Wounded physician!
Verse for Today: Saturday, November 24, 2012
1 Samuel 22:2 – All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered round (David), and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.
Those who follow the Lord are often seen to be a minority in this world. In spite of the great service they deliver, they are not recognized. Their place is often in the wilderness. The rich, famous, prestigious and prominent people do not gather around or with them. They are mostly loners in their sojourn. They attract problematic people who have life-linked anguishes, depravity and insecurity. John the Baptizer was such a person who lived in the wilderness, eating non-conventional food and wearing wild dress. Elijah was an unpopular prophet who had to run away from the centers of action to live in hiding. The Lord Jesus had no place to lay His head and so all the influential people kept away from Him. The prominent Nicodemus met him only in the night for fear of being noticed talking to the poor and illiterate Jesus. The rich Joseph of Arimathea came out openly for Jesus only after His death. Only a handful of fishermen, tax collectors, widows and destitute came to Him. They alone experienced the blessedness of the poor in spirit. David was in demand for winning wars and killing Goliath, but afterwards his skills and efficiency became his enemy and the king wanted to get rid of him. The influential people of the land didn’t want to join him as he ran for life. David became a wanderer and destitute and most people didn’t want him because he had nothing to offer other than loneliness, insecurity and uncertainties. But God was working behind the scene to lift him to the throne as the forerunner of Jesus Christ and kept him going in the most bewildering circumstances. His future was ordained of the Lord. So he had to be patient with God’s plan for his life. David’s life is a challenge for those who feel unwanted and unrecognized to patiently wait for God’s time to be lifted up in life here and hereafter.
Dear friend, are you a broken, lonely, distressed and discontented person wondering what to do and where to go? Perhaps you might see only trials and troubles all around. During the rough patches of life, you might experience alienation when even your best friends and associates deserting you. You might be craving for fellowship and a time of intimate prayer partnership which might be eluding you. But this is not a time to give in to pressures and intimidations in life, but to look for those who need encouragement and strength in times of trouble. There are a lot of people out there who have trouble with family, finance, friendlessness, frustration and loneliness. Such poor souls need your company and fellowship. As Jesus said, it is the sick that need a physician and not the pseudo-spiritual. Instead of wallowing in your loneliness, it is time to go to the broken and contrite people and share the love of God with them. Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a battle. Your way of handling distress by faith will speak to them and encourage them to keep going in their times of pressure, tension and intimidation in life. As you touch their lives with the love and compassion of God, your soul will find a revival. When you feed the needy people around with the tearful bread that God has given you, their souls will find revival. Today let us attract needy people to our lonely caves as did David. Let the deprived come to us in search of the love of Jesus as it was during the public ministry of Jesus when He was in the wilderness. Let us give what we have received from the Lord to enrich the lives of the spiritually broken and distressed people around. Such a ministry of encouragement will strengthen us to keep walking by faith through this wilderness journey as in the case of David, John the Baptizer and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 3:6 – Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
Thought for Today
Dressing the wounds of the brokenhearted is the best therapy for our own wounds.
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