Do You Play it Safe?

1 Samuel 16:14-23

           

The Spirit of the Lord has “rushed” on David, The Spirit of the Lord as left Saul, and yet, for now, Saul is still king. In this passage we see God’s masterful and providential hand. While Saul begins to receive punishment for disobeying God, David gets thrown right into the lions lair.

            While Saul is being tormented by an evil spirit, someone in his court mentions that there just might be this boy in Bethlehem that can help. Now imagine that you are Jessie, David’s father. Your son has been secretly anointed king because if it was made public his life would be threatened by the standing king. This standing king, Saul, is now specifically sending for your son. Can you imagine the fear of sending your son to likely the most dangerous place he could possibly go?

            Working in ways that only God can do, God sends David to comfort Saul with his skill in music. Along the way his other talents are discovered and he becomes so close to Saul that he ends up his armor-bearer. By the world’s standards this is the most dangerous place for David to be. By God’s standards David couldn’t be any safer than being exactly where God wants him. David flourishes as he relies on God’s Spirit and power, Saul flounders and suffers without it as he relies on himself. The contrast couldn’t be more stark than it is in this passage.

Lessons:

We are never safer than when we are in the will of God. No matter what the world says about physical or financial security, we need to follow God’s call for us and not always fall back on what the world says is safe and prudent. That doesn’t mean that we are foolish for foolishness sake but sometimes God shows his power in our lives when he puts us in places where only he can work.

Let your friends or family members follow God’s will, not yours. Sometimes parents try and steer their children away from missionary service or from ministry in general because it isn’t very financially rewarding or perhaps it’s even downright dangerous. The truth is it would be more dangerous for them to disobey God. The safest you can ever be is when you are obeying God no matter where that might take you or what it looks like by the world’s standards. So, which form of safety will you choose? Gods? or something else…