LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP!
Have you ever asked yourself when a bad thing happens… Why did this happen to me? What have I done to deserve this? No matter what you did to make that situation better, it didn’t turn out like you thought it would? Sometimes things happen to us because of the bad choices we make. And other times we make all right choices and live right and still we are faced with terrible heartaches. Why?
Let me tell you what the Bible says about this…
First we’ll examine what takes place when we knowingly and willingly sin against GOD, then we will examine when calamity comes upon us for no cause of our own.
King David was a man after God’s own heart.(1 Samuel 13:14) But one night he made a bad choice, which he paid with very painful consequences. The Bible says, that in the spring, when Kings are supposed to go to war, King David did not go and stood at his palace…
“One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite”? Then David sent messengers to get her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home.” (2 Samuel 11:2-4)
Note: Knowing that Bathsheba was married to Uriah didn’t stop King David from wanting a married woman. The Bible says that once he slept with Bathsheba he sent her back home. David probably thought, that’s the end of that night… Little did he know, Bathsheba became pregnant from that one nightstand. Something, I’m sure David wasn’t counting on! (2 Samuel 11:5)
We can sometimes make an already bad situation, WORST! King David thought… I know what I’ll do… I’ll call her husband who’s fighting in my army… Have him sleep with her and Uriah will think that the baby is his. David’s plan didn’t turn out like he thought. Uriah instead slept at the entrance to the palace and didn’t want to go home. So, David came up with plan B… The first plan didn’t work! So He thought to himself, I’ll send him back to the battle and I will make sure Uriah dies in battle the field. (2 Samuel 11:6-15) Talk about, “ Out of the fire and into the frying pan”
David rebuked for his sins…
Just when we think… No one is going to know what I have done. God always KNOWS! God sends the prophet Nathan to rebuke King David for the sins he had committed.
Nathan started by telling king David about a rich man and a poor man. The rich man had everything he wanted and needed but this poor man had nothing but this ewe lamb… As the story goes the rich man had a traveling visitor and instead of feeding his guest from his own flocks, he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and served it as dinner for his guest. The Bible says, that David was furious at this rich man for what he did to the poor man… David even said that the rich man deserves death for what he did. Then Nathan drops the bomb on King David and says this to him...“You are that man”! (2 Samuel 12:7) Now David knows the severity of what he had done. David was the rich man and Uriah was the poor man. David took what mattered most to Uriah … His wife.
God said to David…
“Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. (Watch this… Don’t miss it!) Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.”
“This is what the Lord says: Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.” …. “But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.” (2 Samuel 12:9-12,14)
Note: David had his own wives and concubines… He could have been with any of them that night. Instead he wanted someone else’s wife and for this, God punished him. We want to be able to do what we want, when we want and not get paid back for any of our wrong doings. We definitely don’t like it when it is being done back to us either! David’s punishment was a very heart-breaking one… Strife was always going to be in his family, someone close to him was going to sleep with all his wives and the son that him and Bathsheba conceived was going to die. That one nightstand with Bathsheba, the killing of Uriah (her husband) cost David more than what he bargained for. This story if it teaches us anything, it teaches us to always… "LOOK, BEFORE WE LEAP!"
Sometimes we get the chance to back up from a situation… From a conversation and we know we shouldn’t go through with it… We say, “ I shouldn’t be here”! We push all those warnings out of our minds and do it anyway. Not realizing at that time, that painful consequences will soon follow and we will have to pay for what we have done! As I said in one of my previous blogs… No one gets away with anything! (Galatians 6:7-8) God will forgive our offences/sins but we’ll still have to pay for the consequences of our bad decisions nonetheless. (2 Samuel 12:13/ Isaiah 1:18) God says: “Your own conduct and actions have brought this upon you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!" (Jeremiah 4:18) ~ In other words we bring this upon ourselves when we sin! David suffered the consequences of his sin, and so will we. There is no way around this one, my friends. (2 Samuel 12:10-12)
Note: As Christians… We have all been transform into a new creation in Christ Jesus our Lord and should not be sinning. But when we do sin … We have an advocate… Our High Priest (Jesus Christ) who is ready to stand in our behalf before the Father and says… My blood covers their sins! Hallelujah! (2 Corinthians 5:17/1 John 2:1-2/Hebrews 2:18-19) “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” We can have total confidence that “ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” ( 1 John 1:8-9) According to the Bible we can come and ask God for forgiveness … And we will be forgiven! Wow… What a Loving and Merciful God we have!!!
You may say… I understand what happen to David and that what happen to him was a direct result of the bad choices he made. But what about a person like me? I haven’t sinned against God or my neighbor! And I’m facing some terrible times…
Note: Take for instance Job… What did Job do to bring all those calamities that came upon him? The Bible says: “Job was blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”(Job 1:8) A man that sought the face of the Lord daily and he still faced some terrible and painful calamities. WHY? Job didn’t know it at the time… But God was showing off about his servant Job to the devil. Satan said to God … “Does Job fear God for nothing? ” In other words, the devil was saying to God… Job only loves you because of all the good things you do for him. But here comes the test… Then Satan said “But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” (Job 1:11)
The devil challenged Job’s faithfulness to God… But the Lord knows our hearts and God definitely knew his servant Job’s heart. God knew that Job loved Him in spite of the material things. Job truly loved GOD and nothing could have ever changed that, not even all the devil’s schemes. After Job’s testing was over... The Bible says: “ The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first.” (Job 42:12) Job got double blessings for all his troubles … What a loving and faithful GOD we serve! So if you are facing a difficult time in your life right now and you’ve been faithful to God. I want to say to you hang on, hold on… God is not done with you yet. What God did for Job, He can do for you!! Be encouraged my sister/brother in Christ, Trust GOD! He will never let anyone down, who puts his or her trust in HIM!!!
The Bible Says:
“A righteous man may have many troubles, (Watch This, Don’t Miss This) But the Lord delivers him from them all…” (Psalms 34:19)
“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “ I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.” (Psalms 91:14-15)
Note: The Lord has already warned us in advance…
“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) So trouble comes to us all…But remember that God promises to deliver us from all our troubles. God is in total control… All we have to do is believe what God says in his Word. Instead of worrying… Spend time in God’s word and speaks His promises out loud to yourself every day… And watch God blow your mind… “EVERYTHING is possible for him who believes.” (Mark 9:23)
If we walk closely to the Lord and we seek Him in daily prayer and we study His word… We will minimize a lot of our mistakes and we will definitely have fewer regrets in life. We have to make GOD the center of our lives… If we want to be "Victorious Christians". Jesus already showed us what to do, so that we don’t fall into temptation… “ Watch and Pray” (Matthew 26:41). This is the key to have a successful Christian life. Spend time with God daily.
“ANYONE WHO DOES WRONG WILL BE REPAID FOR HIS WRONG, AND THERE IS NO FAVORITISM” (Colossians 3:25)
GOD BLESS YOU ALL NOW AND ALWAYS,
YOUR FRIEND,
VICKY RIVERA
