Read 1 Samuel 30:1-20
Are you staggering in an unexpected crisis right now?
Maybe some challenge has hit you out of the blue? Crisis situations don’t warn us before they hit, do they? However, in God’s plan, the crisis may well be leading you to a ‘Divine Appointment’.
In 1 Samuel chapter 29, God had just helped David and his men get out of what was a difficult situation, in having to fight their own countrymen. In chapter 30, as they returned home, obviously with much thanks for God’s intervention, an unexpected crisis had struck. Their home city, Ziklag, had not only been raided and torched by the Amalekites (30:1), but their families had been taken captive (30:2). In the midst of the unimaginable sorrow they were feeling, David’s faithful men were even talking of stoning him (30:6). In this crisis situation however, the Bible says, ‘David found strength in the Lord’. As he did so, God began to turn the crisis into a ‘Divine Appointment’.
Under God’s direction David began to pursue the enemy, and eventually, in a vast land area, he unexpectedly found the very person who could lead him to the raiders (30:8-11). This was the dying servant of an Amalekite official who had been deserted, as he was sick and a burden. Since David spared the man’s life, he was more than willing to lead them to the raiders’ camp (30:15). As a result, David and his men won a great victory before any harm could come to their families and received back much, much more than what they thought they had lost (30:18-20).
An unexpected crisis can truly be turned into a ‘Divine Appointment’ by the Lord.
Illustration: At the age of 24, I faced an unexpected crisis as I developed a serious problem on my spine that needed surgery. I spent 25 days in hospital and life as a whole, as well as my future, looked extremely bleak. God had however planned a ‘Divine Appointment’, and many, many years later, thanks to His healing touch, I still haven’t had any surgery on my spine! He is the God of ‘Divine Appointments’.
Thought: Trust God to turn any unexpected crisis in your life at present into a ‘Divine Appointment’.
By Palitha Jayasooriya
Used by Permission
FURTHER READING
• Midlife Crisis – by Margaret C. Mullings
• Praying in a Crisis – Devotional by Charles Stanley
• Wandering Wounded – A Devotional by Christa Hardin