WHEN FAITH FALTERS

I Samuel 27:1 “But David thought to himself, "One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand."

I think that there are at least 3 sources for spiritual doubt, one of which describes David at this point in his life but all of which can lead us to doubt God. (1) There is intellectual doubt. That is when Scripture is inconsistent with our human experience. We read in the Bible where the entire world was destroyed by a flood or where Jonah was swallowed by a great fish or where Goliath was said to be over 9’ tall and intellectually we have a real hard time accepting that. We think, "That must have been myth or legend and if the Bible is not true in those instances then...” (2) There is moral doubt. That happens when a person doesn’t like God’s commands and then rationalizes, "Well, I don’t think I believe in God, or the Bible, after-all." And that becomes a convenient way of relieving guilt or escaping accountability. (3) Is circumstantial doubt. This is the doubt that is produced when a person goes through a long period of problems or a time of extreme difficulty. The adversity begins to wear on us and we doubt that God is really in control.

That’s where David was. His doubt was a result of difficult circumstances. For 8 years he lived the life of a fugitive, constantly in danger. Imagine the pressure of escaping death day in and day out. Eventually, David began to feel sorry for himself. After all, he was innocent. He had spared Saul’s life, he deserved better. Where was God? Why didn’t He do something?

Often circumstances have to knock us to our knees before we will look up. David hit dead bottom, but when that happened, he looked up and saw God’s loving, forgiving face. And then he realized that God had never forsaken him, but he had forsaken God. So he got up and began his reconciliation with his people and with his Lord.

I think the thing that David lost in the wilderness, that which sent him into this spiritual spiral, was that he lost sight of his worth before God. He had lost his “spiritual esteem.” Not his self-esteem, his spiritual esteem. We can all fool ourselves for awhile that we have it all together…for a while. David had forgotten how important he was to God. God was not going to let him die. He was going to be the next king. God had not forsaken him. If you are longing for real fulfillment, if you have drifted away from God or if you see in your life, any of the characteristics of David’s downward spiritual spiral, remember that you have great worth in God’s sight.

Archie Moore, a heavy weight boxing champion, once got knocked down early in a fight. He got back up and won the match by knock-out. Afterwards a reporter asked him, “Archie, what were you thinking while you were on the canvas?” He said, “I thought, Hey, I’m the champ! I don’t belong here!” Don’t allow doubt to creep into your life and derail your purpose. Remember that God sees you as an over comer, even when you’ve been knocked down.