Hi folks, I was prompted to write this after reading an article about King David's time in his cave. It's the place we all need to go sometime when troubles pile up in our lives, when all our earthly supports have been taken away. When it seems we are all alone and there is no end in sight to the troubles which overwhelm us. I could fully empathise with David's feelings of despair and hopelessness, when he was being hounded by King Saul's soldiers, his mentor the prophet Samuel had died and his friend Jonathan could do nothing to help him......
My trials and troubles have been different as I'm sure have those of everyone else... The death of a loved one; the break down of a marriage; an unrelenting illness in ones child; the loss of a job and as such ones income and economic security; a debilitating illness in ourselves; persecution for ones faith, race, political beliefs or ideology are all major life events that can threaten our happiness, mental well-being, health or emotional stability. And woe betide us if a number of these events all happen at the same time, as they have done on several occasions on my life I must admit!!! That's when we retreat, collapse, and hide away in our caves till we regain our strength.
That's often when we learn the most important things about ourselves. It's when we discover or rediscover I should say our hidden strengths. It's when we discover God and realise He has ALWAYS been there with and for us, we were just too wrapped up in the cares of this world to recognise and appreciate his presence!!! It's where we come face to face with our human frailties, failings and inadequacies, where we can finally admit we are out of our depth and need help [like crazy]... It's where God now fills us with his power that strengthen us in our weakness, [if we would only let Him]. It's where we come to realise that we never had any control over our lives in the 1st place, even when things were seemingly going smoothly.
It's where I have come to depend and rely on God to lead and direct my paths; to trust in him for all things and at all times. I am sure there are a few wonderful select people who don't need to go through the cave experience to learn how to trust God or rely on his strength. But I would hazard a guess that most of us are like King David and even my humble self, who only come to the true knowledge of God and self, by the trials that mould and shape us, as we enter into our caves for a season of growing, strengthening and renewing.
So next time when troubles come knocking on our doors, before we get into a panic and start running around like headless chickens, as I'm often wont to do, ha ha ha. Let's all take a step back and say "hey world, hold on a minute there whilst I go into my cave to seek and consult with my God. Then and only then will I answer you."
Lets look at our times in the "cave" as periods of refreshing, as a kind of necessary spiritual retreat... And lets pray that as we mature and are strengthened by his grace, we will need to retreat into our caves less often and for increasingly shorter periods of time, shalom...
My trials and troubles have been different as I'm sure have those of everyone else... The death of a loved one; the break down of a marriage; an unrelenting illness in ones child; the loss of a job and as such ones income and economic security; a debilitating illness in ourselves; persecution for ones faith, race, political beliefs or ideology are all major life events that can threaten our happiness, mental well-being, health or emotional stability. And woe betide us if a number of these events all happen at the same time, as they have done on several occasions on my life I must admit!!! That's when we retreat, collapse, and hide away in our caves till we regain our strength.
That's often when we learn the most important things about ourselves. It's when we discover or rediscover I should say our hidden strengths. It's when we discover God and realise He has ALWAYS been there with and for us, we were just too wrapped up in the cares of this world to recognise and appreciate his presence!!! It's where we come face to face with our human frailties, failings and inadequacies, where we can finally admit we are out of our depth and need help [like crazy]... It's where God now fills us with his power that strengthen us in our weakness, [if we would only let Him]. It's where we come to realise that we never had any control over our lives in the 1st place, even when things were seemingly going smoothly.
It's where I have come to depend and rely on God to lead and direct my paths; to trust in him for all things and at all times. I am sure there are a few wonderful select people who don't need to go through the cave experience to learn how to trust God or rely on his strength. But I would hazard a guess that most of us are like King David and even my humble self, who only come to the true knowledge of God and self, by the trials that mould and shape us, as we enter into our caves for a season of growing, strengthening and renewing.
So next time when troubles come knocking on our doors, before we get into a panic and start running around like headless chickens, as I'm often wont to do, ha ha ha. Let's all take a step back and say "hey world, hold on a minute there whilst I go into my cave to seek and consult with my God. Then and only then will I answer you."
Lets look at our times in the "cave" as periods of refreshing, as a kind of necessary spiritual retreat... And lets pray that as we mature and are strengthened by his grace, we will need to retreat into our caves less often and for increasingly shorter periods of time, shalom...
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| Feeling refreshed after my time out in the cave... |
1 comment:
Thanks Popeyedad I am glad this resonated with you. I write from the heart about issues that touch me. And I guess since there is nothing new under the sun, then somewhere out there someone has felt the same things too.
If I can encourage just one person, then my job is done, cheers.
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