1 Samuel 30:1-6 (NKJV)

Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire,

2 and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way.

3 So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.

4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no more power to weep.

5 And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive.

6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

We live in a fallen world, one whose prince is the devil; the author of chaos and destruction. So, it is no wonder oftentimes we find ourselves smack center in negative and difficult situations and that’s just how it is. We can’t escape negativity in this world, the word says in this life, we shall have tribulations, so buckle up and get ready. Our response in those situations is what we must and should concern ourselves with

In the text above, we run into a dejected King David, who in the previous chapter had been denied help by the Philistines and now gets to Ziklag, only to realize that his family and the families of his men had been carted away by the enemy and all they owned was up in flames 🔥

Then things get even worse, though he has suffered a similar fate as that of his men, in their grief they determine that stoning him to death will be required to assuage them

David is in a pickle no doubt, but that last sentence in our text teaches us what to do in the face of overwhelming negativity

“But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God”

Let’s unpack that line

1. But: you must determine in your heart that this is not how your story ends. Determine that you’ve had enough wallowing and self-pity, you should shake yourself up and determine that you’ve reached an inflection point, a place where you make a 180-degree turn, reject the negativity around you, and head in the opposite direction. This is possible because you can do all things through Christ who gives you the strength. The power you need for your “but” is available

2. David strengthened himself in the Lord: you must take responsibility for drawing for yourself the required encouragement that comes from the Lord who lives on the inside of every believer. 1 Jn 4:4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. This is not a job you can outsource or transfer to anyone else. As a believer, God is the source of our strength, when things look crazy around us, we look inside! The key is to call to remembrance all that the Lord has told us in those moments of negativity, which brings us to the last words in that sentence

3. His God: you must have a personal and fulfilling relationship with God, that becomes your anchor in the moments of negativity. Stock up on the word of God, so that when life tries and it will try to squeeze you, you’ll simply pour out what’s already inside you; the indefatigable, unchanging, transforming, and victorious WORD OF GOD