Can things get any worse? Maybe you are worn out by a parade of problems that just keep on coming: sickness or grief, debt or addiction, broken promises or broken relationships. You don’t have the strength within yourself to handle it all. And maybe you don’t have a clue about what you should do next.

David would understand. After all, the Philistines had sent him and his soldiers back home before their big clash with the Israelites, putting an end to whatever plans David had made for that battle. And then on arrival, they found Ziklag in ruins: their families had been kidnapped and all their livestock had been stolen by the Amalekites. And to top it all off, David’s soldiers turned on him, wanting to kill him because of all their troubles.

Well, we know how Saul dealt with such overwhelming opposition: he lashed out in paranoid anger and fear, diving ever deeper into his rebellion against the Lord. But David took the opposite tack: verse 6 simply says that he “strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” Instead of questioning God’s wisdom or doubting God’s promises, David leaned into the Lord, allowing his own helplessness to increase his trust in God’s power and love.

And then, instead of immediately rushing off in pursuit of his enemies, David humbly asked the Lord what he should do. And as a result, the Lord reassured him that he would not only be able to catch the Amalekites, but that he and his men would be able to rescue their families and recover their property.

And didn’t the Son of David do the same sort of thing? In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus knew that His friends would abandon Him, and that He would face the pain and shame of the cross the very next day. Things couldn’t get any worse for Him. And yet He leaned into His Father in prayer, abandoning His own desires and asking only that the will of God might be accomplished. And as a result, He achieved the greatest of victories.

So, no matter how overwhelming our problems may seem today, let us trust in the Lord and seek His guidance. For He is willing and able to deliver us even from the most impossible situations – in His way and according to His will.

I Samuel 30:10-10 (NASB)

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.
7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
8 And David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them, and you shall surely rescue all.”
9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those left behind remained.
10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor, remained behind.