Return to Being – David’s Fourth Step in Living Beyond a Shattered Life (2 Samuel 12:29) - a podcast by David K Payne

“You must make a decision that you are going to move on. It won’t happen automatically. You will have to rise up and say, ‘I don’t care how hard this is, I don’t care how disappointed I am, I’m not going to let this get the best of me. I’m moving on with my life.” 
― Joel Osteen,

For the past three blogs, we have looked at the things David did to continue living beyond a shattered life. The fourth noticeable step that David was to gather his army and go to war. For those experienced with recovering from traumatic events, one of the last things you begin to do is to resume normalcy in your everyday living. For David, he was a king. As king, he ruled and waged war against the enemies of Israel. On my view, this would have been particularly difficult for David given the steps that lead to this shattered place in his life.

Looking at the circumstances of David’s life before this series of sins, reveals something interesting. It all began when David should have been at war with his armies but decided instead to stay in Jerusalem. While strolling on the roof of his home, David saw a beautiful woman. Being king, he sent for her, lay with her and she became with child. In an attempt to cover this sin up, he sent for her husband, and when his plan failed, David sent him to the front lines to intentionally get him killed. A child was born, became sick and died, and from this shattered place of personal failure, betrayal, and selfishness, David shows us an incredible example of living beyond a shattered life.  David’s writings reveal him to be a very contemplated person. It must have been incredibly painful for David to return to the battlefield when it was his absence from the battlefield that started things.

I believe that in cases of personal failure, it is incredibly hard for us to return to doing the things we should have been doing in our lives.  There might have been legitimate reasons as to why David did not go to the battlefield this time. Most likely, he was exhausted with living and decided to take a break. Regardless, I believe there is a connection between his sins and the decision to stay at home. The incredible thing about David was his ability to return to the center or right the ship of his life regardless of how bad things were. I believe it was his deep abiding confidence that God existed and loved him regardless that gave him the strength to keep living.

We must as did David summon the courage to return to the things we need to be doing in our lives. Returning to what we should be doing with our lives has been one of the most personally challenging things for me to do. I had to take care of myself. I was very confident in my relationship with God and after some discomfort found the ability to comfort and find comfort in my family. But, returning to ministering to people and encouraging others has been the most challenging step for me to take. To return to living your life, you must decide that your calling and purpose are more significant than your failings, personal pain, and the disappointments of others.

David returned to being king, and I want to encourage each of you to return to being who you are supposed to be. As you consider living beyond your shattered life, allow God to give you the grace to return to living and being.

 Just Be

David

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