May 8 - 1 Samuel 24:1, 11-12

Once again, the anger of the Lord burned against Israel ...

[so] the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad ...

This was the message: "Go and say to David,

'This is what the Lord says: I will give you three choices.

Choose one of these punishments ...'

1 Samuel 24:1,11-12

 

Did the anger of your parents ever burn against you?! (Absolutely.) And did they ever say, "There are going to be consequences?" (I always hated that word.) And did your parents ever offer you a choice when it came to punishments?

 

Which of these would you choose?

• Three weeks of grounding -- no phone, no friends, no TV?
• Three days of of being dropped off in the most violent area of town and having to fend for yourself?
• Or three afternoons of extremely hard labor in the backyard in the middle of summer?

That was essentially David's choice. It was either ...

• Three years of famine -- no phone, no friends, no food!
• Three months of being dropped off in the middle of your most violent enemies and having to fend for yourself.
• Or three days of extremely hard plagues.

I love David's answer! It was an absolutely no-win situation, but there was an absolutely no-hope option that he wanted to avoid!

 

David said, "14 I am in a desperate situation. [But whatever you do, don't give me the second option.] Do not let me fall into human hands. [Rather, give us either option 1 or option 3. Indeed,] let us fall into the hands of the Lord."

 

Think about it. Three weeks of grounding or hard labor -- at the hands of your parents who love you -- is much better than being thrown into the middle of violent enemies who's actions you can't predict. 

 

We need to take spiritual consequences seriously ... but in the end, we must trust that God absolutely loves us and wants the best for us in the long run!

 

In Christ's Love,

a parent, who like the Lord,

punished but also "16 relented"