Tapping God's Reservoir

David prayed, "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water" (Ps 63:1); "I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land" (Ps 143:6).

How thirsty are you? Are you strongly motivated to seek the Lord? How hungry are you for the things of God? Are you ready to go the distance to have God bless your life?

God wants to refresh the thirsty soul. It is his strong desire to quench our spiritual thirst. The Psalmist said, "[The LORD] satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things" (Ps 107:9).

But before we can receive God's help, we have to come to the end of ourselves; we must become dissatisfied with what this world has to offer. When we hunger for something more, we can tap into the deeper blessings of God.

Some blessings can readily be found on the surface. In the spring, the runoff from the melting snow is on the surface—and new spring growth comes quickly when the waters begin to flow. Surface blessings are found in the spring runoff, in the rain, even in the dew. Other blessings, however, can't be found on the surface. These blessings come from deeper places; they come from deep wells, deep springs—deep resources.

Jacob said to his son, Joseph, "[God] ...blesses you with the blessings of the heavens above [and] blessings of the deep that lies below..." (Gen 49:25); "May the LORD bless [your] land with the precious dew from heaven above and with the deep waters that lie below" (Deut 33:13).

Our problem is that too often we live on the surface. Even though we know deeper blessings of God are available to us, we are satisfied with far less. We tend to be superficial people. Someone has said, "We are a mile wide and an inch deep." It's too hard to go deeper, we think. It's too much work to go beneath the surface. So we go through our day-to-day routine taking care of business, getting by with what we have, and seldom pause long enough to go deeper to discover the deeper life of the Spirit.

I want to tell you a story from the Bible about a time when David ran into some trouble—and had to go deep to find strength and refreshing in the Lord.

This happened before David became king of Israel. In fact, it happened during a time when he was in danger and on the run. The current king, King Saul, jealous and suspicious of David, was out to remove him as a competitor to the throne. So David was on the run. In hiding. A number of other men, many who also were in trouble and trying to escape their past, joined David.

They lived in various places. Sometimes they lived in caves, sometimes in remote settlements, sometimes even in Philistine territory. During this time, Achish, the Philistine king of Gath, controlled the small town of Ziklag. So when David ran from Saul, Achish allowed David and his men to settle in Ziklag.

For this favor, David served Achish and fought battles for him for over a year, though the other Philistine commanders never really trusted David. So when they all gathered to battle the Israelites (David's own people), the other Philistine commanders insisted that Achish send David away. They didn't want to risk the chance that he might turn against them in the middle of the battle and fight for Israel instead. Reluctantly, the Philistine king, Achish, sent David back to Ziklag. And that's when David and his men discovered that during the few days they had been away, the Amalekites had raided their town.

¹ David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, ² and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.
³ When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. ⁴ So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. ⁵ David's two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. ⁶ 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 Sam 30:1-6)

Their houses were burned down. Their belongings had been destroyed or carried away. Their wives and children had been taken captive. Everything they valued was gone!

David and his men were devastated. Completely crushed and overwhelmed with grief. They cried and wept—probably in a manner similar to Middle Eastern culture today. They didn't hold anything back. They weren't stoical—like good Scandinavians. They expressed grief with loud wailing, clapping their hands together or clapping their hands on top of their heads, throwing dust in the air, ripping their clothing—all signs of grief.

Maybe you haven't experienced a loss as sudden and as devastating as David's—wives, children, home, possessions, everything. Maybe you have. But we can learn from David's response...

1. When bad times come, we still have choices.

When they had no strength left even to weep, his men chose to become bitter: "each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters" (v 6). Their bitterness came out first as anguish, then as anger—a vindictive, murderous rage. They began talking about stoning David, their leader.

When David had no strength left to weep, however, when he also found himself the target of his men's hostility and rage, David chose to find strength in the Lord (v 6):

NIV: "David found strength in the LORD his God."

KJV: "but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God."

NASB: "But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God."

CEV: "But he felt the LORD God giving him strength."

