Second Wind

Life can deal some tough situations. These situations can bring feelings of depression, anger, and pain. You don’t feel good about anything and you want to lash out (on someone or something). You know something needs to be done to correct your situation (before something terrible happens), but your motivation isn’t there. You want nothing more than to slip away into the dark abyss that has diminished your vitality. So how do you stop the downward spiral? How do you get your second wind?

Let’s read about a ‘stressful’ situation for King David and his men:

1 Samuel 30:1-6 – And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

Before this unfortunate event, David, his 600 men, and their wives and children fled to the land of the Philistines (Ziklag) to escape the wrath of Saul (1 Samuel 27:1-4).  In time, the Philistines were preparing to battle the Israelites and David and his men were preparing to fight with the Philistines, but the Philistine princes were against it. Achish discussed the matter with David and sent him and his men home.

When David and his men returned to Ziklag, they found it burned, raided, and their families were taken captive. This caused so much distress among them that they lost the strength to weep and spoke of stoning David. David himself was greatly distressed as well, but instead of allowing the depression and despair totally consume him, he went to the Lord to strengthen himself.

Though the challenges we face are different, we each can find the encouragement we need in the Lord. During these times in our lives, it may feel like the Lord is too far away to help us. We feel trapped with no rescuer in sight, cocooning ourselves from the world. In Isaiah 59:1, the Lord is speaking to the Israelites on another matter, but He tells them, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heave, that it cannot hear” (KJV). Though we may not feel like reaching out in our times of despair, we must know that the Lord is never too far from us…we must call upon Him.

The end result of many of our situations may not end the way we want, but these situations don’t have to bring irrevocable physical and emotional damage. The Lord can give you the strength you need to continue on…and help others do the same. The most important thing for you to remember is not to give up. Don’t allow painful situations to rob you. Many of the situations you face do not have to become permanent situations – unless you allow them to be. There is another way…

Let’s close with a continuation of our discussion on King David:

1 Samuel 30:7-19 – And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor. And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water; And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights. And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick. We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire. And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company. And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled. And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.

^{Photo courtesy of freeimages.com/Tory Byrne}