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Saturday, June 21, 2008

Turning Wrong into Good

When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Praise be to the LORD, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal's wrongdoing down on his own head." 1 Samuel 25:39

BACKGROUND
1 Samuel 25 recounts David’s dealings with a man named Nabal. The Bible describes him as “surly and mean in his dealings” (25:3). Though David and his fighting men had treated Nabal’s shepherds with honor and respect, Nabal refused to offer David and his men some food and water in their time of need. In response to this news, “David said to his men, ‘Put on your swords!’” (25:13). David was bent on retaliation. Had it not been for the intervention of Abigail, Nabal’s wife, David and his men would have insured that “not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak” (25:34). As it turned out, David backed off and God took care of Nabal (25:37-38). This inspired David’s reaction in 25:39. I encourage you to read the whole chapter for the full impact.

JOURNAL ENTRY
Usually when we are wronged by someone—at least in our eyes—we do what David did. We scheme a way to get revenge (maybe aggressively, maybe passively). Fortunately, the LORD goes before us to prevent this. We, then, have a decision to make: Do we entrust the wrongdoing to the LORD, or do we press on in our flesh to appease our sinful nature? If we would stay our hand, we would see the hand of God at work. First in us, then on behalf of us—maybe in ways we never thought about.
I certainly feel as though some have wronged me in some very specific ways. However, in each case, I need to let that go. It cannot be undone; I cannot go back and do it differently. But I can leave it in God’s hands and move on. And that’s what I will do. No more bringing it up. No more holding it against people. No more wishing for God to do something to show them. Today, I leave each issue in God’s hands (1 Peter 5:7) and let go of them.

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, sometimes I think and act like You are too small. Help me to trust you in all things; to trust that even what others “may have meant” for harm, You mean for good—and good that reaches far beyond good for just me (Genesis 50:19-21). Indeed, my “good” may be simply knowing that You are using me to bring Your good to hundreds—1,000’s of others.

Let's put away our swords this week and make room for God to show Himself strong in us...then on our behalf.

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