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Life is never straightforward; there are always ups and downs. We love to think that we will always have it good but it is never like that because we live in an imperfect world. The good news is that there are ways to mitigate the impact of the bad news on our mind, will and emotions. We do this by building our relationship with God in good times so we are able to draw strength from Him to push through in the bad times.

Over the next few days we will talk about the five steps David took to always overcome problems, and maintain his success. The first step is “He entered his stronghold.”

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king of Israel, they mobilized all their forces to capture him. But David was told they were coming, so he went into the stronghold.

(2 Samuel 5:17 NLT)

What is a stronghold? It is a place that has been fortified so as to protect it against attack. It is also a place where a particular cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld. So David did not only enter a physical stronghold but also a spiritual and emotional stronghold.

David did two main things in his stronghold,

• First, he encouraged Himself in the Lord by thanking Him for all the victories in the past until He had moved past the state of worry  – The importance of being at peace is to be able to clearly hear God speak to him.
• Second,  he asked God what to do with this new situation – When trouble comes it always feels like we are in a war zone because we can sometimes feel the terrible physical effect of the emotions in our body.

During the battle with Goliath, he used this method of rehearsing past experience with God to give Him the courage to go forward when everyone else was afraid to face the giant Goliath!

This is the account of what happened.

The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them…

But David said to Saul,
“Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the  lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.  Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.”

Moreover David said,
“The Lord , who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

And Saul said to David,
“Go, and the Lord be with you!”

(1 Samuel 17:3, 34-37 NKJV)

David’s stronghold was a place of inquiry and thanksgiving prayer to God for past; and also for anticipated present victory. By consistently practicing these two things:

• Thanksgiving for past victories
• Thanksgiving for anticipated victories

David was always protected from staying in negative emotions, and being crippled by fear of facing great challenges. Is that not what Bible tells us? Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV) says:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The New Living Translation Bible puts it this way:

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.

Whether we are on the hill of life, or feel we are in the valley of the shadow of death, we need to speak to God. Speaking to God is very simple when we cultivate the habit of Quiet Time. Please read our article on the origins and practice of Quiet Time here.

MEMORY VERSE

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

( 1 Samuel 30:6 )

QUESTIONS

In this season of grief all around how will you encourage yourself in the Lord?

What personal victory do you have in the past which can be used in thanksgiving in your stronghold?

PRAYER TIP

Father, I thank You for my life,
my health, my family and my friends
and all that you protected in the past,
and during this pandemic.
I thank You for providing
a source of income for me and as I
face these tough times in the economy.
I know that You will bless the work of
my hands and make it fruitful
in Jesus Mighty Name. Amen.

URGENT CALL

Every soul is valuable to God, far more than the entire world! But by nature, we are all sinful, and alienated from God, and we ultimately face his wrath!

God in His mercy and love made a way for us to remedy this. He gives us a chance to reverse this downward spiral to destruction, join His family, be part of His household, and become His children.

The first step to becoming a member of God’s household is for us to be saved.

Salvation comes through accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Personal Savior.

It is a very personal decision. No one can make that decision for you.

If you make that decision today, there will be great singing and rejoicing in heaven; because one new member has joined the family and household of God! A soul, much, much more valuable than the world, has been saved from destruction!

Do you want to make that decision today?

Please visit “The Believer’s Prayer”
for guidance if you want
to make that decision.

Then develop your new relationship
with God through your Quiet Time.

Then find a Bible-Believing Church
where you can Fellowship with like
minded people.

We will be happy to hear from you through the contact information on that page, or the ones at the top of this page. Don’t delay. Make this very personal decision today!

God richly bless you

SPECIAL GRATITUDE

Thank you for visiting the Testimony Devotional Website.

We would not have gotten here without your prayers, goodwill and overall support. We are grateful, and humbled.

We thank God for counting us worthy to share in His Great Commission; and we thank you for sticking with us through this journey.

God richly bless you.

The Testimony Devotional website addresses are:

https://testimonydevotional.org/

https://www.mytd.org/

EDITORS NOTE:

This article was written by Co-writer Lauretta Awude and published in March 2021 when Covid-19 was still ravaging the world. It is still relevant today.