It Gives You Hope

In Acts 13.22, Luke, or rather the Holy Spirit through Luke, combines 1 Samuel 13:4 and Psalm 89:20 to tell us that David was a man after God’s heart.  That, you would probably agree, is a big deal.  All of us that are pursuing Him would be thrilled to have that evaluation from God.

The great thing is that we are allowed a glimpse into this heart, this relationship, this pursuit of God by David.  In Psalms the curtain is pulled back on David’s heart.  Psalm 55 is especially helpful and encouraging to me.  In verse 2 David says that in his prayer time with God he is “restless in my complaint and am surely distracted.”  He must have been watching my times with the Lord for the past 39 years.

I don’t know about you, but when I read that about a man who God says was hard after His heart, it gives me hope.  It also lets me know that the daily struggles that I face to get with the Lord, to focus on Him, to meet the needs of my family, to represent Christ to my family and those around whom I work and counsel each day; all the flood of those “distractions” that come on when I open my Bible and begin to seek His presence is the same experience that David had.

The reality of this journey with Christ on which we travel and seek to lead our families and others is that it is a continual battle with distraction and restlessness.  We are pursuing and leading others in a pursuit of that which is not immediately seen, the answers are not always readily apparent, the battles are not immediately won.  But that experience was the same as the one whom God declared was after His heart.  It gives me hope.