SURVIVING BAD TIMES (3)
HOW TO SURVIVE BAD TIMES (3)
Today, we shall be looking at the third strategy to surviving bad times, which is, “DO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS”. David became a fugitive, after his display of insanity, he ran to the cave of Adullam where he wrote the book of Psalm 142. God gave David emotional support. He provided David with his family. Then God gave David practical support. He gave David a job to do. Instead of sitting around feeling sorry for himself, God gave David the challenge of organizing one of the most unlikely armies imaginable. The “three D’s” began to gather around David: The Distressed, the Debtors, and the Discontented. These were not men trained for battle. This was group of malcontents, many of whom could probably not get along with anyone.
How would one even start to shape this group of misfits into something resembling an army? I do not know, but David accepted God’s challenge. Soon David was busy again, active in fulfilling the will of the Lord. He was building the power base for his kingdom. He was developing leadership that would stay with him throughout his reign. When 2 Samuel 23 tells of David’s “mighty men,” we read, “Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David . . . to the cave of Adullam” (23:13). When David became king, his “cabinet” came from those he had trained and learned to trust as they fought side by side in the wilderness. When the bad times come and we act foolishly, one of the best ways to get our heads back on straight is to concentrate on the challenges God places before us—to get busy helping others and stop feeling sorry for ourselves.
Finally, God gave David spiritual support. 1 Samuel 22:5 notes: “And the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.” At some point Gad joined David’s forces and became one of his advisers. After David became king, Gad was his “seer.” Eventually, Gad was one of the chroniclers of David’s reign. Saul killed eighty-five priests of the Lord, Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech escaped and came to David. David did not blame Saul, Abimelech or Doeg; David, however, placed the blame nowhere else and made no excuses. He said, I am responsible.
Any of us might act foolishly when the bad times come—but that does not mean we are not responsible for our foolishness. When we finally come back to our senses, let us be honest enough and big enough to accept the responsibility for our own actions. Let us not blame others for how we act; let us not blame the situation; let us accept personal responsibility. It is possible we may need to face someone we have hurt, as David faced Abiathar. We may need to say, “I’m sorry, but I lost my head. I acted a bit foolishly for a while; I have no excuse for what I did or said. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.” We cannot survive the bad times with our integrity intact without accepting responsibility for our own actions.
Word Affirmation: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." – Ephesians 1:3 (Don't just say it, mean it!)
“We cannot survive the bad times with our integrity intact without accepting responsibility for our own actions.”
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