WATERLOO AND ZIKLAG

Time with Jesus - Monday, 29 October 2012

Hi all,

Every instant in our lives is known by the Lord. In a way, none of us understand this. How can we have free will if He has planned the future? How can he arrange the circumstances for something like 9 billion people? How is it possible to say and believe Paul when he writes, ²⁸ And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them Romans 8:28 NLT I don’t know! I do know that He does. How does this apply to the holocaust? I don’t know. Only God knows and He hasn’t told us. Our meditation looks at a small slice of this.

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Monday, 29 October 2012			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	WATERLOO AND ZIKLAG
There are times in our lives which are absolutely critical. Our first was being born. From the comfort of the womb to an unknown world. I don’t know anyone who remembers the incident. Mothers probably do, but somehow the experience is forgotten when the infant is in her arms. During childhood, we go through a series of “critical” incidents. The first day at school. Finding out that Dad is Father Christmas. The onset of puberty. Our first “date”. Our very first kiss. They may not be critical in the accepted sense of the world. But to us at the time, they were pivotal. Things would never be quite the same again. My first really “critical” incident was in early December 1959. Due to my own stupidity, the “wheels came off” on my final day at School. It threw me into a state of anxiety from which I’ve not fully recovered. My future changed forever. University was “out” and my prospects were grim. Looking back some 53 years later, I see to what extent this impacted my life. I would have remained in South Africa. Instead, I was off to England to work as an apprentice and a career in engineering. This was my “Waterloo”. A “deathless Golgotha”. Like Napoleon, I went into exile. Not Saint Helena - Newcastle on Tyne in England! We all have incidents of this sort in our lives. In Christian terms we would speak about a “crucifixion”. Times when the bottom falls out of our world and we are thrown into the hand of our Creator. On reflection, we could say that the incident was directly from the hands of the Lord to achieve a purpose only He knows. Embarrassment, rejection, accusing tongues, slander and in some instances, death threats. I often feel God lights the fire and gets the oven nice and hot. Then He puts us into the situation to test our metal. Silver, gold or wood, hay and stubble? He does this because He loves us. He loves us too much to leave us like an unbroken mare or stallion. For David the incident was Ziklag. It happened toward the end of his days of running from Saul. This incident, measuring 7.5 on the “JHWH scale” shook David to his very roots. He had been anointed by Samuel as king. But if he didn’t come up with something in double quick time, he would be lying dead in what was left of Ziklag after a visit by the Amalekites! What would David do? To me this situation has all the fingerprints of God. “David, do you trust Me?” is the unasked question. Read about it in 1 Sam 30. David turned to God for encouragement. He “encouraged himself” in the Lord is the way the KJV translates the passage. How do we deal with such calamities? Are we going to wilt and crumble? Will we turn to Him? Do we realise that this is a trial from His hand? It’s a case of sink or swim! Jim and Phyllida Strickland			6 David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the LORD his God. 1 Samuel 30:6 NLT 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, John 6:68 ESV 12 That's why I'm suffering the way I am. But I'm not ashamed. I know the One I have believed in. I am sure he is able to take care of what I have given him. I can trust him with it until the day he returns as judge. 2 Timothy 1:12 NIrV 6 I called on the LORD in my distress. I cried to my God for help. He heard my voice from his temple, and my cry for help reached his ears. Psalms 18:6 GW 18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support. 19 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. Psalms 18:18-19 TNIV Of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away. 1 I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Psalms 34:1-4 ESV 8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Psalms 34:8 ESV	We know about what happened at a place called “Waterloo”. The Frenchmen were defeated; Napoleon was through. It was his final battle; the one he had to win! And when he was defeated; the trouble he was in! Sent to Saint Helena, until the day he died. European “justice” to him was thus applied. So Waterloo was pivotal. He couldn't carry on. His opportunity was lost. Napoleon was gone. Each of us is similar. Upon a certain date, We have to go through something which somehow seals our fate. Dates are cast in concrete. But it’s how we react, That changes situations. That’s an established fact. For David it was Ziklag. This was his Waterloo. With “situation critical”, what would our hero do? He’d gone off with his army. To lead his men to war. And when the men came home again, the town was there no more. It seems that the Amalekites had marched into the town. They had flattened Ziklag and burned the whole place down. The women and the children were all carried away. His warriors were furious; now what could David say? The men were getting restless. Revolt was in the air. Then David was decisive. He turned to God in prayer. And in that situation he found encouragement. There was no outward evidence. But it was his intent, To chase that raiding army and bring his people back. And if he didn't do it soon, his warriors would crack. We know that he succeeded; that all things worked out well. The prisoners recovered, as Scripture clearly tells! Take notice of what happened. This was his “Waterloo”. He would not be defeated and found out what to do. He could bemoan what happened, fall on his knees and weep. He knew that would be fatal. So David took a leap, Of faith in God Almighty and found encouragement! This attitude in David was surely heaven sent! He asked the Lord to help him. To help him overcome. He didn’t wane or falter till victory was won. So if your life is crumbling; you’re at your “Waterloo” Find encouragement in God; He’ll show you what to do. Jim Strickland Written 29th October 2012