Putting out fires. Sometimes that's what it feels we are doing. As soon as we get one fire put out, another one starts somewhere else! We recently discovered that our toilet was leaking. That'll get fixed today. Before that it was the pipes still freezing. RM took care of that. Before that it was chickens getting loose, running across the road (why does the chicken cross the road???) That still has to be taken care of. Now we have to work on moving kids around the house to fit in the right bedrooms as little boys are growing out of their toddler beds and big girls need their space.....ahhhhhh.....the list goes on and on....To top it off, if we aren't running from fire to fire, we are running from bill to bill. Just as we are paid up on every bill, another one shows up. Yet somehow we are always able to make the payments, sometimes in the 11th hour, which can be stressful, but at least they are getting paid!
This was hardly King David's experience, but then again, it kind of was. I enjoyed reading his running-around-the wilderness chapters so much. Each chapter's subtitles read something like this, "David Flees Here" or "David in this Cave" or "David Narrowly Misses Being Killed Here". It must have been super annoying to be running for your life all the time! Never having a decent meal, a pillow, or even your best friend to support you! Just when he thought he was safe, Saul would show up again.
But I love his story so much. He had to call on God all the time and God always answered him. He always provided an escape and his enemies never won, even when they had inside information where he was hiding. In one situation, "David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, a messenger cam to Saul saying, 'Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.' So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the ROCK OF ESCAPE." We have so many "Rock of Escape" stories. If I could just put a rock in our house for each time God gave us an escape, I'm sure I could have built quite the wall by now.
David did nothing to deserve his bad treatment. He had a chance to kill Saul in one of the caves, but he did not. "For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it." (1 Sam. 24:11) Sometimes we find ourselves in tough situations just because. God was preparing David. He was in God's Seminary just like we are. I often feel like I am in one cave one day and then another cave the next day. We run from cave to cave just like David! We feel pursued from either a banker or some other "Saul". But God gives us "Rocks of Escape", too, and it isn't because of anything we've done. It's because God is training us. We cry out to God just as David did. There was light eventually at the end of the tunnel, though it must have seemed like an eternity to David.
Yet God did surround him with supporters. This is funny. He didn't surround him with people who had it all together. He surrounded him with people who were also struggling. Read the list of friends, "And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul..." (1 Sam. 22:2) Kind of sounds like our friends! We have a number of friends that are in those states right now, in distress, in debt, and bitter in soul. But I love having these people around me. We encourage one another. We fight together. We help one another out.
Then there's Abigail. The lady who had to step in for her foolish husband. She is described as "discerning and beautiful" whereas her husband is "harsh and badly behaved". I much prefer the first description and would love to be known as that! She knew her husband had done David wrong and stepped in on his behalf. She also knew God was fighting for David. She said, "If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be BOUND IN THE BUNDLE OF THE LIVING IN THE CARE OF THE LORD YOUR GOD." 1 Sam. 25:29) I loved that description of how God cared for David, "bound in the bundle", "of the living", "in the care of the Lord your God". Great phrases. David was being pursued by his enemies, putting out fires, running from cave to cave, but he was "bound in the bundle". Nothing happened to him that the Lord didn't know about.
These are all reminders for me as I run from cave to cave, from things that seem like enemies hot on my trail. I know that there will be more "Rocks of Escape". I know that sometimes I'm in trouble because of choices I've made, but other times it is just because God is training me and wanting me to cry out to Him. I'm grateful for my motley crew of friends and family who support me in all my wilderness wanderings. I'm also grateful for the ways I see that I am bound in God's bundle. I receive hugs from heaven all the time. This past week a card showed up in the mail, completely unexpected from a friend that I've been trying to support over the last few months. She was thanking me for my support, but in actual fact, her card was more of a way of giving me support! It contained a word from the Lord where she reminded me that the Lord will "never leave us or forsake us". How did she know that I needed to hear that on that day? Proof that I am bound in the bundle.
David's example of cave running is a perfect message for me today.
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