I Samuel 16: 14-24: Lean on me...

Read I Samuel 16 again
 

......And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.
Two lessons stand out to me from the end of chapter 16. One is the power of music and the power of His presence.  When the servant recommended David, he described David as being with the Lord. And when my spirit is troubled, there is nothing that brings me back to a peaceful place as quickly as some skilled music by someone who spends time with the Lord. I am so thankful for great radio stations like Reach FM
 that I can count on to play the most amazing and uplifting songs. And hearing my kids belt those tunes out from behind me in the car? That is just a blessing on top of a blessing.

The second lesson is the more important and timely of the two. We live in a world where so many people around us are tormented by distressing spirits. And while we may not have a harp in our back pack, we have more than that. We have knowledge of and access to the Peace Giver.

Today was just like any other day. I take the kids out in public and people just can't help themselves. They have to know so many things about us! But I love it! And the kids love it. They get this twinkle in their eyes when someone asks one of  "The questions." This time it was about the boys. "Are they twins?" she asked nicely, "No, they are all about two years apart...." and with that I started digging in my purse. "But you just won yourself a prize" and I handed her one of these little pamphlets I made with the top 10 questions we get asked and their answers. The number one questions being "How do you do it?" and the answer of course is God. And in that answer I explain  in detail the hope offered to us through Jesus.
After I gave our new friend one of our "prizes" I then handed one to the lady behind her telling her I didn't want her to feel left out :) and she said, she was wondering too, but didn't yet ask! They both start reading their papers right away as they waited for their sandwich masterpieces to be made, and giggled a little at my silly answers. I stopped paying attention to them as we continued our lunch. Moments later, our second new friend came over on her way out with tears in her eyes, thanking me for the inspiration found in this little piece of paper. That was a first. We have handed out dozens of our little treats, but never has anyone thanked me with such need in their eyes. I think my eyes were more filled with tears than hers were after that.

Yesterday my heart was heavy and my stomach was sick over the successful attempts at silencing and mocking the Christmas message happening all over our country. And this is still heavy on my heart. I have prayed, I have taken some steps of action, and now I am reflecting still. But Christians, the Lord reminded me of an important reality today. We still have so much freedom in this country of ours to tell others about Jesus. And what are we doing with that freedom? Yes, Deerfield Beach can take down their nativity, and we can protest. But in addition, (yes..in addition...) let us form another type of protest. What if we boycotted silence? What if we determined to tell one person every day about the love of Christ? What if we decided to fight their censorship by totally abusing the rights and privileges we do have and really witnessing our tails off! Let's continue to fight to keep the freedoms that we have, yes, but  let's determine to use the freedoms that we have more than ever before!

So today, as you go about your last minute Christmas preparations, remember David, who because of his love for God, was placed in the right place at the right time to minister to a man who was distressed. If you leave the house at all, you are going to run into someone that is distressed. I pray that we would exercise our freedoms to share the good news of Christ, and  that we would keep our eyes open and our hearts ready to see that person and lead them to the cross. Pray that with me today and watch God answer it, and when he does, or if  you already have a story to share, tell us all in the comments section to encourage and inspire us all on to do good works! Amen!