Misunderstood

God doesn't make sense and when you decide to follow a God, who doesn't follow human rules, people are going to misunderstand you.  The bible says that David was "a man after God's own heart", but David was also the object of a lot of ridicule. 

If you are like me and like the people who knew David, you probably would have chosen someone else.  At times in David's life you probably would have felt very justified in thinking that God had made a mistake in choosing David.  David was God's chosen man, but he was a man. 

David was a lot of things.  Saul's servants said about David, when they were looking for someone to come serve Saul, that he was a skillful musician, a mighty valiant man, a man of war, prudent (wise) in speech, handsome and the Lord is with him.   It was obvious to some that God was with David. 

Very early in David's story you can see a trend that will follow David throughout his life...  opposition from people who think they know something.

One day David's father sends him out to bring food to his older brothers and to hear how the battle with the Philistines is going.  When David shows up, he hears all this commotion about a giant and something about Saul making promises to the man who will slay the giant. 

"and David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel?  for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said 'Why have you come here? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness?  I KNOW your pride, and the naughtiness of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle.'

It makes me laugh when I read Eliab's reaction to David.  WHY ARE YOU HERE?  Well, His father sent him.  Then Eliab brings up the "few" sheep that David was tending...  to remind David where his place was and that he was insignificant.  Eliab then accuses David of being prideful.  I think Eliab is deflecting.  He doesn't want to be reminded that NO OTHER MAN in that camp, including himself had taken the challenge to go against the enemy.  Here was his little brother acting like he was going to go up against Goliath and Eliab's PRIDE was wounded. 

Isn't that the way it is.  People who think they know you or know what God would do, try to discourage you from following God...  WHY?  because they aren't brave enough to follow God.  Maybe they are full of fear, pride, jealousy...  who knows, but people think they know and they don't. 

David's response is so brilliant to me.  Instead of defending himself the bible says he turns to someone else and said the same thing, "What's going on?"  Most of us would be so focused on what the accuser had said, that we would lose track of what we are supposed to be doing.   We would be stuck right there and never move on, because so an so thinks such and such.  We get paralyzed and analyze "now why do they think that?"  Not David, he moved right on and remembered what Eliab thought about him did not matter.  You know the rest of the story...  they brought David to Saul and Saul sent him out to defeat the enemy. 

David did not get side-tracked with worry over what people thought about him.  He just did what he was supposed to do and if people didn't like it "Oh, well!"  He cared more about following God and defending the name of the Lord, than he did about defending himself. 

People are going to misunderstand you when you walk with the Lord.  God doesn't make sense to us.  The Bible says the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of man.  His way are not our ways. 

Proverbs 21:30 "There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord." 

I want to be like David.  I don't want to spend anymore time caring what people think about me.  I want to be focused on the mission that God has sent me on and if it doesn't make sense to the world around me I can be pretty sure I'm on the right path.