Seize the Moment – Day 777
Embracing the Twists and Turns of Life!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, May 3.
Don’t you ever wish that your story had less twists and turns? While we may wish that for our lives, the reality is that none of us would enjoy a movie or book that had no plot twists. A story without drama doesn’t have opportunity for human intrigue, adventure, crisis, and redemption, the ingredients of all great epic stories.
The story of Israel becoming a united kingdom under King David’s reign is a twisted story, just like all great stories. King Saul was dead, and while we were led to believe that his sons were dead alongside of him in battle, a twist appeared in 2 Samuel 2:8-11:
But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim. He made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, even over all Israel. Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he was king for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David. The time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
The great general of Saul’s armies, Abner, propped up Saul’s living son, Ish-bosheth, as the rightful heir to the throne. Was Abner using him to keep himself in power and to continue the fight against David and his men? Time would tell, but for the meantime David continued to be forged in the twists and turns of Israel’s toxic political environment. This drama served to prepare him for his kingship, one that would unite the twelve tribes.
Seize the moment and embrace the twists and turns of your life. Trust that God is sovereign and “causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).