God is the Reward-Giver!
"Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, "God has handed him over to me, for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars." And Saul called up all his forces for battle, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men." (1 Sam 23:7-8)
The setting? David and his men have just delivered the city of Keilah out of the hand of the Philistines. His reward? Saul turned on him, and he learns that the people of Keilah will turn him and his men over to Saul!
How often do we find ourselves in similar situations? The ones we help turn on us. Our reaction? Don't we often get discouraged? Stop helping others? Even turn on God? But not David. He could have turned on the people of Keilah. He didn't. Instead, he and his men fled. As the story goes on, Saul learns of David's whereabouts and pursues him and his men. "Saul was going along one side of the mountain, and David and his men were on the other side, hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his forces were closing in on David and his men to capture them, a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Come quickly! The Philistines are raiding the land." Then Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines." (1 Sam 23:26-28)
God delivered David from Saul without a fight! Without a single man on either side being hurt! God could have had Saul slain for his wickedness, but He didn't. Why? God still had work for Saul to do -- deliver the people from the Philistines!
Try to imagine: What would have happened if David had gotten discouraged? Had stopped helping others? Or even worse, had used the reaction of humans to determine his further course of action? Would he have gone on to be the best King Israel ever had, a man who God called "A man after my own heart" (Acts 13:22)?
Let's not ever fall into the temptation of taking things into our own hands. Let's never get discouraged, as long as the work we are doing is God's work. Let's stop using the reaction of humans as a guide for our own future courses of action. Instead, let's start looking to God for our reward!
GOD IS THE REWARD-GIVER!
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets (
www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ ), Answers2Prayer Ministries,
www.Answers2Prayer.org ,