Recovering from Ruins – Part 1

Be Encouraged in the Lord

In this five-part series over the course of 10 weeks (one part every 2 weeks from today), we will be looking at steps we can take to recover from loss and defeat. These lessons are based on the story of David in the book of 1 Samuel 30: 1 – 31. These are life lessons we can learn from David which we can apply to our lives and teach others. As we go through life, we will experience one form of loss or the other. Although the experience of loss and defeat is unique to every individual, it is not uncommon to man (1 Corinthians 10:13). There are templates we can find in scripture that teaches us steps we can take to recover from ruins.

I recently completed a personal project that has always been on my mind. I prayed and hoped that someday God would give me access to the resources I needed to execute this dream project. Indeed, God answered my prayers and it became a reality. I was excited and grateful to God. I shared my testimony with as many that could listen. Within a week after this project came to life I woke one beautiful morning to discover everything had crashed. While I was still in the honeymoon phase of my new project it was attacked and destroyed. In less than one week my happiness turned to anxiety and worry. Initially, I couldn’t accept that what I laboured for vanished in a twinkle of an eye. But after reality set in, I became worried about how I was going to tell this unfortunate tale to people who supported me. How was I going to explain this sudden end to those who had goodwill towards this project? In the midst of my worries and anxiety, perhaps my greatest fear was starting this project again. Sometimes, the mere thought of starting something all over is enough to scare us. Will this be attacked again? Will I be successful in setting this up again? Will I have the needed support and resources to do this again? Will there be any recovery? Many of us can relate to situations where our joy was suddenly cut short or where we needed to restart something that took us so much time and effort to build.

David was consistently hunted by King Saul. King Saul wanted David dead and David fled to be with the Philistines. David pitched his tent with the enemies of the children of Israel accompanied by 600 men. The Philistines gave David and his men a portion of their territory to occupy with their wives and properties. Consequently, Ziklag became home to David and his loyalists. David had a cordial relationship with the Philistines and as the Philistines prepared to go to battle with Israel, some leaders of the Philistines were not comfortable with David fighting alongside them. They clearly heard David’s exploits in the past and were afraid he could betray them on the battlefield. David and his men headed back to their tent in disappointment. Upon arrival, they saw the Amalekites had invaded Ziklag, burned it to the ground, and took their wives and children captive. David and his men wept until they had no more power to weep (1 Samuel 30: 4). They had just been rejected by the Philistines, only to get home to meet ruins. They had no family and properties anymore. 

David’s men turned on him and wanted to kill him. They had left everything to follow him and now they were left with nothing.  These men had every reason to weep, they had become frustrated because everything they owned was destroyed. Their leader also looked distraught and clueless on what to do, he was weeping with them. It is part of human nature to blame ourselves or look for someone to blame when things go wrong. David’s men decided David had to pay with his life for all that happened to them. They had clearly given up on recovery, they believed the best decision was to make David pay for their collective loss.

Not everyone can tell exactly how they’ll react if faced with the prospect or reality of losing all they have built or acquired. It is better imagined than experienced, but loss and destruction are realities of life. David reacted in a manner that should be an example for us. After the initial natural reaction of weeping, “He encouraged himself in the Lord” (1 Samuel 30: 6, KJV). I admire the fact that the scripture recorded their weeping. It shows they were human and reacted like any of us would react to such a devastating event. These were tough men who had gone to war and slain men, they were as tough as any human could get but they had a breaking point. David equally had a breaking point, he wept over his loss but did not stay weeping. Weeping is not the problem, but to stay weeping is the problem.

The men who were with David looked up to him, they needed answers and encouragement from him and maybe David had always provided all the answers in the past but this time around David also needed encouragement and answers. There are times when you have no answers for the people that look up to you for courage because you need some encouragement and answers for yourself too. During such times, the only route towards getting back on your feet again and recovering from your ruins is to encourage yourself in the Lord. As with David, encouragement wasn’t going to come from his friends or loyalists, he had to encourage himself in the Lord. This encouragement did not come because he knew what next to do, that would have been encouraging himself in himself or encouraging himself in his wisdom. David’s encouragement came from the knowledge of the Lord. Sometimes we find the grace to be encouraged in God when we have exhausted every other source of encouragement. When we encourage ourselves in the Lord, we are not denying the existence of our reality but we are confronting defeat with our knowledge of a better reality. This reality is that our God is bigger than what is against us.

When we encourage ourselves in the Lord, we are not denying the existence of our reality but we are confronting defeat with our knowledge of a better reality. This reality is that our God is bigger than what is against us. Share on X

David had testimonies of previous victories, he had a good record of what God had done for him in the past. He had points of reference to know that there was a possibility to recover from this current loss.  A practical way of encouraging yourself in the Lord is to mentally go through how God helped you recover from your previous defeats and loss. It is worthwhile to imbibe the habit of writing down your prayer requests and equally writing down the answers and your testimonies. They become a very useful resource for you in your time of discouragement and when the devil wants to mess with your mind. The devil banks on our short memory to instil fear and defeat in us so that we can be discouraged.  In Exodus 17: 14 NLT, we see God instructing Moses to write down what he had done and what he will do. When we write down our victories they become an indelible record that will bless us and bless others that read them. Encourage yourself in the Lord by reading through scripture to remind yourself of His promises towards you.

Maybe you are at your breaking point because of the destruction and loss you have experienced.  Maybe you have always been “superman” to everyone around you but they can’t see that you need encouragement and help too. It hurts when we consistently attend to the needs of others but no one attends to our own needs. It is okay to feel disappointed and it’s okay to weep but don’t remain in this state. Get yourself together and be encouraged in the truth that God in his mercy can make a way of recovery for you. You can recover and you will recover from your ruins, be encouraged in the Lord. 

Follow up Part 2 of this topic.