Notice on a slight format change:

Except for July 2012, these are mostly a collection of current devotional notes.

July 2012 is a re-write of old quiet times. My second child was born Nov 11, 1987 with multiple birth defects. I've been re-reading my QT notes from that time in my life, and have included them here. They cover the time before the birth and the few years immediately after the birth. They are tagged "historical." I added new insights and labeled them: ((TODAY, dd mmm yy)).

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

QT 20 Nov 13, Don't miss out on the joy for fear of the disappointment

1 Sam 26:6-12 (ESV) Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab's brother Abishai the son of Zeruiah, "Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?" And Abishai said, "I will go down with you." 7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him. 8 Then said Abishai to David, "God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice." 9 But David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless?" 10 And David said, "As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. 11  The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord's anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go." 12 So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.

NOTE: David puts into words his philosophy of God's sovereignty. Because Saul was anointed by God as king, David felt that he had no right to lift his hand against him. Technically, Saul was a fellow Israelite and fellow believer in the same God. David had no authority or command to go after Saul. He did have a promise that he would be king, but that no time frame was specified. David knew he would die by one of three methods: 1) God would strike him, 2) his day to die would come (old age), or 3) he would die in battle. But for David to kill him, it would be murder. He had no right to take Saul's life. If it came to battle, maybe David could strike Saul to save himself, but that day never came. David waited upon God. He did not take things into his own hands, even when others around him were encouraging him to do so.

Tomorrow I face a major decision point in my life. It is a job opportunity that I hope will happen. But it might not. How will I face disappointment if I don't get what I so desire? Joy is a part of life but so is disappointment. We can try to protect ourselves from disappointment by dismissing the joy, but then we live life trying to keep everything on an even keel. Life has its ups and downs, and my reactions really don't change much. I am hopeful and joyful over the prospects tomorrow. I can't influence the decision and I don't want to. I want to be like David and wait upon God's timing. I may be disappointed again, but life will continue. And I know that God has my best interests at heart. I need to be committed to things that he has given me to do. And right now, that is my current job.

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