Living in the Land of Limbo (Part 2)

 

Have you ever found yourself on the brink of a circumstance that is about to spiral you completely out of your comfort  zone?

This past Wednesday in the post "Living in the Land of Limbo", I presented a point in the life of King David where he found himself precisely at such a point. 

He had been anointed to be the up and coming King of Israel, he kills a giant that brings him into the immediate attention of an insecure king by the name of Saul, David then is invited to live in the palace, and I believe it would be safe to say that he may have believed that this was going to be his "on the job training" for life in the palace.

Saul went absolutely nuts and David's life becomes a wild roller coaster ride of twists and turns that would make even the strongest stomach queasy.

He is hunted like an animal, betrayed, accused, and escapes death more times than James Bond.
 

He was living in Limbo!!!

 I mean he was anointed for the throne right?

 What did any of this have to do with being King?

 Did David have all of 1 Samuel to read so that he could fully grasp what we know?

 So would David have known why Saul was acting the way he was?

 

You and I have the entire Bible, we see what David could not see, and we know more than David did about the Why’s. We know that David did become the greatest king that Israel ever had. We know that his adventures as King were much greater than the lion and the bear ever could hope to be.

We know that Goliath was not the only big man that David fought and killed, in fact there were several more that came down the road.

But Chapter 18?

 

What did any of this have to do with the kingdom he would one day have? In chapter 18 David was living in limbo.

I guess the message would be this.

We are going to have times as a Christian that things do not seem to make sense.

We are going to have Chapter 18’s in our life.

During financially hard times you hear of people Filing chapter 11, or 13

You may find yourself someday soon, or maybe this past year you have found yourself filing a chapter 18 with God

I mean when you are saved you become a child of God. A joint heir with Jesus, and one day we will rule and reign with Christ. The back of the book tells us that and we know it deep down in our heart, but the fact is sometimes all we see is the Chapter 18 front and center.

Our days with Jesus will be the greatest days that we will ever have, and anything that happens to us then will far out shadow anything that could ever happen to us on this earth.

 

The bible promises us all of that as Children of God, but the bible does also promise us as children of God, that there will be times that we will find ourselves living in limbo.

There will be times when we as future royalty will find ourselves looking around and saying “what does this have to do with the future kingdom?”

In fact, the apostle Peter said this;

"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified." ~ 1 Peter 4:12-14

 

You may have this year already, or may very soon find yourself like David was in the middle of his chapter 18 asking yourself, "What is going on here? I am trying to praise the Lord, and I am pulling javelins out of the wall. I want to do what he has anointed me to do, to become what it is I am supposed to become, but what does anything that has happened have to do with the throne?"

LIVING IN LIMBO

Wanting to do God’s will for your life, but finding yourself the more you seek it, having doors open that are just plain crazy!

Your family changes dramatically .

You lose someone you love, when you prayed for them to get better.

Someone you are close to lets you down.

You feel like nothing you are doing good is being noticed.

The people you are trying to be a testimony to are just not being very testimonized.

God is calling you out of your comfort zone to serve him in a larger capacity.

 

LIVING IN LIMBO

What do you do?

It has everything to do with the future that God has for you. Everything that you do will add to or take away from your effectiveness for God in the role that he has for you to fill.

If you are there, or find yourself living in limbo some day, let me throw something at you that the Lord threw at me. (Kind of like a Spiritual food fight of sorts)

 "And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him."

                                                                                                      ~ 1 Samuel 18:14

 

Seek God’s Wisdom

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." ~ Proverbs 3:5-6

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever." ~ Psalms 111:10

This was something that David had learned while he was a teenager.

Someone once wrote: "A bible with words of Christ in Red that is never read is of no spiritual value."

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." ~Psalms 119:11

 

Seek to Recognize God's Presence

"Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul." ~ Psalms 25:1

"Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; ..." ~ Psalms 28:1a

 "O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me." ~ Psalms 30:2

"I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication." ~ Psalms 30:8

"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help." ~ Psalms 121:1

David was not perfect, but he did seek God’s presence!!!

The world may be falling apart around you, but if you could realize that salvation in Christ has placed you in the presence of God.

 

Stop the activity for a moment and realize that you have access to the very presence of the God of the universe.

Seek to Recognize God’s purpose.

"I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works."

                                                                                                             ~Psalms 119:26-27

If you are in a place where things have gotten eerily calm and you feel as though you are slowing creeping into a place where things are about to fly out of control, you are in the perfect place to see God in a way that many others will not be in the position to see. Don't cringe. Don't cry. The car will NEVER leave the tracks and He will NEVER leave you.

The Land of Limbo is not a way of life, it is only part of it, and it is there to prepare you in more ways than you can imagine for the Kingdom that you belong to.

Climbing with you,
~Dan