Breakthrough By Serving
This week’s Word For The Week comes from Samantha…
1Samuel 30:3-19 When David and his men came home to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and children taken captive by the Amalekites. David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep…David inquired of the LORD, who said “Pursue them, you will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue. David and his men pursued the raiders. They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat. He ate and was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights. It was an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite whose master had abandoned him after the raid on Ziklag. He led David to the raiders, David fought them and recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.
Our last Sunday meeting was all about doing good to people whatever their background or circumstance. This is a story about being mindful of others’ needs even when sorely pressed and on a great mission. Just before David came into his kingship he encountered an enormous setback. His men were so distressed about their captured families that they wanted to stone him. David didn’t panic or do anything rash, he sought God. With the word to go they left at such speed that a third of the men became too exhausted to stay with them.
However, when they met someone whom they could have considered themselves too busy to help (and Egyptians were the enemy!) they showed him kindness. It turned out that he was in God’s plan for recovering everything that had been taken from them.
In all our efforts to achieve things for God let’s remember to be mindful of others’ needs, constantly willing to serve and to be ‘divinely distracted’. Just as the Egyptian saved them days of searching, our kindness can reveal a solution we’d never have found otherwise.
Tags: breakthrough, kindness, providence, serving