Psalm 120:1a "Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up,"
It has always intrigued me that the segment of time in our lives that is our "childhood" is so small in proportion to the rest of the years we live out as adults, but the impact of those impressionable years is incalculable. We are impacted so deeply by what happens or doesn't' happen to us during those years that it shapes us in more ways than we can count. We are shaped emotionally, socially, mentally, and even physical health is attributed to how we were nourished as children. So, of course, our imaginations long to know more about people like David. We are not told much, if anything about David's youth. We know he was the youngest of eight brothers and he tended sheep, but we don't have much more information than that to construct his life before his anointing and killing of Goliath.
There is a story that happens at a much later time in David's life that I believe offers us a small piece to David's childhood puzzle.
It is a story that is so dramatic and powerful that God used it to awaken David from his sinful stupor. Its impact moves David's emotions so quickly that I believe it reveals something from David's heart. Some special memory that shaped who he was. Let's read this story in 2 Samuel 12:
1Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said,
“There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.
2The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
3But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,
And was like a daughter to him.
4Now a traveler came to the rich man,
And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him;
Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
5Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. 6He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”
7Nathan then said to David, “You are the man!
God had Nathan tell David this particular story because David was a shepherd boy for years. He loved his sheep and I have a feeling he probably had a few sheep over the years that he treated as well as the poor man treated his one sheep in the story told by Nathan. God used that deep emotional string, one maybe David may have forgotten about until this very moment, to pull and rip open David's heart to feel pain. To see the evil acts of his own life. It was only then that David wept and repented.
There are things in our past that God wants to use. It may be a good memory you shared with a loved one, it may be a favorite food your grandmother made, it may be a tough memory, but God can use it to awaken you as an adult. God can get your attention and remind you of where you came from, how far he has brought you and that he is not finished writing your story.
I don't know what you carry deep in the crevices of your heart, what good things or deep pains that have made their marks, but God does. Let Him heal your heart, but let Him also use your joys. The things that brought you joy are things that can be reignited to be shared with others, If something was so special to you, it will probably be special to your child, grandchild, nieces or nephews. Time spent with the next generation is never wasted. A few minutes of conversation or time together with a child or teen may seem insignificant in our adult minds, but it can have a lasting, lifelong imprint on their souls.
Pray for wisdom on how to inspire the next generation and remember that God knows your own heart. He wants to continue to use your life to bring praise and others to Him.
-Melissa Pyle
Comments
Post a Comment