July 11, 2022
Daily Devotion:
"Turning Tragedy into Triumph"
2 Samuel 12:22-23
New International Version
22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
Callous? Calculating? Cold? How are we to interpret David's answer to his servants? Had he been putting on a show to win God's favor? If we didn't know David better, we might be tempted to think so. Even giving him the benefit of the doubt regarding the sincerity of his fasting and weeping, what are we to think about David's seemingly matter-of-fact response to his son's death? If the child were ours, could we possibly be so blasé? This brief snippet speaks eloquently of the intimate, trusting relationship between David and God. Whether in joy or in sorrow, David wears his heart on his sleeve. When he's happy, he takes off his kingly robes and dances around as if still a shepherd boy. When he's sad, he weeps unabashedly. Childlike, David is open and vulnerable to God. Does he want something passionately? The little boy in him asks for it passionately! But if he doesn't get what he asks for, the trusting child in him takes it on faith that his Father knows best.
Unless some great tragedy strikes, rarely can any of us ever know for sure just how intimate a relationship we have with God. Superficial relationships rarely survive adversity. Tears of pain and sadness are to be expected, but the real test of our faith is how we handle the aftermath. Can we come to grips with reality? Can we trust that God's eternal plan is bigger than our immediate pain? Being resigned to blind misfortune is frustrating fatalism. Being resigned to God's purposes is turning tragedy into triumph.
The sobering question is: Is there some bitter disappointment in my life that I need to turn completely over to God this very day?
