Everyone, at one time or the other, experiences adversities. No one is immune to them. The forms these challenges and difficulties take are as varied  as are those who face them. Even Jesus Christ, the beloved Son of God, had obstacles in His path while He was incarnate. Life on earth is fraught with problems, as a result of the presence of sin. The only difference is in how people respond to such situations. It is how we handle our problems that makes the difference between failure and success. For some people, problems signal the end, while for others, they constitute a stepping stone to greater heights in life. You are the one who decides which they will be for you. There are relevant lessons we can learn on this matter from an episode in David’s life.
    Many people who are familiar with this quotation : “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all. ” (1Sam 30:8), may not be equally familiar with its context. It has often been said that before you covet a man’s glory, you should find out his story.” It is not usual or even normal for a person to become glorified accidentally, because it takes some sequence of events to get there. Therefore, it is  necessary for us to look closely at the events that led to that Divine declaration, and to the resultant success David had.  
    Ziklag (the town the Philistines had given David and his people for asylum) was raided. He and his men had just arrived from an unsuccessful attempt to join the Philistines in a military campaign against Israel, only to find that their families and property had been taken away.  The Bible says, “Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.” (1Sam 30:4). However, the Bible further says, “Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” (1Sam 30:6)
    That David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep, shows that adversity exposes human frailty and inadequacy as no other thing does. It is easy to appear brave and composed when things are going well. However, when the fire of trouble rages, that facade of bravado based on mere human emotional grandstanding, unravels. Remember, those men were soldiers who had seen some action. However, when they realised the enormity and probable permanence  of their loss, they became helpless. It is human to weep in such situations, even Jesus wept. However, it is what you do next that matters. That was was separated David from his men.
    Unlike his men, with whom he had shared some moments of weeping, David did not allow the adverse circumstance make him forget that as humans, it is not what happens to us that determines our success or failure in life, but how we respond to it. We may not be able to control the the things that happen around us, but we can decide what they mean to us and how we respond to them. Everybody undergoes trial, everyone faces difficulties and problems, but not everyone comes through successfully, because not everyone responds to such situations scripturally. As far as God is concerned, there are right and wrong ways of responding to our circumstances.
    David’s men, in their grief, considered stoning him, in spite of his loss too. Oh, the price of leadership! Not only had David lost his family, even the people he had led through thick and thin—men among whom he likely had had several close calls in battles—had rejected him. What could have been more gloomy? Effectively, he was on his own. Imagine David’s plight! Yet his response was to strengthen himself in the Lord his God. Although God is never the cause of our problems, He makes Himself available as our helper and deliverer. Blessed is the man or woman who, like David, knows and acts on this truth.
    “So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all. ”” (1Sam 30:8). The text above shows an attitude that David had in the middle of his predicament that demonstrated his reverence for God: he inquired of the Lord. He was going to let God tell him what to do. He could have dwelt on the problem—looking at it from every possible angle. Instead, he chose to turn away from human opinion and from the attention-seeking rage of his circumstances. One of Satan’s most insidious tactics is distraction. He stirs adversity with, basically, one aim in mind : to draw our attention away from God. Satan knows that if he can get our attention, he can direct our lives.
    David focused on God to the devil’s chagrin. He must have expected that the threat to David’s life would make him react in fear—the place where he wants you and me. David knew that only God could deliver him from that ugly situation. Eventually, what seemed to be an end for David, proved to be only a bend that led to prosperity. If, like David, we look to God for help in our time of need or trouble, He will not only deliver us, but also advance and prosper us. Shalom.