Examples from Kind David

Someday, according to 1 Samuel chapter 30, King David and his men returned from an assignment only to find that their camp had been invaded by the Amalekites and all their wives and children were carried away as captives. David and all his men were in such despondency that they wept till they had no more strength to weep. Then, the men turned their frustration on David and they wanted to stone him. 1 Samuel 30:6(a)- ''David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters.....(NIV)''

But in the midst of that, David realised that he could generate a force within himself that would change the situation so he did something outstanding. 1 Samuel 30:6(b)-''....David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.'' You may find yourself in such a situation where everything seems to be working against you and rather than offer you encouragement, the people around you are castigating you. That is not the time to sit down in hopelessness, it is the time to get encouraged so as to locate the way forward and the best person to encourage you is you. From David's story, it is clear that there is no one on earth that can do anything to discourage you. People who talk about discouragement are simply not putting to use the force that is on their inside. If only you can stir it up, it will beat hands down all hopelessness and discouragement around you. Have you ever wondered how some people in the midst of criticism and castigation wax stronger and stronger? It is simply because rather than looking outwards, they have decided to focus inwards; to look at the treasures within and draw out what it takes to move forward inspite of all oppositions.

When you look outward, you are strengthening your enemies against yourself, but when you look inward you are strengthening yourself against your enemies. Those who look outward end up weakened, but those who look inward end up strengthened. That is what David did. He encouraged himself in the Lord and he was strengthened. He was able to receive direction for what next to do. So, he assembled men together and they went back to fight and recovered ALL that was stolen.

Often times we claim that other people do not care for us but you know, nobody can care for you like you. Nobody can handle your life better than yourself. The earlier you accept this truth the better for you, because no matter how much someone is helping you, one day he will withdraw either deliberately or otherwise. As you can see from that story, David never looked to someone to encourage him, neither did he shift responsibility and begin to blame people for his predicament, but he went straight on to encourage himself. Please accept the responsibility of catering for yourself. Take charge of your life and move forward.