His way is in the whirlwind and the storm

 

“Now they told David, ‘Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.’  Therefore David inquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I go and attack these Philistines?’  And the Lord said to David, “God and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.  But David’s men said to him, ‘Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?’  Then David inquired of the Lord again.  And the Lord answered him, ‘Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.’”  (1 Samuel 23:1-4)

What stirs your heart to action?   Here, David can experience no personal gain for himself but he has this natural unction from within to defend the Israelites.  They are like his sheep in his heart and he wants to go defend them.   This probably comes from the ways he spent a lot of time in the Lord’s presence praying for them.  He shared the Lord’s heart for them and wanted to defend and protect them.

This unction to save them comes right in the midst of this mess of Saul pursuing him and trying to kill him.  So he not only needs to worry about the Philistines if he steps out but about being hunted down by Saul. 

Ever been in a place in your life where you wonder what God is doing?  He is anointed with oil and given this wonderful prophecy about being king that is affirmed by both Jonathan and by Abagail.  But then he is chased out of the kingdom by Saul and hunted down.   Rather than being put on a throne, he was hiding in caves and sleeping outside, while running for his life.

Think he ever had to fight thoughts that God was against him?  That he lacked the protection of God in some way?  Think he ever doubted becoming king at that point?  Think he ever thought he must have blown it somehow?   Or resented the difficulty and thought, why bother to serve the Lord?  That is a natural place to go in such a mess.

We know what he was thinking as he put together Psalm 142 while hiding in the cave of Adullam.  He cried out to the Lord and pleaded for mercy.  He poured out his complaint before the Lord as his spirit was growing faint within him.  He saw traps on every side and felt all alone— no one really seeing or caring about him and his portion.  He felt imprisoned in difficulty.   As he sees all this, he proclaims, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” (Psalm 142:5)

In the worst of circumstances, David did not lose faith and was strengthened because it all came back to this one thing – the Lord was his portion.  If he lost all else, he wouldn’t really lose what was most important.   His job, his friends, his house, his wife, his future promise and dreams – all the loss but none of it compared to what he had with the Lord. 

I think about how all the discouraged, disheartened, frustrated and depressed folks gravitated to him.  Remembering volunteering at a suicide hotline, I would comfort people with terrible and horrific stories of loss.   I couldn’t imagine their pain.  But in it, I found my load became lighter as I helped empower them to navigate their circumstances.  I wonder if the men following David and joining his plight, didn’t start to experience God lighten their load.  Then in seeing how David navigated difficulty with trust in God, set them in a whole different direction. 

As David’s men let go of their resentment, they stepped into being great warriors and protectors of the people.   From outcasts, rejects, rebels and going in the totally wrong direction, they became true hero’s.   They stepped out with David to free the people from the oppression they were experiencing despite the sacrifice, their fears, potential consequences, and resource limitations.  They moved past their offenses, frustrations and fears to help others gain the freedom they needed.

I see this all the time where I work.  People who are stuck in addiction are like David’s men.  They can’t see past their pain, struggles, and limitations.  But then as they go through the program, they let Jesus in and start thinking differently.   They find abounding hope. Then after experiencing freedom, healing, and deliverance through Jesus themselves, they often step in to help others.  They mentor others or take up a job to care for others in their plight.  They go from outcasts, rebels and rejects going in the wrong direction to true hero’s  that sacrificially step in to free people from the oppression they are experiencing despite any difficulty.

It is so beautiful to see the freedom they gain as our greatest limitation is how we deal with perceived difficulty.  It traumatizes us, it holds us back, it keeps us in bondage to fear, resentment, offense and frustration that keep us back from what God has for us.   Rather than trust God in it, we accuse, complain, blame and wonder why we are then floundering so badly. It is these negative thought patterns that we allow to lead our lives that will kill, steal and destroy.  It will make our lives barren.

Harboring thoughts or attitudes that run contrary to a loving and devoted relationship with God—such as arrogance, immorality, defiance, stubbornness, selfishness, grudges, greed, lust, offenses, resentments, or anything else that is not in alignment with he Lord – will limit us. [1]

But in the place of barrenness in living in a cave, David’s men found true life.  They found a place of heroic flourishing.  They found a place of learning to see life differently.   Not based upon how things work for them, but based upon the mercy, grace, and power of the Lord.   They found a place of healing and refuge.   And they were learning that the Lord was their protector and cared for them.

