Skip to main content

Helping Your Friend Find Strength in God Part 4

Jonathan encouraged David and then let David go on and deal with life

I Samuel 23:15 While David was at Horesh in the wilderness of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. 16 And Saul's son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. 18 The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. The Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh.

When Jonathan went to visit David in the wilderness he didn’t stay with David forever. He stayed with him long enough . In this life we have to have those gas station experiences. Get a fill-up and then hit the road. Jonathan went home and David stayed at Horesh. Sometime you just have to stay in that wilderness of Ziph. Each person has his or her own Horesh.

David and Jonathan never met again in this life. Later David did fulfill his part of the covenant to treat Jonathan's descendants kindly. When my late husband Winston died my family flew in from across the country. My mother stayed with me for several weeks, but reluctatnly I had to let her go home too. I had to stay at my proverbial Horesh. By the time she left I was able to see that there might be hope that I could go on with life. I learned you can help your friend find strength in God by not a smothering presence, but just enough to let them know that you care.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Elisha, The Provision is in the Obedience

Sometimes I've felt that I've only had very little to give so why give it at all. This morning the thought came to me "All you you have is all you need to give." This thought came as I was reading the following passage in II Kings 4: 42 A man came from Baal Salishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain. "Give it to the people to eat, "Elisha said. 43 " How can I set this before a hundred men?" his servant asked. But Elisha answered, "Give it to the people to eat," For this is what the Lord says:" They will eat and have some left over" 44Then he set it before them and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord. This man only had twenty loaves to give to the prophet. The principle at work is: All that we have is all that we need to give. When we obey, God gives the increase. There are many examples in the Bible of this principle in action: Like the widow at ...
2 comments
Read more

Red Soles

Christian Louboutin designs women’s shoes that are recognized from afar by their red soles. When one sees the red bottoms one knows immediately that the shoes are outrageously expensive and exquisitely designed. These artfully designed stiletto confections are out of the price range of most average consumers. They are basically set apart for the very wealthy. One expects to see these distinctive shoes on the Parisian fashion runways. Seeing a woman sitting in a hotel lobby with the red bottom of her shoe showing causes one to wonder who is she, because not just anyone wear these shoes. Thinking about the red bottom Louboutin shoes made me think of another person attired in red that made people ask the question of who he was. His feet were also distinctively red. His clothes were dipped in red too. People wanted to know who he was and why were his clothes red. His answer may be shocking to some, especially in this day and age when God is generally portrayed as being this benign and ...
1 comment
Read more

Songs in the Night

This week marks eight years since the sudden and unexpected passing of my late husband Winston. That was a strange land for me. The land of loss and death. At first I needed to hear others sing because the song in my heart was frozen with grief and I was traumatized. I’d sing God’s song later with help from others. There were tapes I listened to that reminded me of the Lord’s song. It was the voice on the radio or the television that told me God would bring me out of these trials. It was the voice of my mother telling me and reminding me of God’s faithfulness to me in the past. How could I sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? In the next phase on my journey through grief after the sudden death of my husband I tried to sing along with those who were on the journey with me At first I’d only get a few words out before the tears started to flow. I kept trying day after day to sing along. I was reminded of God’s word. I was strengthened by constantly hearing the words of faith and ...
1 comment
Read more