TEV: "but the LORD his God gave him courage."

His men chose to become bitter. They stayed on the surface, overcome by their troubles. They could see nothing but loss and bitter circumstances. There was no way, they thought, to recover their loss. David's men lived only in their present experience and could not imagine deeper realities—could not imagine any solution.

David, on the other hand, went deeper. He went to the Lord for strength, encouragement, renewal, and restoration. Rather than become bitter, he chose to find strength in the Lord. Chazaq (Heb) was also translated as "repair...fortify...hold fast...hold his own... support."

When bad times come, we still have choices. We can't always choose our circumstances, but we can choose our attitude. We don't have control over all the things that happen to us, but we do have control over how we react to those circumstances. We are never left without a choice.

Viktor Frankl, captured by the Nazis and taken to a concentration camp during WWII, had all his belongings taken away from him—including a precious manuscript for a book he had written, the only copy. Then they took away his clothes, shaved his head, stripped him of his dignity, and herded him into room with 100s of other victims with no identity left. But as Viktor Frankl stood there naked in front of his tormenters, without a scrap of clothing or a single object left which he could call his own, he realized that there was one thing the Nazis could never take from him. They could not take away his choice. They could not tell him how to respond. They could not take away his choice of attitude as he faced horrendous circumstances. [Man's Search for Meaning]

The Amalekites took or destroyed everything, but they still left David and his men with a choice. The men, unfortunately, chose to become bitter. David chose to become better.

When we choose to live only on the surface—we limit our choices! We cause more problems...

1. Limited perspective. Looking only to the superficial gives us only a partial view of reality. Deeper things are also real—ignoring them means we'll have an incomplete—even distorted—understanding of the situation.
   • Troubles and problems will seem larger than ever;
   • Answers and solutions will seem smaller and further away;
   • Why? Because we don't see the big picture. We don't see your surface troubles compared next
   to God's deeper solutions. Surface living limits our ability to see the situation accurately.
   • We can develop a victim mentality—unable to see opportunities because we're focused solely
   on obstacles—thinking circumstances have left us with no choices.

If we limit ourselves only to the surface blessings, we'll have trouble during the dry season—when the surface blessings run out. Difficulties and problems can cause a drought in our soul if we're not tapping into the deeper resources of God.

David's men—looking at the superficial circumstances—chose to be bitter. The better choice is to go deep into God's reservoir where we can find vision, faith, and confidence to keep going.

It's not just what we see that is affected by living on the surface, though. It's also what we can experience that is affected. Our spiritual growth is affected.

1. Limited growth. Living superficially prevents us from experiencing all that God has available for us. We'll miss deeper opportunities that lie hidden beneath the surface.

The better choice is to go deep to discover God's unlimited potential.

"³ ...you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴ Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (Jas 1:3-4).

The better choice: Allow hardships and trials to do their work. The stress, challenge, and trials that God allows in your life to help you grow never can do their job if you're reluctant to go deeper.

Spiritual growth is not easy. To develop into what God wants us to be requires commitment, sacrifice, discipline and dedication. God goes deep to uncover the junk in our lives. We have to get rid of the junk so he can bring out his good in us.

I was reading a recent article about gold in National Geographic (January, 2009, p 44). I was astounded to discover that in a typical gold mine, you have to move 250 tons of rock and debris to find enough gold for just one wedding ring.

No wonder the price of gold is $950 an ounce!

It sounds like a bargain to move 250 tons of rock and dirt for only $950.

So when you look at your spouse's wedding band, remember that your spouse—like the ring—is like gold. You had to go through 250 tons of rejects in order to find the one special person God intended for you.

In the same way, you have to go deep to uncover God's most valuable treasures! But if you live only on the surface, you'll seldom find God's most precious gifts.

1. Limited resources. Surface experiences leave us with limited options. We'll have fewer resources—and there will be less God can do in you.

The better choice is to tap into God's deep resources. "I can do everything through him who gives me strength" (Phil 4:13).

