Aug7Written by:BlogForLadies
8/7/2011 5:46 PM 
This week, God has been impressing on me the story about David during the time when he lived in a cave; the time when King Saul was hotly pursuing David trying to kill him. I have always marveled at David, the man after God’s own heart. He always puts my praise to shame every time because he went deep in his worship. I could never even come close. David was a worshipper who no one has been able to replicate. He described God in very intimate ways, using comparisons I would never think of even if I were to get a doctorate in the English language. He must truly have made God smile. David’s worship was uninhibited; he didn’t consider his status in society when he danced for the Lord till his robes fell off. His wife despised him for it; but God blessed him and you know how the story goes- his wife was struck with barrenness. I could never describe David in one page, but today, I want to focus on his difficult days, which must have been many in number.
After David’s triumph over Goliath, he was invited to live at the palace with the King’s family, where he played a stringed instrument and sang to Saul. However, Saul got jealous of his accomplishments and attempted to kill David. There were many attempts by Saul on David’s life, but God delivered David each time. On one particular episode, David escaped to a cave called Adullam where he sought refuge from Saul. It is from this cave that David wrote some of the most inspiring Psalms in the Bible. David often cried out to God, voicing his discouragement and despair to the only one who could save him. Many are the times he questioned God, when he cried out in pain asking God to deliver him from his enemies and to save his life. At one point, as the book of Psalms says, David asked God if he (God), wanted the rocks to praise him since it seemed as if David’s life was about to end at any time (David was afraid he was going to be killed!) You might think that David sat in the caves all day awaiting God’s rescue, or crying out in his depression, but that is far from the truth. David still found strength in the Lord and still went out to battle the Philistines. He still helped those that were discouraged and he defended his country. All the years he spent in the wilderness and in the caves, were God’s training time for the task of kingship that was ahead of him.
Coming back to this generation, I thought of all the trials we go through, and all the waiting we have to endure. There are days we cry out to God like David asking him to please help us quickly. We have battle with God, sometimes out of anger and sometimes out of plain despair. I know that my father, just like in David’s time, has a plan for our lives and is preparing us for great things. It feels horrible that we have to endure the uncertainty of it all, but our faith in God keeps us going.
The pain we face today will never equal that of David. Can you imagine a cold hard cave as your home? What about the danger in the cave; can you think about those hissing sounds (I have a phobia for snakes), those bites from crawling creatures, the falling rocks and all those unimaginable scary things? Well, thank God that ours are cushioned caves. We may be battling pain of every kind- it may be sickness, unemployment, marital problems, financial woes, addiction or whatever it may be. We struggle with all these things maybe in the flesh or mind, but God has not sent us to the stony scary caves. We may still have the luxury of watching television in the comfort of our homes, driving good cars, warm clothes over our bodies and still afford to eat (David probably ate honey a few times in the cave). What I am trying to say is that, regardless of how painful our circumstances may be, God has still afforded us some level of comfort, and to me, that is extreme kindness from our father. That’s why I call this blog Cushioned Caves. The Lord still has us at a better place compared to our brothers and sisters in the bible times or even in other parts of the world. Think about our brothers and sisters who are persecuted for the faith in Sudan, China or other countries of the world. Think about those in Africa who cannot afford to put food on the table, or our brethren in Haiti living in tents, being rained on with no food or medical supplies. Think about the amputee in Haiti who has no hopes for prosthetic limbs, with a future so dim he may as well have died but God had a better plan. Think about the single mom who is unable to feed her children, or that cancer patient who has lost his or her will to live. Now, do you think you are in a cushioned cave? Probably yes. I know I am in a cushioned cave. I may be upset some things haven’t turned out the way I wanted, but I know that God is in control. Today, I just wanted to say “ Thank you God for my cushioned cave. It could have been so much worse.” For all of you in cushioned caves, thank God for his mercies and his provisions, then say a prayer for those in really hard situations. Be blessed and praise God in your cushioned cave.