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By: Tim Wolff
You may listen to this devotion in audio form via podcast here.
When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.
God’s will can be a daunting thing. We know, by Christ’s example, that seeking God’s will is in our best interest even when it may not seem to be the case. But, being human, it can be challenging to understand God’s will for our lives. We can do our best to follow faithfully, pray without ceasing, and walk obediently...but there is still that lingering fear of “What if I misunderstood God’s plan for me?”
I imagine that’s where we find David in this passage. King Saul has just tried to kill him three times (and these aren’t even the first times!) for being exactly where David, at least he thought, was supposed to be. David was called out of the fields and anointed by the God of Israel to be the next king and I imagine that would be a pretty great feeling. Not just to know you’re the next king, but also to get such clear signs of where to go next. It’s not often in my life that a prophet comes and calls me by name, then anoints me to be the next whatever God’s calling me to be. But, I also imagine having your life threatened on numerous occasions can cause you to question.
“Maybe I miss understood the job I was being anointed for.” “Maybe I didn’t quite hear the timeline for the job’s start date.” “Maybe I’m doing the right thing, I’m just in the wrong place?” A near death experience definitely seems like a sign from God.
In my own life, praying for big things is scary. It makes me feel greedy to ask so boldly of a God who has bigger issues on His plate. But, sometimes it’s even scarier to wait and listen after you’ve prayed. “What if God actually answers my prayers and I have to go through with this huge undertaking?” “I know this was my prayer, but I don’t actually think I can do this.” “God must have sent that prayer response to the wrong person. He wouldn’t actually call me to something so big.” These are 100% my own thoughts but I can imagine David thought these things when it dawned on him that HE’S GOING TO BE THE NEXT KING OF ISRAEL!
However, I don’t want to focus on the fear that comes with following God’s will. He knows that it can be scary for us to walk with no trail map. Here is what I believe God wants us to hear/see. Remember the reassurance He gives to David in the passage we just read. While we may focus on the three times that Saul tried to kill David, or whatever roadblocks may seemling pop up in front of you, God never allowed Saul to succeed. David was in fact the next King of Israel that God had called and he was doing his best to live that calling faithfully to this point. Seems simple, but not dying is pretty important. But then, we see Saul continuing to try to hunt David down and we see what I think is the biggest comfort. God changes the hearts of the very men who are hunting David. They believe that the path they should live is to kill David. That, however, was not in God’s plan. Therefore, it didn’t happen! Even these evil men and these scary situations, God used them for His own glory. David feared for his life to the point of fleeing to another city. Even in David’s fear, God’s plan was at work. He protected David time and time
again. “The plan” didn’t always seem to be going smoothly, when in reality it happened to remind David that God was taking care of him.
When we seek God’s will, God will make sure that it happens the way He plans. When we step out and take risks, when we go to dangerous places, when we work with people who see no purpose in us or are even threatened by us, we need only remember that even there God is in control. The scary caveat is always that this doesn’t mean things will work out for what we could initially call “the better.” But it does mean that God’s perfect will will indeed come to fruition. And if God’s will is truly what we seek, we have no thing to fear.