I wonder about the Queen of Sheba who went to visit King Solomon. She had heard of his great wisdom and when she arrived, she realized that Solomon was far wiser than she had even imagined. I wonder if she was more popular when she went home, because she had been to see the “wise one”. That’s what leaders do, isn’t it? They search out wisdom. They try to find answers. They seek knowledge.
It’s a great story and I hope you will read it again. My purpose of this post is not the main theme of the story; my focus is the little boy. We tend to read this story for the purposes of David and Jonathan, and while they are certainly central characters in God’s story, so was the little boy.
This year, after years of encouragement, I finally published some of those devotionals into a book. Today (again after much encouragement), I decided to give copies away on this week’s Free Fridays. I will give away five (5) copies today.
I have talked to dozens of marriages in need of help, but the couples are too ashamed or proud to ask for it or accept it. Somehow, I think if we admitted that all marriages struggle at times, it would help the ones in trouble to seek the help they need.
I was reminded recently that God is powerful enough for the giants in my life. Reading the story of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17) recently challenged me to step out of my comfort zone and attack some of the current challenges I have in my life.
“It happened, late one afternoon…” 2 Samuel 11:2
…and the rest is history…
It was just a normal afternoon, until David crossed the line…
I have tried this quick assessment with marriages in distress several times and it opens the couple’s eyes and my eyes to the real state of their marriage. If you are dealing with a marriage following a major event, mistake or disappointment, considering trying this process. If the marriage in distress is yours, considering a self-assessment of your marriage.
The fact is, as I’ve said before, this world is messed up, broken and impossible to navigate on our own. God will allow more than we can handle ON OUR OWN, because His greatest desire is that we learn to rely on Him completely. The power we have within us to face life’s trauma is the power of Christ. I have had countless times in my life where life was desperate enough that I finally recognized that apart from the grace of God, I could not handle life. I think that’s what God is looking for from His children and that’s a more comforting message to share with people in distress.
This was honestly a challenging message for me to deliver to our church, but I’m afraid many times as believers we are tempted to look for the comfortable over the things that God would call us to do. Listen to last weeks message as I share some “encouragement” not to get too comfortable.
Every 7-year period in a marriage appears to create additional stress to the marriage. I have never understood the phenomenon, and I have no statistical data to support my observations, but I have seen the results of it many times.
