Trading worry for surrender: What we can learn from David’s time in the cave
Calm in a Chaotic World Series, Part 4
I’ve always appreciated David, the deeply flawed worshipper. A man who was destined for great things and also poured his heart out so vulnerably in the Psalms. In 1 Samuel 22 we find him in the cave of Adullam, surrounded by 400 troubled men and all of their troubles, pursued by Saul and hiding to protect his life.
The anxiety must have been overwhelming. The darkness, the smells, the reports from the outside about Saul’s movements, not to mention the relational dynamics of so many stressed out people stuck together. There was no Netflix to binge. No pleasures to distract him. There were really two options for his brain space. He could worry or he could surrender.
There is something in us that fights surrender. It seems…unholy. We are supposed to keep our dukes up. We can’t give in to what the enemy is trying to do to us, right?
But this is a convenient twist to the truth that enables us to resist humility.
The battle has always belonged to the Lord, not to us (2 Chron 20:15).
What belongs to us is surrender and worship (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Our highest calling has always been walking in the garden with God.
David models weakness so beautifully in the Psalms, as he waits in the putrid cave. He reminds us that we get to be human and God gets to be God.
Your cave might be a hardship. Or it might be a personal struggle with some kind of sin. Or it might be a broken relationship. Or it might be a feeling of being lost in this world, wondering what you’re here for.
Here’s what we can learn from the caveman David in his time of chaos…
We don’t stop fighting, but we fight for the right things - faith, hope, and love - not trying to be perfect or trying to feel differently.
We surrender to God all of the things we cannot change. This might mean laying them down hourly, every time they try to overwhelm us. Worries cannot cease until we surrender all of our outcomes.
We don’t stop believing in change, but we stop trying to control it. We believe that change will come through the Lord, not through our own efforts.
We embrace that there are seasons to be still and know. They are no less worthy or holy seasons. We can step away as Jesus did and get stronger for the task at hand (Luke 5:15-16). It is not weakness to wait on God.
One commentary said of David that he “turned loose of his own strength. He turned loose of his own ideas. He turned loose of his own wisdom. He abandoned himself completely to the will of God.”
What do you need to turn loose of today?
What does it look like for you to replace worry with surrender and worship in this season?
