A Revealing Response
By Dan Qurollo
Burke County
To whom or to what do you run first when trouble or fear presents itself? Your first instinct may be to flee to a particular location that serves as a safe place for you. It may be to reach out to a friend on whom you know you can count. Regardless of what or who it is, your natural instinct when faced with these types of situations reveals much about your spiritual life.
As a young teenage boy, David was anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel. When Samuel first appeared at David’s home, his father proudly showcased all his boys while forgetting about David. Little did Jesse know that David would arguably be the greatest human king Israel has ever had; he certainly did not know that David would be the one through whom the Messiah would be promised to Israel.
But the journey to the throne was anything but easy for David. For quite some time, David found himself fleeing from a jealous king named Saul. Saul would stop at nothing short of killing David, even employing several thousand troops to aid in his jealous rampage. Consequently, David found himself constantly fleeing the presence of Saul and those seeking to harm him.
Yet it was during these times or as a result of these times that he penned many of the psalms that so many love today. David illustrates the necessity of fleeing first to God. Through the hardship that David was experiencing, David came to know God more personally. This did not occur accidentally; David came to know God more because David made a conscious decision to turn to Him first. Notice what he came to learn about God as expressed in Psalm 18:1-3 where he wrote, “I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. 2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. 3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.” David resolved in Psalm 61:2, “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”
I challenge you to find your comfort in God first. David learned this from personal experience and urged subsequent believers, “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him” (Psalm 62:8). When faced with trouble or fear, “pour out your heart before him.” Those who do so will discover His open and loving arms; those who do so will experience a “perfect peace” because their mind has stayed on Him (Isaiah 26:3). Make the conscious decision to turn to God first.
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Dan Qurollo is pastor of Morganton Baptist Church. You can visit them online at www.morgantonbaptist.net, on Facebook, or on Youtube.
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