QUEST Fall Semester 2011 Entry #7: "Encourage Yourself in Who?"

ENTRY #7: "ENCOURAGE YOURSELF IN WHO?"

David encouraged himself in the Lord His God. (1 Samuel 30:6)

In Samuel 30, we find a discouraging and devastating scene. King David returns to his home in Ziklag to find it burned by fire and the women and children taken by the Amalekites. The Scriptures describe a scene too hard to explain and even worse to imagine. The men wept bitterly. They were overwhelmed by the grief and dire circumstances that surrounded them. His band of soldiers return to home that signifies rest and they find unrest. The Word of God says that the men wept so much that they were exhausted from weeping. Have you ever experienced this type of grief and sadness? 

The sadness turned into anger toward David, their leader. Their sadness turned into bitterness. Their bitterness turned into contemplating stoning David. All other options did not meet their distress. And verse 6 of 1 Samuel Chapter 30 says, "...David encouraged himself (or strengthened himself) in the Lord His God." When his enemies were against him and his band of soldiers railed against him, he found himself in the position to encourage himself, even when his life was on the line. It wasn't encouragement in himself, but in His God, the Lord of Heaven and Earth. 

As a college student, you will find the need to encourage yourself in the Lord. Friends may turn away. Family may not understand. Even well meaning individuals may miss it. But, your situation and circumstances needs to be infused with the encouragement in your relationship with God and His love for you. Encouraging yourself in the Lord means to speak over yourself with words of hope, not despair. It means ending the self talk of negativity and replace it with the enternal words of covenant with God. Don't let this semester be one of self-doubt or embracing the doubts of others. Today, start the pattern of encouraging yourself with words that speak life. As the Donald Lawrence and Tri-City Singers song says, "...Speak over yourself, encourage yourself in the Lord." Remind yourself...when nothing and no one else will encourage you, the Lord is always equipped with encouragement for your soul. Count on it!  

Blog Entry by: Ryan Faison (QUEST/YAM Director)