Daily Devotional: Trials Before Blessings

We can learn a lot from David's life, one truth being that sometimes we have to wait a long time between God's promise of blessings and the actual blessing.

​Picture: A stature of King David with his lyre.

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I Chronicles 11:1-9

“Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.”

David had to wait years to be acknowledged. Even though God anointed him to be king in his youth, he had to go through years of troubles; he had to serve King Saul, be betrayed and hunted, live as a wanted man in enemy territory, and conquer his own capital before he was acknowledged as king (I Sam. 16:1-23, 18:5, 19:1, 20:1, 22:1, 27:1). Finally, after years of trouble and oppression, he is honored by the people; at last they desire to be under his rule.
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How many years must you wait for God’s blessing? How long before God’s plan for your life comes to pass? Even if God reveals you His plan, it may not happen right now. It may be years down the road. You may have to go through a lot of heartache before you see God’s blessing again. Yet through it all, God will be with you.

As God never abandoned David during his time of oppression, God will not abandon you during your times of trouble. Instead, God will use those troubles to prepare you for His plan; only after years of learning patience and growing in character are we ready to receive the blessings God has in store for us.

• Reflection: What are you enduring in your life as you wait for God’s plan for you to be fulfilled? Leave a comment below to share what God is doing in your life.