David: A King in His Process

Life is a process.

This process occurs over a series of highs and lows, crests and troughs, inspirational moments and lethargic days and so on. As much as we may want to, we can’t skip parts of the process. The night has to come before the sun rises. Each moment of life complements the next and we have to go through each of those moments. 

Can a pilot with no experience of flying an airplane fly an airplane?

Can he or she even be considered a pilot?

Would you be where you are, right now, if you didn’t fail at some point in the past?

Would you be able to read this if you didn’t spend so much time, as a child, learning how to read?

The answers to these questions reveal a truth that we don’t like to admit. It’s a truth that is fair and applies to every area of life. It is the truth that reminds us that to manifest our dreams and reach our aspirations, we have to go through due process.

About a thousand years before Jesus Christ was born, King David ruled the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. He is regarded as one of the greatest monarchs to ever rule a kingdom. However, he wasn’t always a king. He went through a process before he became a ruler. He started out as a shepherd boy, then he became a harpist and while he was at it, he killed a giant and was known as a giant slayer. His victory over the giant made him a stable in the Palace of the reigning king at the time - King Saul - but before long, he became the subject of several assassination attempts and turned into a fugitive. After years of running and hiding for his life, he eventually became a king.

Take a moment to reflect on David’s journey to the throne:

Shepherd Boy - Harpist - Giant Slayer - A Respected Royal Staff - Fugitive - King

You can see the highs and the lows in David’s process. He went from being a young boy who took care of sheep to being a young man who killed a giant no one else could kill. He went from being one of the most important and popular people in the nation to being on his nation’s most wanted list. He went from being someone who was continually chased by soldiers who were assigned to kill him to being the ruler in charge of those same legions of soldiers.

This was the process of David’s life. Each moment in his life was just as important as the next. He needed to be a harpist so that he could be hired to work in the palace and be present when the giant was terrorizing the nation. He needed to be an esteemed personnel in King Saul’s palace so that King Saul could realize how he really didn’t like David and so the king would order the death of David. David needed to be a fugitive so that he could become the King of Israel and Judah.

He needed each moment and in each moment, God - who knew the beginning and end of it all - was there with him.

The beauty of the process lies in our understanding of the fact that each moment is just as significant as the next. More importantly, it is in our understanding that God is with us in each moment. He is there when we are fugitives and when we are kings. If we can accept this truth and live by this understanding, the moments of our lives will be more meaningful to us. If we can believe that God is with us in each moment, we will spend less time feeling hopeless and instead, we will spend more time seeing what God can do through us.

Your process has a purpose.

Your process is your purpose.

I am encouraging you to study the life of King David and how he responded to the highs and lows of his life. Meditate on this and highlight principles from David’s life that you can start applying to your life’s process.

Bible Text: 1 Samuel 16 - 2 Samuel 24