Lessons From The Life Of David
How did I end up here? Have you ever asked yourself something similar? I’m sure we’ve all experienced something similar to this. When the road we are traveling on takes us to a metaphorical dead end in the middle of nowhere, and we find ourselves pondering the question “How did I end up here?”
Is this just an unavoidable part of life, or is there wisdom for us that can help safeguard our journey?
Let’s go to an Old Testament passage of Scripture called 2 Samuel where we find a Biblical legend named David. David was no stranger to battle. He’s been right in the middle of the mud and the blood. For some reason, however, we find David, this great warrior king, chilling in his penthouse suite taking an afternoon nap in the time when kings go out to battle.
2 Samuel 11.1-5-Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings went out to battle, that David dispatched Joab and the army of Israel in full force to destroy the Ammonites. The army laid siege to Rabbah, but David stayed in Jerusalem. One late afternoon, David got up from taking his nap and was strolling on the roof of the palace. From his vantage point on the roof, he saw a woman bathing. The woman was stunningly beautiful. David sent to ask about her, and was told, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite?” David sent his servants to get her. After she arrived, he went to bed with her. Then she returned home. Before long she realized she was pregnant.
Comfort Over Calling
David should have been out in the battle with his men…dirty, cold, and covered in blood. He should have dressed down in his military fatigues, but instead, we find David in a fuzzy nightgown, snuggled up under his 500-thread-count Siberian goose down comforter…warm, comfortable, and safe.
This is where David’s “How did I end up here?” story begins. A seemingly small compromise.
“I’ll just stay in bed while all the kings go out to battle.”
Comfort and convenience slowly lull David to sleep.
It is a dangerous place to be. We make ourselves comfortable outside of who God has called us to be. And with that small compromise, the shepherd boy who had defeated Goliath with a stone and a sling, is facing a giant he’s not equipped to defeat.
When we turn away from the battle we were born for, we face battles we’re not equipped to win.
David would have been safer with swords and spears whizzing past his head, in the trenches with his men, than he ever could have been on that rooftop flat, all by himself. David wakes up from his nap, wipes the sleep from his eyes, and wanders up to his rooftop balcony where, from his vantage point, he sees a woman bathing, and she is stunningly beautiful.
How did I end up here? David was never supposed to be on that rooftop.
David’s Distraction
There she was, the most stunningly beautiful woman David’s war-weary eyes had ever seen, sitting in her rooftop jacuzzi. Bathsheba.
It could be easy to start judging King David right about now. But go easy on him…because I wonder if we might have a few Bathsheba’s in our own life.
I know I have some in my life. Distractions.
Things that, if not kept in check, undoubtedly distract me from my destiny. They will do damage to my soul and keep me from the abundant life that God has created me to live.
Distractions.
Things that matter little in light of eternity. They can very quickly fill up my life-capacity.
Time Management
What about this one…How am I using my time? There she is, the most stunningly beautiful woman my eyes have ever seen. Except her name isn’t Bathsheba. Maybe her name is:
Facebook.
Instagram.
Pinterest.
Twitter.
Youtube.
Netflix.
Hulu.
Xbox.
You know you have a problem when you forget your phone in the morning and all day you keep checking your pocket because you feel your phone vibrating…except there’s no phone in your pocket! It’s just phantom vibrations. (Guilty🙋🏼♀️)
Tally up all the hours you spend scrolling through someone else’s feed…looking at someone else’s life.
We:
- check out their spring break vacation, and their new car;
- look at other peoples’ relationships that seem perfect, and their engagement photos that are flawless;
- spend countless hours looking at their fall decorations, and their kids who are always wearing the cutest clothes.
And on, and on, and on.
Social Media Madness
After an hour of looking at other people’s lives via social media, it’s not hard to start feeling like your life is a little dull. We are comparing someone else’s highlight reel to our behind the scenes.
It’s social media, where we show the best and hide the rest.
I get it. It’s very subtle. But if we are honest, it’s selfish. And if we aren’t careful, it can perpetuate an underlying discontent in us that distracts us from who God says we are. It’s hard to see who God says you are when you’re preoccupied with measuring your life with friend number 295. Distraction.
Maybe your Bathsheba has a different name:
Work.
Offense.
Anger.
Resentment.
Money.
Status.
Control.
Fill in the blank.
How To Dismantle Distraction
I love this story in the life of King David because it doesn’t end in brokenness and defeat. David’s, “How did I get here?” story doesn’t ultimately end in disaster and your story doesn’t have to either. David messed up, but through all of David’s mistakes and shortcomings, God did not change his mind about David. God was crazy about David.
And that is the point!
This is how we dismantle distraction, discouragement, and discontent. The antidote for a distracted heart is to intentionally shift our focus onto the goodness of God! We have to fix our focus!
One of the reasons the Gospel is such good news is that it’s more about God than it is about us! The Gospel is about God reaching down to us, it’s about God looking graciously and mercifully upon us.
When we were in sin, and didn’t have anything to offer God, He reached down to us.
God chose us.
He didn’t get stuck with you. You weren’t a white elephant gift. He specifically went out looking for you! Through your life, he wants to do exceedingly and abundantly more than all you could ask or think.
God delights in you.
He smiles when He thinks about you…He is filled with joy over who you are.
Good News
Part of the problem is we think way too much about ourselves and not enough about Jesus. It’s ironic, but it’s true: the more we obsess about our problems, weaknesses, failures, and shortcomings the more we end up perpetuating them. But something powerful happens when we stop looking at ourselves and we start looking at Jesus. We begin to be more like Jesus.
If you feel stuck, at a dead-end, in a dry season, or lost in the proverbial middle of nowhere…stop focusing on that, and start focusing on Jesus.
Romans 12.1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.
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