Mighty Men and Women

David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam.  When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.  All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader.

1 Samuel 22:1-2

I made a couple of visits on Thanksgiving Day.  At my first stop, I had an opportunity to listen to several people talk about what they were grateful for.  These men and women were grateful and at peace, despite the obstacles in their lives.  I heard people share stories about how they were estranged from parents and other loved ones.  One woman said that her father neither invited her to Thanksgiving dinner, nor called her on the day itself.    While I was listening, I started to think, “Wow, these stories are kind of sad for me to be listening to on Thanksgiving Day.”  God answered me immediately, because my next thought was of David’s Mighty Men.

According to the world, these Mighty Men looked like losers when we first read about them.  They’re either in distress, in debt, or discontented; and in their distress, their best idea is to leave their home and go live in a cave (or become homeless) and allow themselves to be directed by a guy with a price on his head (David).  By the end of David’s reign, these losers went on Israel’s honor roll, and are now dubbed “mighty” men.  I wondered how they achieved this transformation.

Then it occurred to me that they didn’t achieve a transformation on their own.  They admitted that they were broken and placed themselves in the hands of someone who had a better plan than they did; and they were able to share their hurts with people who were in the same boat.  When we came to Jesus, we were also in distress, in debt, and discontented.  Through allowing Him to take control over our lives so that His will be done, and through sharing with other Christians, God will transform us.  Just like David’s Mighty Men, our ending can be much better than our beginning.

 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. 

He struck down two of Moab’s best men. 

He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. 

And he struck down a huge Egyptian.  Athough the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club.  He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. 

Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty men.

2 Samuel 23:20-22