Surface living won't give us the depth or the stability to manage difficulties and hardships over the long haul. Our foundations must go down deep to anchor us on something solid.

Did you read about the fishermen on Lake Erie in early February (2/7/09)? Near Toledo, OH, 135 ice fishermen, looking for a better spot to drop a line, used wooden pallets to bridge a one-foot crack in the ice to get further out on to Lake Erie. They drove their ATVs and snowmobiles over the pallets and they commenced to fishing. But then strong winds pushed an 8-mile long chunk of ice away from shore, opening the crack to 100 feet wide. So the fishermen were stranded nearly ¼ mile from shore with no way to get back. Helicopters and boats had to be used to rescue the fishermen, though one died after falling in the water and having a heart attack.

Without a deep anchor holding you in place, you'll drift. Your life will become increasing unstable, increasingly hard to manage.

When spiritual troubles come, we need something deeper to hold us steady despite the winds on the surface. With only surface experiences we'll be unstable and easily drift.

We need to go deep, beneath the surface to gain a new perspective. We need to go beneath the external appearances and the surface issues to discover God's deeper purposes, deeper resources, deeper work.

2. God is our source of strength.

David was able to pull himself together, stand up against withering criticism, rally his men again and motivate to do something constructive with their grief—all because he found strength in the Lord his God.

Sure, he was a little stressed out. Wouldn't you be "distressed" if your team was talking about stoning you? But David didn't let the stress take him down. Instead of becoming bitter, David chose to become stronger. Instead of giving in to his impulses and his feelings, he chose to be encouraged and to find strength in the Lord.

So how did David strengthen himself in the Lord? First he went for counsel and guidance from the Lord. "⁷ Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, ‘Bring me the ephod.' Abiathar brought it to him, ⁸ and David inquired of the LORD, ‘Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?'

"‘Pursue them,' he answered. ‘You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.'" (1 Sam 30:7-8)

We can gain strength by going to the Lord. David used the same word (chazaq) in the Psalms.

1. Wait for the Lord...
   Wait for the LORD; be strong (chazaq) and take heart and wait for the LORD. (Psalms 27:14)
   • When we wait for the Lord, we wait for his time, for his plan, for his way. When we wait for the
   Lord, we learn patience. We don't get ahead of God's timing. We don't step out of his will or
   take matters into our own hands. We grow in inner strength as we wait.
   • To wait for the Lord also suggests a servant's heart—just as a waiter stands ready to serve, we
   are to wait on God.

2. Put your hope in the Lord...
   Be strong (chazaq) and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. (Psalms 31:24)
   • When we put our hope in the Lord, we anticipate what he will do. Hope gives us confidence in
   God's ultimate plan—so we can make it through these temporary difficulties or setbacks.
   • Hope enables us to trust for a future that we cannot see as yet. Hope establishes us. It gives us
   stability in knowing God cares about us and has a purpose for our lives.

3. Use supernatural weapons...
   Take up (chazaq) shield and buckler [O LORD]; arise and come to my aid. (Psalms 35:2)
   • We need God's miraculous power and supernatural protection to fight spiritual battles! In the
   natural we are weak, but we can be strong in him and in the safety of his protection. He has a
   shield and buckler to guard us.
   • Paul said, "³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
   ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary,
   they have divine power to demolish strongholds" (2 Cor 10:3-4)

What are you facing? What challenges have stressed you out? What troubles have undermined your confidence and courage?

When David faced troubles, he reached down deep and drew from the reservoir of God's help and strength.

When the enemy had caused terrible destruction, when his family was taken captive, when his friends turned against him, when his life was threatened, David reached down deep and drew from the reservoir of God's help and strength.

Has the enemy caused ruin and devastation in your life? It's time to tap into God's reservoir.

Has the enemy taken your family or your kids captive? It's time to tap into God's reservoir.

Have friends turned against you? Do you feel abandoned and alone? Is your life threatened or in danger? It's time to tap into God's reservoir!

Let's find new strength in the Lord to face the battles with faith and courage!