Over the past few weeks, I have been writing about faith. I hope you have been enjoying the posts as much as I have. Today I want to talk about a very important factor that plays a role in our faith – our attitude.
Let’s look at a Biblical example found in 1 Samuel 30. Prior to David becoming king, he had been living in a place called Ziklag. In this story, David and his men had been away from home. When they returned, they discovered tragedy had struck. The Amalekites “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.” (1 Samuel 30:1-2)
You can imagine how distressed David and his men were. In verse 4 it says that they “wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.” If that wasn’t bad enough, the men then turned on David. Verse 6 tells us that “the men were talking of stoning him.”
But I want to focus on something else from that same verse. In the King James Bible, verse 6 goes on to say, “David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.” The New King James Version says, “David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.” And the NIV and NLT versions say, “David found strength in the LORD his God.”
I love this verse and I think we can learn a lot from it. When we face something difficult, we have a choice to make. Are we going to let our despair take over? Or are we going to strengthen and encourage ourselves in the Lord? Strong faith will choose the latter. Strong faith will not have a pity party, but will press forward while tapping into the power of the Holy Spirit. Grief is something we might experience for a time, but we cannot stay there forever. We have to seek the Lord and find comfort and strength in Him.
This is what David did. In this story, he and his men wound up going after the Amalekites and they recovered everything and everyone that was taken. All the women, children, and other people were recovered. I have to wonder what ending this story would have had if David had NOT encouraged himself in the Lord?
When we face trials, we too should encourage ourselves in the Lord. We should run to God and trust Him with whatever we are facing. Nothing is a surprise to Him. He can help us get through our difficulties and come out the other side with joy and peace.
© 2020 Bridget A. Thomas
Photo courtesy of Pexels.
Christians Read 
I never thought about David’s attitude as he chose to strengthen himself in the Lord. It is so easy to despair and continue to sit in that situation mentally and emotionally.
Having an attitude of strong faith-reminds me that we are choosing to let our circumstances dictate how we feel or take the next step but instead saying God, I am trusting in you, in your character, in your promises and in the assurances of your presence with me to not feel defeated.
Thanks for sharing this Bridget 😊💙.
Wondering if you have not already put this series together in a book. If not I think it would be wonderful to have it all together.
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Yes! It can be so very easy to fall into despair. So many of us have struggled with despair over the last few months. Hearing the news and filling ourselves with the negative makes is worse. So it is important to stay positive and focus on the Lord and His strength. ✝️ Actually, yes, I have been thinking about putting these posts into a book! Great minds think alike! 😃 Thank you for the encouragement, my friend! ❤️
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So true. In our weakest moments, when we turn to Him, we are strongest.
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Good point! As it says in 2 Corinthians 12:10, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
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Not to be dramatic, but this just made my eyes water!! I needed this message today. Wow, especially the point about choosing God over self pity when things are rough.
I feel like I’ve been trying to power up on my own and that’s not where my strength comes from. I love the KJV “David ENCOURAGED himself in the Lord”
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Ironically, I really needed this message today too! And I needed your comment too. So thank you for stopping by and commenting. I am so glad to know that this post helped encourage you today. And in turn, you encouraged me as well. God bless! 💕
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God bless you, Bridget!
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Thank you, Bridget. We need this constant reminder. So many times my attitude has been changed when I seek the Lord.
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Yes! It can be easy to have a bad attitude when we focus on our circumstances. But focusing on God can turn everything around! Blessings! 💜
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Often when I find that I am struggling with something, it is because I have fallen back to depending on my own strength. My own strength can only get me so far though, and the strength I receive from God is so much more powerful. I think it’s important that we do what David did and look to God for our strength especially during trying times like this. Thank you for the message, it gave me something to think about 🙂
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Yes! Very good point! In fact, I will talking about that very thing this coming Thursday. So stay tuned! Thanks so much for stopping by and for commenting! I am really glad to know you enjoyed the post and got some insight out of it. 😊
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