2 Samuel – Chapter 16

2 Samuel 16 Daily DEVO And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan. And there he refreshed himself. 2 Samuel 16:14 – The fact they arrived at their destination weary isn’t a surprise at all. Wouldn’t you be exhausted if for an entire journey you had someone following you, cursing you and your family, throwing rocks at you, and flinging dirt at you? As with David and this chapter of his story, we too will have people in our story who just seem to want to discourage us and bring us down. Let’s learn and follow how David handled his discourager. One, he trusted God to handle the punishment given to the discourager. Two, he sought out places and people to refresh him. Today, learn to let God handle those in your life that are discouraging you and seek out places and people that will encourage you. Unfortunately we will have individuals who are just discouraging to us in our story. Let’s not battle them with our words or attitudes, but learn to trust God with them and pour ourself into the areas that fill us rather than the process of stopping the drains. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 447

And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.” So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust. 2 Samuel 16:11-13 – This is long suffering. David has all the power, the reason, and right to come at this guy who was cursing him and throwing rocks at him. Yet he chose to continue walking, entrusting everything to God’s hands. Be wise enough to pause and think in situations like this if your reaction should be quick and swift or patient. You may have the power, the reason, and the right to react in a way that quickly handles the situation, but that may not be God’s will. Choose long suffering. Yes, the words are what they mean, that means you may have to suffer as a result of this choice…and for a long time. What you are doing though instead is entrusting justice to God and trusting God will use all this for good somehow. Be willing to pause, seek God’s counsel on your next move, and if the direction is to do nothing in reaction to the hurt, be willing to follow that direction. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1875