**I had fainted, unless i had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.** Psalm 27:13
Even though we looked at this verse a couple of days ago, it is worth a second look.
David is overwhelmed because of the attacks and pursuit of his enemies. His enemies often manifested in real people….kings, his son, his friend….but we also understand that our enemies are not always someone we can see and hear.
As children of God, we have invisible enemies of darkness and evil that do all they can to get in our way and keep us from doing what we want to do for God’s kingdom. What can we do to fight back against these unseen impediments?
Giving up is the wrong answer. And letting them win is not helpful either. So, does David teach us something that we can use today in our spiritual and human conflicts?
To start, David encouraged himself in the LORD. How did he do that? Let’s look quickly at a few things he did.
He went back to what he knew about God according to what the Bible said. He reminded himself of what God had already taught him in earlier battles. All of us can do that, right? We can stop and spend some time thinking of what we already know and how we can use it today to get through the latest problem. And if the circumstances are new, then we can dig in to find answers or talk to someone who has already faced what we are facing to get some good counsel.
If you are familiar with the Psalms, you also know that David had a habit of gratitude and praise, no matter what kind of circumstance he was in. He knew that the bigger he made God in his own heart, the greater God would manifest himself in the solutions to his problems.
Prayer is an obvious answer to find a way out of sticky situations. Communication with an Omnipotent God surely will give us ideas on how to resolve any issue.
Lastly, I think most of our issues are not with Kings or foreign armies, but with family and friends. Learning to be a better listener, to be more empathetic, to try to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes for a few minutes, and to learn how to communicate our own needs would go far in resolving conflicts sooner. (Ephesians 4:32)
** I had fainted unless I had BELIEVED to see the goodness of the LORD…** …HOPE…knowing that God will always do what is good and right, that He will always know our heart and our need, that He will always find a way to encourage and strengthen us and get us back on our feet.
Believe. Believe that God will do you good. That any good thing that comes your way, especially on the bad days, is a love gift from him. Watch for it. Don’t miss it. And then basking in the greatness of his love for you is a sure remedy for a day when no matter what you try and do, someone is there to knock you down.