David declares in Psalm 16 something similar about God being his refuge, protection and portion in the midst of difficulty.  This Psalm was estimated to be written during the time that David was on the run from Saul as well, but a little later when he was in Ziklag, right before Saul died and David took the throne.  It is a commonly understood as relating to finding the secret of contentment in pressing times.

Psalm 16
Protect me, God, for I take refuge in you.
² I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have nothing good besides you.”
³ As for the holy people who are in the land,
they are the noble ones.
All my delight is in them.
⁴ The sorrows of those who take another god
for themselves will multiply;
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
and I will not speak their names with my lips.

⁵ Lord, you are my portion
and my cup of blessing;
you hold my future.
⁶ The boundary lines have fallen for me
in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

⁷ I will bless the Lord who counsels me—
even at night when my thoughts trouble me.^[d]
8 I always let the Lord guide me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad
and my whole being rejoices;
my body also rests securely.
¹⁰ For you will not abandon me to Sheol;
you will not allow your faithful one to see decay.
¹¹ You reveal the path of life to me;
in your presence is abundant joy;
at your right hand are eternal pleasures.

David points back to the place of contentment in being with God.   He is the only one that satisfies our thirst.  Timothy Geoffrion, in his book, The Spirit-Led Leader, notes that the goal of our spiritual life is nothing less than union with Christ and the transformation that happens as we respond to His presence and activity with submission and obedience.  [2]

He notes that we are meant to be continually conscious of the Lord, giving attention to what He is doing and wants to do in our life, responding in agreement while we live in relationship with Him and carry on a delightful conversation as a friend.  

We clearly see David following this model.  In intercession, he connected with the heart of the Lord and prayed out of this place of response.  Geoffrion, notes that prayer is primarily attentiveness to God’s disclosure and our heart response to it. He notes that our heart’s desire to grow closer to God is in God’s heart too.  [3]

Geoffrion notes that we need to take responsibility for our relationship to Christ.  While the Lord initiates and nudges us along His path, we need to respond in submission and obedience.  As we trust and surrender to Him in difficulty, we grow closer as we align with Him. [4]

There is a song by Jon Thurlow, as he meditates on the beauty of the Lord in Revelations.  It is called “Storm All Around You” and he points out that in the midst of the glory, there is lightnings and thunderings—a storm all around.

His way is in a whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet (Nahum 1:3).   Do we realize that the closer we draw to the Lord, the more turmoil there is?  The Lord lives in a storm.  While He is our refuge and protection, we cannot expect not to experience storms and difficulty when we draw near.  Rather than escape them, we need to submit and surrender in trust. 

Geoffrion writes, “Without submission to God, we will continually be trying to set our own course and establish our own standards of judgement for ourselves (and others), and we will ultimately wind up living for ourselves at the expense of our God-given purpose in life.” [5]

It is trusting obedience, as we submit ourselves wholeheartedly to serving God’s purposes in the world that we will plant our feet in submission, in a place that causes us and those around us to flourish.  It is the place of intimacy with the Lord—not outside the storm but right in the midst of it.    

To walk with Him, Geoffrion notes is to be aware, attentive, and responsive to Gods’ presence in ones’ life in every conceivable circumstance.  We need to focus on God as the number one priority of our life, letting Him be preeminent in our thinking, our hearts, and our work.  Cultivating this loving relationship of dependence needs to be our number one priority.  We live and work in the company of God, contemplating on Him every moment. [6]

He is our source, our vitality, and our fulfillment.  It is because of this relationship that we can proclaim like David, in the midst of losing everything, that the measuring line has been marked off in pleasant places.  Geoffrion writes, “The goal is to draw strength, encouragement, perspective, love and whatever else God has to offer into our lives in a more conscious way, so that we may experience God more fully and may reflect God to others more meaningfully.”[7]

Lord, since the beginning – with the Israelites camping around your presence and later  in the temple, You were at the center and central to everything.  Be central in our lives.  Let all that we do be with You in mind.  Draw us more fully into Your love and wonderful purposes.

 

 

 

 

1-7.   Geoffrion, Timothy, C.  The Spirit-Led Leader: Nine Leadership Practices and Soul Principles.   The Alban Institute, Herndon, VA.  2005.