, be it by us or Satan’s workings. God Bless!

Father in Jesus Name, thank You so much for Your Word and for the value of it. Lord, use me for Your glory. Create a desire within me to learn more about You. God show up in my life as the teacher, show me what to do, lead me and guide me to restoration. Lord, speak to my heart and guide me through this day. Help me recover what I lost. Help me recover what was stolen from me by the enemy. Lord, I place myself into Your hands, I ask that You guide me through this life, making me more fruitful and more like Your Son Jesus daily, I thank You for it. I appreciate You and ask that I can win souls for Your Kingdom in Jesus Name! AMEN!