BBD 08.21.14 Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Classic)

#1 · August 21, 2014, 12:05 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on August 21, 2014, 12:05 pm
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

If for
some reason you do not receive your email version of the devotional please
check the Burning Bush website at www.theburningbush.net for the
“Devotional of the Day” and read the devotional there.

The Burning
Bush Devotional

Classic
from 2002

08.21.14

Between a Rock and a
Hard Place

My brethren, count it all joy when
you fall into various trials. - James 1:2 NKJV.

How many times have I been at the end
of my rope and felt like I was losing my grip? I’m not sure, but it
has been more than a few times. My reaction today to problems is much different
than it was when I was a new Christian. Back then I thought that I was able to
handle things on my own. I thought I was intelligent and energetic enough to handle
whatever came my way. If bad things happened, God was the last place I went for
help. I surely would not be asking other people to pray about my situation. In
fact, I would try not to let anyone know about my problems hoping they could be
solved before anyone found out. I was much more concerned about what other
people thought than anything else.

Flash forward thirty years and my reaction to
problems is to immediately pray and ask God to help. Not only do I pray and ask
God to help but I tell everyone I possibly can asking them to pray too.
My prayer life now is not merely reactive but proactive. I pray about
everything in my life and for everyone in my area of influence. I ask for God’s
protection, for His wisdom because I have learned through very difficult times
that indeed I don’t know everything and I cannot do everything but He does and
can.

King David experienced the same type of
evolution in his relationship with God. At one point, David thought himself to
be and was known to be “very crafty - NKJV” or
able to “dealeth very subtilely - KJV (1 Samuel
23:22).” After all David had been able to kill the giant Goliath and for
some time had been able to elude the clutches of the crazy King Saul. But David
eventually found himself in that place between a rock and a hard place. The
Ziphites in their double-dealing with David and King Saul was able to lead the
King and his army to David’s hiding place.

David and his men hid out on a waterless rock
“in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south
of Jeshimon (1 Samuel 23:24).” David and Saul played a cat and mouse
game of going from one side to the other side of the mountain. Saul eventually
split up his 3,000 men in an encircling maneuver. There would be no escape for
David and if they took off across the desert plain then, Saul would easily see
and eventually overtake them with superior numbers. It was just a matter of
time before it would be over for David. No amount of craftiness would help him
now. But just before the end came a messenger came to King Saul saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land (1
Samuel 23:27)!” Amazingly the army of King Saul left when they would
have soon destroyed David and his men.

For this occasion David wrote Psalm 54 which reveals he has given up any idea of his
being able to survive by his own craftiness, “Save me,
O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your strength. Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen up against me, and
oppressors have sought after my life; they have not set God before them. Selah.
Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is with those who uphold my life. He will
repay my enemies for their evil. Cut them off in Your truth. I will freely
sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good. For He has
delivered me out of all trouble; and my eye has seen its desire upon my
enemies.”

Are you between a rock and a hard
place?
The only place left to go is to God and I think that is why James says to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials.”
Because in that situation we are forced to draw near to God and in the process
we become more conformed to the image of Christ (Romans
8:29) and God draws near to us (James 4:8).

Copyright © 2002-2014. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of
these first devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent
to prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush websites:

www.theburningbush.net

www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have
received visits from more than 170 countries. Celebrating 15 years online since
January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush Devotional has been
spreading the truth of God's Word to more than 14,000 subscribers across the
world.

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top left hand corner of all of the pages.

Ed Wrather has retired from
pastoring full-time and has more time to pursue other ministry opportunities.
You can make contact at edwrather@yahoo.com or
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

Prayer Requests: Many prayer
needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page. You
can also post your prayer requests there (Of course, I am always in need of
prayer - please pray for me.).

