Text: I Samuel 13 & 17
Bad suffering situations are those we cause ourselves. Good suffering is for the Word's sake.
In this passage, Saul is waiting for Samuel to arrive and sacrifice to God. When Samuel is late, he grows impatient. Impatience produces pressure to act. The hasty decision in most cases, including this one, is the wrong thing.
When Samuel confronts Saul, he makes excuses.
1) He blames those under him (the people).
2) He blames those over him (Samuel).
3) He blames those against him (the Philistines).
Instead of accepting responsibility and repenting, Saul points at everyone else. Like him, if we are continually in pressure situations and blaming everyone around us, we're developing a hard heart.
On the other hand, David faced a pressure situation in a different way. He hears Goliath defy the armies of the Lord. Unlike Saul, faith rises in his heart and he doesn't change course. The other soldiers heard the same words, had the same opportunity to face the giant, but it produced fear in them instead of faith.
APPLICATION: The goal is that no matter if pressure comes upon us or we walk into it, we don't change. We must learn this where we are now in life before we can get to where we are going.
It doesn't matter how we got into the situation, whether it's through something we did, something another person did, or persecution for the Word's sake. What matters is how we respond: in fear or in faith.
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