The struggle you’re facing right now, it’s necessary. It’s the battles that build us!
David ran from Saul for years. He was the anointed King and had been nothing but loving to Saul.
But still, Saul relentlessly attempted to take his life.
And it was necessary.
David probably wondered – “Why”?
He wrote several Psalms during this time, praying for God to avenge him.
If I’m David, my thoughts are – “Lord, you called me to do this. Why are you allowing Saul to constantly chase after me to take my life?”
I know our boy Dave got tired of running, and tired of fighting.
Knowing my attitude, I would have been like, “What’s up now God?! I’m sick of him!”
But David didn’t realize that everything Saul was putting him through was necessary.
Saul had no clue that God was using him to train David into the King The Israelites needed him to be.
All the running David did from Saul and all the self-restraint showed in his refusal to kill him was training him for his role.
God calls David a man after God’s own heart. And it was the training that made him such.
What if every battle we face is just God taking us through the necessary training that gets us to whatever is next? The training might not be running through the wilderness to escape death. But whatever it is, it’s likely equally as awful to the person enduring it.
The problem is we don’t get to see things in reverse. So we can’t see until after the fact why things had to go the way they went. David didn’t know either. He was frustrated, and he couldn’t understand why God allowed Saul to harass him. But later, when he fought against the Philistines or the Amalekites, he was a prepared soldier, ready for the task.
God is proactive. He’s not reactive. He goes before us and prepares us.
So whatever hardship you’re facing, consider it preparation. Take a page from David’s book and call out to The Lord.
Tell God all about your problem, and about how you’re tired of it.
Tell him how frustrated you are and how you don’t understand it.
Then get up and keep fighting, remembering it’s necessary. it’s the battles that build us, and it’s for your good – later.
