Strengthen your heart first, then inquire of God. Looking to God for the next step may take many forms, including seeking the help of others. At a minimum it includes prayer. It is a known fact seen repeatedly in the Bible that God loves to hear and respond to the desperate prayers of His own children.

When a child leaves the home abruptly and angrily, with a vow not to return, how do you recover? When you receive termination papers from your work with no prospects of another job, how do you keep from losing it all? When bills pile too high and the income is too low, where do you turn? When your companion of decades has a stroke and leaves you alone, what can help you keep balanced through the lonely days and nights?

I wonder what you would have done if you had been David. Here’s a story that led to desperation: Before David was king of Israel, he gathered a band of followers and lived among the Philistines, the enemies of Israel living on the coastal plains. Jealous Saul, the angry, insecure king of Israel, was seeking to kill David. David was soon trusted by Achish, the Philistine lord of Gath, the very city where Goliath had grown up. The Philistine lord assumed he was turning his back on Israel due to Saul’s anger against him. But he was being deceived by David.

David lived in Ziklag, a town given to him by Achish, for a year and four months.

With such confidence in David, it was natural for Achish to expect David to come along as the Philistines gathered together to fight Saul’s army. However, as the Philistines moved north, the other lords of the Philistine cities insisted that David not be allowed to go with them. Reluctantly, Achish told David to return to Ziklag.

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