No matter what David does, he still is not trusted by his enemies. Some time has passed from the last chapter to this one. We don’t know how long exactly David has been king at this point. All we know is that King Nahash died “some time after (v. 1)” David had been ruling a while. And even though it seems like King Nahash and David had a content relationship, the new king of the Ammonites was having none of it. What makes people not trust? We don’t know the answer to this, but we can relate even in present day. Each day I am seeing news reports of Covid-19 deaths and official results from the US presidential election reported by media outlets that have been reporting true and relevant facts for decades, but at the same time I read Facebook posts from people who don’t believe them. I can’t wrap my head around it. I’ve been in the US for more than six weeks now, and I am appalled and grieved by the behaviors here. I rode in a vehicle with a man from Morocco a few days ago, and he said the same thing. He doesn’t understand the mentality of Americans even though he has lived here for 23 years. He sees them have every opportunity at their fingertips – many more opportunities than he would ever have in Morocco – but still many are unsatisfied and always looking for something better. It seems Hanun suffered the same mentality. Even though David had proven time and time again that he was honest and a king that could be trusted, Hanun did not believe that David wanted to maintain peace between Israel and Ammon. I don’t understand it! I don’t understand a lot of things, but I stand on the faith that one day I will. Maybe these things are part of building faith. Maybe I am not meant to understand them all. Maybe God won’t let me understand them because revealing why they happen would be too great of a dilemma for me to handle. I am deeply frustrated right now, having just had my third flight back to Thailand canceled, and all I can do is wait. Wait for a new flight. Wait for approval of my paperwork. Wait for a yes while trying to understand the no I have received. Maybe David felt this way often as well, and by his example, I am able to say, “I will wait and keep the faith knowing that everything happens for a reason.” This was the message my Moroccan driver emphasized to me two days ago. It was a beautiful car ride full of conversation and references to God, the Almighty, the One Who Knows. Like David, I will keep my faith knowing that God has a reason for all things and that He alone will create good things from what I consider bad.
Writing prompt: no
Write about a time when God told you no. Expand your thoughts to include the lessons learned from that no and the blessings received afterwords.
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