The Lord Is Your Only Guarantee

When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept, until they had no more strength to weep. David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David was in great danger; for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in spirit for their sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. – 1 Samuel 30:3-6 
 
When you first start reading today’s key passage, you begin to understand all of the horrible things that happened for David. But then, things take a turn for the better when David, in the midst of all of this tragedy and loss, takes inventory of what he has left.  
 
I actually found this quite shocking as I was reading this passage. Rather than being overwhelmed by the totality of his losses recorded in verses 3-5, and they were many, rather than being frightened by the great danger referenced in verse 6, the Bible says at the end of verse 6 that David strengthens himself in the Lord.  
 
I need you to pay close attention to this: David loses his property, his possessions, his family, everything, but rather than being consumed with the enormity of his losses, he spends time relying on the one thing the Amalekites could not take from him, and that was his faith and his relationship with God. 
 
We can learn a valuable lesson from David’s response to great loss. Through his story, we are reminded that everything on Earth is temporary. Nothing is certain and nothing is guaranteed, except for our relationship with the Lord. At the end of the day, He’s all we can count on, and He will always be there, even if we lose everything and everyone else. My prayer is that you will take comfort and peace from that truth today, and that you will never forget that the Lord is your only true constant in every stage and season of life.