The Bible provides us with a lot of examples about human relationship, because let’s face it we NEED PEOPLE. I’ve heard my fellow believers say things and my response is “people are not dispensable”. We can’t just pick them up and throw them away when they are no longer “useful” to us. I am not saying that I haven’t made the mistake of thinking people are dispensable but I know better now. The Holy Spirit continues to show me that even people that are difficult to love are purposed in our lives. God in all of His magnificence does nothing by chance even the people we encounter. However, it is up to us to find out the purpose of these relationships
If I was in the cave would I have listened to my friends and killed the man that was making my life a living hell? Honestly, I don’t know. But what I do know is that David understood something that I think some of us fail to see. David feared the Lord. He knew that Saul was chosen by God and He could not kill him. David’s friends wanted Saul dead because this would solve all of their problems. It was a quick fix but if he killed the king David could never profess his innocence.
I think that the conviction David had in the cave was that he saw the bigger picture.
This occurrence teaches me that even people who mean us harm are an opportunity for God to see our heart. David was a warrior who had killed thousands of people, this would have been an easy kill. But as he said “I will not harm the Lord’s anointed”. It was the Lord’s hand on Saul that saved his life. David reverenced the Lord to the point where he was willing to keep running for his life.
I know that in today’s society the churchism of everyone can’t come to the next level with you isn’t about killing people. But the danger of this mindset is that people are quick to cut others off when they are no longer serving them. I do not think this is the example the Bible sets. We see the total opposite in the cave with David and Saul. Even after all Saul did to David, he still bowed before him and called him king. This was not lip service but great respect. Why? Because he had a revelation that God anointed Saul.
God created each and every one of us in His image. When we see others as dispensable what revelation do we have of God? We know that sin has corrupted the human race but through Christ Jesus we all have the capacity to be like Him; through the Holy Spirit we have the counsel to love like Him. If David could love Saul, why can’t we love. I am not saying that we should remain in toxic relationships but I do believe that we can be refined through every experience.
Jesus showed us that not even the man who would lead His accusers to Him is dispensable. He kept Judas with Him for three whole years. He was never treated or loved any differently. Why? God trusted His Father and He knew that even though satan would enter Judas, it wasn’t satan’s will that would be accomplished but God’s divine will. The same with Peter, the man who denied Jesus multiple times. It was this same man that was a great apostle after Jesus’ glorification. Love covers a multitude of sins. People may not be good to us but as Christians we should be good to them. The way we treat them is not because of how they treat us but because of who saved us. We are to show them the same underserved kindness that we receive! While I understand that people change and some relationships fall apart the bible tells us that in as much as we can control it we should live at peace with all men. If it’s in my power to keep peace, I should.
People are not dispensable. We don’t have to worry about the “right” people being in our lives if we fully submit to God’s will and the path He has laid before us. Why? Because we will be positioned for Him to put them in our lives and for Him to remove those that aren’t supposed to be there. For example, the instigating friends with David in the cave were warriors but in that moment that’s not what David needed. But down the line David needed those same friends to fight by his side. David could have said, you friends cannot be in my next season with me I have to leave you behind. When the time came to fight David would have been alone. But David, feared the Lord and was instructed by the Lord. This allowed him to provide wise counsel to his friends.
Let’s position ourselves in God’s will so that He can align us with the right people at the right seasons. Where He can connect us with people that will sharpen us, invoke us to love, stir up the gifts in us and help to refine us even if that person sees us as their enemy. I pray He opens our eyes to see that even those who are used by satan are in the hands of God to bring forth His glory in and through us.
The miracle that happened in the Cave was that David loved God so much that He could not dishonor Him by harming someone He chose. God has chosen each of us, let us be careful of how we treat each other.
And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. Ecclesiastes 4:12 NASB
You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. John 15:16 NLT