My Wilderness is NOT Yours

Have you ever wondered what you would do in certain situations? 

Have you ever look at someone else and thought you’d do a better job at handling a crisis than them?

I’ve read about King David many times, and I’ll admit there are things in his life that I think I could have done better (you’re probably shocked, I mean, this man took down a giant and is in the lineage of Christ, but he is flawed- as we all are). 

Let me explain before you stop reading- I don’t think I would have handled the whole Bathsheba thing like him and I probably would have stepped in if one of my kids rapped another- I’m just saying, these are easy things to look at and judge him as failing.

But there are other things I would have done differently too. 

Such as take the throne.

David was anointed to be the next king, but he did NOTHING to make that happen. 

When two different opportunities arose for David to kill Saul, he refused to lay a hand on God’s anointed. 

“David was waiting on God alone, even when it was in his power to overthrow or kill King Saul. David’s stance was, “God promised me the kingdom, and God will have to give it to me. I won’t take it for myself.””  (Sorge pg 63)

Not me, I probably would have seen those opportunities as FROM God. I would have jumped ahead and took matters into my own hands.

But I’m not David.

I’m me.

That’s not my wilderness…it was David’s.

That was part of his refining and preparation.

Mine is totally different.

The only thing I have in common with David is God.

God created both of us for unique purposes.

And because we are unique, we need unique wilderness experiences. 

God knew exactly what David needed in order for him to mature into the man God could use to rule His people.

And God knows exactly what I need in order to become the person He created me to be.

The same is true for you. 

You are uniquely made.

My experiences, background, and perceptions are not yours.

How I handle things may not be how you would.

We are different…yet we are both loved and both created to be USED by God.

Our wildernesses look different too.

A thing that seems trivial to me may completely rock your world- and vice versa.

God knows what we need and how much we can handle.

So let’s stop comparing ourselves with each other…or even with people from the Bible.

Yes, we can learn from each other. I learn so much about God and myself through the life of David. I’m glad all aspects of who David was are recorded in the Bible, but I must be careful lest I start judging him. 

While we can and should learn from each other, let’s not fall into the trap of comparisons. It leads to judging and no one is as good a judge as God.

Instead, let’s remember that the greatest commandments revolve around LOVE (Matt 22:36-40). 

Join the Book club discussing, “The Fire of Delayed Answers” by Bob Sorge, by either grabbing a copy of the book and joining the weekly discussions and/or leaving a comment below. You can read more about this chapter from: Jason, Sarah, Rick, Dusty, Keri, Glynn,  and Joell. 

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8 NIV