Have you ever been disappointed when your plans didn’t work out they way you wanted them to? Maybe the college that was your first choice didn’t accept you, or that special someone didn’t think you were so special after all. Or maybe you lost a job or your health, or someone very important to you passed away. And you just can’t see how any good could come out of such terrible things.

David would understand. For years, he had been ingratiating himself with Achish, a powerful Philistine warlord. So, by the time chapter 29 rolled around, David intended to go with the Philistines as they lined up for battle against King Saul – probably to attack them from behind (I Samuel 29:4).

But the rest of the Philistine leaders told David he was not welcome to come with them to the battle, thus foiling whatever plans he had made. And to make matters worse, when he and his men returned to their base in Ziklag, they discovered that their homes had been destroyed and their livestock and their families had been carried off. In fact, the situation was so desperate that David’s own troops turned on him (I Samuel 29:10-30:6).

So, what did David do? Well, instead of losing faith in God, he drew ever nearer to the Lord for strength (I Samuel 30:6). And instead of trying to solve his problems on his own, he asked the Lord what he should do (I Samuel 30:7-8). And then, he followed God’s instructions, no matter how difficult they might have been. And as a result, he and his men achieved a great victory, recovering everyone and everything they had lost (I Samuel 30:18-19).

But instead of patting himself on the back for how faithful he had been, David the Lord was the One Who gave them everything they won from the Amalekites. In fact, David insisted that the Lord was the One Who protected his men and Who gave them victory in battle (I Samuel 30:23). The Amalekites’ raid on Ziklag thus turned out to be not the disaster that it seemed at first, but an opportunity for a great triumph.

And what about David’s disappointment at not being able to participate in the battle between King Saul and the Philistines? Well, without David there to spring a surprise attack on the Philistines, Saul lost the battle, as well as his life. But it was that defeat that opened the way for David to become the King of Israel, just as the Lord had promised him so many years before. In short, everything that seemed to go wrong in David’s eyes actually turned out to be part of God’s plan to bless him and his people.

So, maybe we should take another look at those disappointing situations in our own lives. Could it be that God can use even such terrible events to bring great blessings to us (See Romans 8:28)? Let’s trust Him the same way that David did – and we’ll see.

I Samuel 29:9-30:6 (NASB)

9 But Achish answered and said to David, “I know that you are pleasing in my sight, like an angel of God; nevertheless the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us to the battle.’
10 “Now then arise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who have come with you, and as soon as you have arisen early in the morning and have light, depart.”
11 So David arose early, he and his men, to depart in the morning, to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

Then it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire;
2 and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way.
3 And when David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive.
4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep.
5 Now David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.
6 Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.