Corona Devo 172

Some days we just need a buddy.  

It feels like everyone and everything is against us, and we are no longer staying afloat on our own.  The waters keep rising and we need a friend to pull us in to safety.

Or...scan the "waters" around you: is one of our buddies getting dangerously close to drowning in the waves of life?  If the Lord has put someone on your heart or right in front of you, please consider it a privilege and a duty to reach out to them and encourage them in Christ.

God designed us to live in community with others, and when we sense someone in our "community" struggling, we can make a difference by connecting with them, and reminding them of God's love and purpose for them.  

It might be you that needs a friend and a word of encouragement.  Or it might be the name of the friend that God has flashed across your mind as you are reading right now.  

I'm not sure what your or your buddy's situation is, but God knows it.  He knows what we are going through, running from, or seeking peace about.  And He might be sending a friend your way to love on you.  Or--he might be sending you to go to a friend.

David liked King Saul, but the King had a love/hate relationship with David. King Saul sometimes loved David, and sometimes hated him.  To make a long Bible story short, Saul was jealous of David.  More than a few times, Saul pursued David to kill him.  But the fear and worry of someone seeking your life never becomes dull, and so David was in a rough spot.  He had done nothing wrong to Saul, and David did his best to serve the Lord and seek His will, but the waves of fear and the (physical and mental) exhaustion of being pursued by evil were wearing him down.  He needed a buddy.  God sent him one.

 14 David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the desert of Ziph.  Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.  15 While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life.  16 Then Saul's son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and encouraged him in his faith in God.  ~I Samuel 23:14-16

Sometimes we need a buddy.  David needed one.  Do you need one today?  I pray that the Lord might send a friend to encourage (you) in (your) faith in God.  And it may be that this devotional (me!) is the friend that God has sent to you.  God has a plan for you, and we will uncover that plan if we can stay encouraged in our faith in God.  

And, if we are the buddy that God is sending, then by all means, let's get on our way to "Horesh" today so that we can encourage _____ in (their) faith in God.

Jonathan spoke words of reassurance to David.  They were also words of peace.  But most importantly, they were words of Truth.  David feared being killed by Saul.  But Jonathan (sent by God), put those fears to rest, and reminded David of the Truth.  Sometimes I think we need to speak life and (God's truth) into others because the world, or fear, or anxiety has clouded their view of reality.  Jonathan did just that:

17 Don't be afraid," he said.  "My father Saul will not lay a hand on you.  You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you.  Even my father Saul knows this." ~I Samuel 23:17

 When David needed a friend, Jonathan came alongside him.  Jonathan met David in his despair and spoke words of God's truth into him and encouraged him in his faith in God (I Samuel 23:16).

If you need that encouragement today, I pray that you feel it and sense God coming alongside you through His Word.  

And if we can be that buddy to someone today, take the initiative to act in love.  

Just as Jonathan came to David in Horesh and encouraged him in his faith in God. (I Samuel 23:16), I pray that we can go where ever we need to go to meet a buddy and encourage them in their faith in God.

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com


 



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