Have You Heard From God?

1 Samuel 30 :1-8

David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, and had taken captive the women and everyone else in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way. When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David’s two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God. Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, “Bring me the Ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him, and David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”

NIV: New International Version

Are you faced with extenuating circumstances ? Do you feel depressed by the weight of this world and all of its demands? Are you the leader of a group and expected to produce results which seem beyond your present capabilities? Are you a Mother or Father struggling with raising your teenager? Whatever your situation may be,have you taken the time to hear from God, regarding your situation. Have you taken the time to find out what his will is concerning your case? 

Many times the first thing we tend to do is run to a friend or another individual who may not always have the right answer. We may tend to murmur and complain? Ask ourselves why?  But do you ever go to God, and I mean by default. I know I don’t. My immediate response is usually to use my mouth and I don’t mean to pray. 

On reading the  above account of David’s circumstances after his camp was raided by the  Amelekites,two things left an impression.

1. David found strength in the Lord and;

2. David inquired of the Lord.

We read David’ s followers, mighty warriors, fighters were thinking of stoning him, they had left their comfortable homes to join him at Ziklag. He needed a solution and he needed one fast. As a worshiper David had grown to know where his strength came from. It was in God, only in Him could he find that solution. After hearing from God he followed through with what God had advised him to do. He also used wisdom and even hospitality to the Egyption slave that he met , who eventually led him to the Amelekites.

As God had promised David did recover ALL that had been taken from him. It was God's sovereign hand that had kept them alive in the first place and as always God knows the end of a thing even before it begins. 

So the next challenge that comes your way, before you run to a friend or begin to complain, run to God, hear his perspective and find out whether you should pursue a situation or leave it alone. God ‘s answers are always definite, he never leaves us in confusion, he either says Yes , No or wait.

Prayer: 

We give you honour father, we bless and adore your name, we worship you

We hallow your name

Lord we ask for your direction and your leading concerning this … ( name your situation)

We ask you to make your will known to us , clearly 

After we have heard from you, give us the strength to follow through with whatever you ask us to do. 

We pray that we will not be swayed by the opinions of people around us but will lean solely on your direction

In Jesus’s name we pray

Amen.