What Believers Do When Hard Things Happen

I wonder if he ever saw it coming. Yes, there had been some family drama in the past, but did he have any hint that his son would betray him and undercut his leadership like he did? His own flesh and blood?

Nothing hurts worse than being forsaken, but when it’s by a family member, that’s devastating. Add this to the list of wounds sustained by David in his lifetime (II Samuel 15:1-17). From his journal posting in Psalm 3, it appears that David was completely (and perhaps naively) blindsided by Absalom’s self-centered plot. In that moment he felt as if everyone in the world had turned against him.

Everyone except God, that is.

When David was desperate – which was often – he always remained tethered to the reality that God was with him and for him. No matter how bleak the situation, he could always fall back into the certainty of God. Life would rock him, for a moment he would reel to and fro, until once again he found stability in the Rock of his salvation.

David was tough, but he was unique in that he was also tender enough to cry. In fact, this is how he coped with the hard things. By regularly crying out to the Lord, David repeatedly experienced resurgence in his spirit. Maybe there were tears involved, maybe not, but time and again David poured out his heart to the Father. He said,

“I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill.” Psalm 3:4 

Dealing with a hard situation today? Feeling alone in it? If so, I’ll remind you of something you may already know – that God loves you, He cares about you, and He would love to hear what’s on your heart.

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.