David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God (1 Samuel 30:6). Life is not always easy. When its difficult, we get weary, even spiritually tired. Our souls can become parched. What do we do when the well is dry? In 1 Samuel 30, when David and his men return from a military mission, they found their camp "destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive." Their enemy, the Amalekites, had come in while they were gone, burned their camp, and taken their families prisoner. The things they owned, the people they loved ... gone. Then this, "each one was bitter in spirit" and David's own men were even "talking of stoning him." It was a dark, dark moment. Yet, as everyone else was turning bitter and angry, "David found strength in the Lord his God." Here he is, standing amid the rubble of everything he had, having lost the people he loves most, while those he thought he could depend on were turning against him. All the wells he could go to for strength were dry. Maybe you have been in such a place or are there now. All those places you would normally turn for the strength and encouragement aren't able to meet your need. You're feeling very alone. And bitterness, discouragement, anger, depression are starting to creep into your soul. But at a moment like this, David remembered the spring! There is a spring that never runs dry, that's gushing water for our souls even in an unrelenting drought. David turned to the infinite resources of the Lord his God and found strength when it seemed no strength was possible. How much strength? David rallies his troops to defy the enemy who robbed them and to take back what was stolen. "David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and not one of them got away ... David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken." All the ground that had been lost was retaken - because he downloaded strength from the Lord who was his God when all human strength was gone. It is not time to give up, or to withdraw, or to slip into the darkness. Especially if there are other people looking to you, depending on you, like David. You'll need strength you don't have - that no one else can give you, except the awesome God we belong to. When we feel defeated, we should not go to the same old dry wells. Instead, we should turn to the gushing spring of the strength of God, whose strength and provision and joy is not rooted in circumstances, or feelings, or finances, or humans. He is the Lord who rules all the galaxies, and the Lord is our God! He is our Source. Yes, the wells we've counted on may be dry. But no matter what we've lost, no matter how dark it looks, we've got a spring that never runs dry! As Jesus promised, "Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them" (John 7:38). As you journey on, go with his blessing: May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May your day end with rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May you rest in his provision as he brings night, and then new dawn.
