Well, something very similar happened a long time ago to a guy named David and his buds…
Three days later, when David and his men arrived home at their town of Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had made a raid into the Negev and Ziklag; they had crushed Ziklag and burned it to the ground. They had carried off the women and children and everyone else but without killing anyone. (1 Samuel 30:1-2)
Putting yourself in their shoes, their reaction to this calamity is understandable:
When David and his men saw the ruins and realized what had happened to their families, they wept until they could weep no more. (1 Samuel 30:3-4)
You have just lost everything… not just your home and material things, but even those you loved. I imagine that most of us would have wept until we were completely drained, just as David and his men did. A period of mourning is understandable, but mourning doesn’t bring them back – eventually it’s time for action!
What is the next move for David? Give up and start over? Devise a strategic battle plan? No, there was only one thing to do next...
This mighty and fierce warrior cried out to God.
But David found strength in the Lord his God. (1 Samuel 30:6b)
When grief overwhelmed him, and he cried until he was spent, David strengthened himself in the Lord! His God was his Shield and Protector, not his armies.
What a powerful lesson for us all. When terrible things happen, overwhelming grief is a natural response. But the question is not whether evil is present or if calamity will strike – it will in some way and at some point for us all.
The real question is - when tragedies occur and the grief comes – what is your next move?
#LoveMatters