If you enjoy the devotional
please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank
email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the
burningbushdevo devotional group by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html
text group (Because of time constraints the devotional is only being sent now
in html format) by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org
and you may unsubscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the confirmation email.
If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

--

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org

Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

If for
some reason you do not receive your email version of the devotional please
check the Burning Bush website at http://www.theburningbush.net for the
“Devotional of the Day” and read the devotional there.

The Burning
Bush Devotional

Classic
from 2002

08.21.14

Between a Rock and a
Hard Place

My brethren, count it all joy when
you fall into various trials. - James 1:2 NKJV.

How many times have I been at the end
of my rope and felt like I was losing my grip? I’m not sure, but it
has been more than a few times. My reaction today to problems is much different
than it was when I was a new Christian. Back then I thought that I was able to
handle things on my own. I thought I was intelligent and energetic enough to handle
whatever came my way. If bad things happened, God was the last place I went for
help. I surely would not be asking other people to pray about my situation. In
fact, I would try not to let anyone know about my problems hoping they could be
solved before anyone found out. I was much more concerned about what other
people thought than anything else.

Flash forward thirty years and my reaction to
problems is to immediately pray and ask God to help. Not only do I pray and ask
God to help but I tell everyone I possibly can asking them to pray too.
My prayer life now is not merely reactive but proactive. I pray about
everything in my life and for everyone in my area of influence. I ask for God’s
protection, for His wisdom because I have learned through very difficult times
that indeed I don’t know everything and I cannot do everything but He does and
can.

King David experienced the same type of
evolution in his relationship with God. At one point, David thought himself to
be and was known to be “very crafty - NKJV” or
able to “dealeth very subtilely - KJV (1 Samuel
23:22).” After all David had been able to kill the giant Goliath and for
some time had been able to elude the clutches of the crazy King Saul. But David
eventually found himself in that place between a rock and a hard place. The
Ziphites in their double-dealing with David and King Saul was able to lead the
King and his army to David’s hiding place.

David and his men hid out on a waterless rock
“in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south
of Jeshimon (1 Samuel 23:24).” David and Saul played a cat and mouse
game of going from one side to the other side of the mountain. Saul eventually
split up his 3,000 men in an encircling maneuver. There would be no escape for
David and if they took off across the desert plain then, Saul would easily see
and eventually overtake them with superior numbers. It was just a matter of
time before it would be over for David. No amount of craftiness would help him
now. But just before the end came a messenger came to King Saul saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land (1
Samuel 23:27)!” Amazingly the army of King Saul left when they would
have soon destroyed David and his men.

For this occasion David wrote Psalm 54 which reveals he has given up any idea of his
being able to survive by his own craftiness, “Save me,
O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your strength. Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen up against me, and
oppressors have sought after my life; they have not set God before them. Selah.
Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is with those who uphold my life. He will
repay my enemies for their evil. Cut them off in Your truth. I will freely
sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good. For He has
delivered me out of all trouble; and my eye has seen its desire upon my
enemies.”

Are you between a rock and a hard
place?
The only place left to go is to God and I think that is why James says to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials.”
Because in that situation we are forced to draw near to God and in the process
we become more conformed to the image of Christ (Romans
8:29) and God draws near to us (James 4:8).

Copyright © 2002-2014. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of
these first devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent
to prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush websites:

http://www.theburningbush.net

http://www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have
received visits from more than 170 countries. Celebrating 15 years online since
January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush Devotional has been
spreading the truth of God's Word to more than 14,000 subscribers across the
world.

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at http://www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top left hand corner of all of the pages.

Ed Wrather has retired from
pastoring full-time and has more time to pursue other ministry opportunities.
You can make contact at edwrather@yahoo.com or
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

Prayer Requests: Many prayer
needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page. You
can also post your prayer requests there (Of course, I am always in need of
prayer - please pray for me.).

If you enjoy the devotional
please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank
email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the
burningbushdevo devotional group by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html
text group (Because of time constraints the devotional is only being sent now
in html format) by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org
and you may unsubscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the confirmation email.
If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org