Day 2 of 21-Day Challenge: Warriors Weep Too!

Somewhere along the way, the process of crying became seen as a weakness. I know I get upset if I cry in public, it’s bad enough that I’m upset enough to cry, but to have someone see me – what must they think of me now? I’m human, we cry, it’s part of our DNA, but yet when we cry we become ashamed of those tears showing our true emotions.

But David said to him, "You come to me using a sword and two spears. But I come to you in the name of the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the armies of Israel! You have spoken against him.  Today the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll kill you and cut off your head. Today I'll feed the bodies of the Philistine soldiers to the birds of the air and the wild animals. Then all the world will know there is a God in Israel! Everyone gathered here will know the Lord does not need swords or spears to save people. The battle belongs to him, and he will hand you over to us."  As Goliath came near to attack him, David ran quickly to meet him. He took a stone from his bag, put it into his sling, and slung it. The stone hit the Philistine and went deep into his forehead, and Goliath fell facedown on the ground.  So David defeated the Philistine with only a sling and a stone. He hit him and killed him. He did not even have a sword in his hand. Then David ran and stood beside him. He took Goliath's sword out of its holder and killed him by cutting off his head.  (1 Samuel 17:45-51 NCV)

One of my favorite people from the Bible is David, he was a mighty warrior of GOD. He stood before a giant with just a sling shot and before he threw a single stone, he gave that giant a verbal smack down.    He was so confident in GOD having his back, that he didn’t hold back a single insult.  So when he took down the giant, he ran to cut off his head; he didn’t hesitate, he knew he was taking down the giant. There was never any doubt in his mind that GOD would deliver Goliath to him; that is trust. You would imagine if you just shot someone you would pause and be amazed that you were able to take them down, but not David, he was expecting it. This warrior of GOD fought in so many more battles, that songs were song by the people about him slaying 10,000 men; this isn’t a man afraid of anything.

I am worn out from sobbing.  All night I flood my bed with weeping, drenching it with my tears. My vision is blurred by grief; my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies.  (Psalm 6:6-7 NLT)

David wrote this Psalm, GOD’s mighty warrior said he was crying, not just crying, today we would call this type of sobbing, ‘bawling’, about the problems he was having. David was so upset about the circumstances that he was dealing with it; he said he flooded his bed with tears! Not only is David admitting he sobs, he’s not ashamed of his tears; he writes this down to be shared with all of GOD’s people!

But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.  (Acts 13:22 NLT)

GOD said that David was a man after HIS own heart, what child of GOD wouldn’t want that to be said about them! So we can be a strong warrior of GOD and also a child that sobs when our circumstances are more than we can bear. David might weep when he’s under pressure and can’t see the end of his trial, but that doesn’t mean he gave up on GOD. No, David never stopped trusting that GOD would deliver him!

Go away, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer.  (Psalm 6:8-9 NLT)

While David was still in the midst of his storm, he did not waiver in his faith in GOD, he said that the Lord heard his cries; the Lord had heard his prayers and the Lord WILL deliver him. While we’re in the middle of a crisis, it’s hard to imagine that anything good will come from it. It’s natural to imagine things only getting worst and never getting any better, but our GOD is supernatural. Our GOD sees the beginning from the end, HE knows what’s going to happen before it does. HE has a path for us and when roadblocks and detours come about, HE’s not surprised. HE knows how to get us to our destination, the bumps in life that we go through aren’t put there by GOD, but HE can navigate us around them and use those circumstances to strengthen us and to bless us.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:28 NLT)

GOD never said the journey would be easy, but HE did say HE would never leave us. The trials we go through can bring us to our knees, and it’s okay to weep and cry out to GOD to deliver us. When you pray for GOD to rescue you, know that the rescue is on its way; but the timing is not what you want, it’s what you need!