The Comeback warrior

“So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David’s two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.” – 1 Samuel 30

Note that the Bible says, ‘David wept aloud.’

Men don’t usually weep aloud. And also you need to understand it was the same David who once killed Goliath.

It was the same David who encouraged thousands of Israelites not to be afraid when they ran away in fear of Goliath. So I don’t think David is a weak-hearted, coward of a man. But here in this passage he was utterly helpless. He wept aloud because his family has been captured by the amalekites. This says to me it’s a tough life out there. It’s a life that will even make the strongest of men to weep like a child.When was the last time you wept aloud? You cannot pretend to be a macho man or a strong-hearted woman all the time as though nothing will happen to you all your life. You might have killed Goliath in the past but one-day life out there will bring you to a point of ‘weeping aloud’. What will you do?

When David faced Goliath it was a threat against his life. But David was a born warrior. So however challenging the battle was David kept winning all the battles. The enemy brought tough challenges and he kept winning in life with God on his side. David once sang “With your (God’s) help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.” David was going from strength to strength in life. So I am sure Satan would have organised a round table conference and discussed David’s life like this – “We can’t touch David as he is too strong for us. Let’s touch his family he will then stop following God.”

When I say the enemy organised a round table conference it might look unrealistic. But there are at least two instances in the Bible to prove this sort of tactic by the enemy. In the story of Samson and Delilah the Bible says

“The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, ‘See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.’”

In the story of Job in the Bible we can read that Satan challenged God about Job and said,

“You have provided hedge around Job and that’s why he is following you. remove it and he will stop following you.”

If the enemy has to have a round table conference about you what will he say? What is the area that you are most likely to give up in life? This is what must have happened to David. Satan decided to touch his family. And lo and behold David is now weeping aloud like a child. Hell would have laughed at David saying, “See the one who defeated Goliath. He is now weeping. A great warrior has fallen. A great warrior has fallen.”

This is how I felt in the last eight years of my life. I felt as though the enemy was laughing at me. You might have heard some great quotes and stories about C.S. Lewis. You might have thought he must be a very strong Christian. I watched a documentary about him and learnt how he struggled to overcome the grief after the loss of his dear wife Joy. In his book A Grief Observed, he wrote

Kind people have said to me, ‘She is with God.’ In one sense that is most certain. She is, like God, incompre- hensible and unimaginable. You tell me, ‘she goes on.’ But my heart and body are crying out, come back, come back. But I know this is impossible. I know that the thing I want is exactly the thing I can never get. The old life, the jokes, the drinks, the arguments, the lovemaking, the tiny, heartbreaking commonplace. Talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively. But don’t come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don’t understand.

Life’s reality will bring the strongest man to the point of weeping aloud. And you might feel like hell is laughing at you.

But a true strong man or woman of God will refuse to stay in that fallen place. They will say as it is written in the Scripture in Micha 7:8

“Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.”

Falling down doesn’t make you weak. But remaining fallen will make you weak. You need to say ‘Though I have fallen I will rise.’

Maybe you are reading this blog as a “fallen warrior”. You were once at the peak of your life. You were doing a great job serving God, serving your family and having a great career. But something happened in the middle. It may be that round table conference about you and now you are in this place of defeat. The enemy is laughing at you saying ‘a great warrior has fallen’ and you have accepted this defeat and you remain fallen for years. But the Bible says something different. You forgot to read micah 7:8. Say this to your enemy today – “I WILL RISE”.

God wants you to rise to your former glory. God wants to make you stronger today. He wants his old warrior who once killed Goliath back. Maybe you have taken wrong decisions like Samson and the enemy is now laughing at you because of your defeat. You think that’s the end of your life. But Samson came back stronger after that defeat and God gave him strength and he completely destroyed the enemy.

It’s never too late to rise up. So ask God today to strengthen you so that you can rise up to your former glory. Be a comeback warrior!

 

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3 Responses

  1. Truly uplifting! I can’t say I have fallen or that I have ever felt defeated, but this post reminds me of the potential blow the enemy can inflict at any given time and to trust God who is the source of my strength. It was Paul who warned the Corinthians, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall.” Thank you Davidson for this timely reminder.

  2. That is so insightful and encouraging for anyone going through a hard time. It’s good you’ve gone behind the scenes to uncover those conversations that h love us realise that it’s important to stand firm during the testing. We will rise!

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