Are You Whining Or Shining?

God will do a deep work in us in our Cave of Adullam. God will test our hearts in our Cave of Adullam. “And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not” (Deut. 8:2, NKJV). The high favorites of heaven are sometimes located in isolated and unexpected places: Joseph in prison, Daniel in the lions’ den, Jonah in the great fish’s belly, Paul clinging to a spar in the sea.

We will all enter the Cave of Adullam at some time in our lives. Doubt may be such a cave. Persecution may be such a cave. Sickness may be such a cave. Bereavement may be such a cave. Conflict in relationships may be such a cave. However, there is no cave dark enough to shut out God. Adullam was a place of safety for David. “Thou shalt deal bountifully with me”! (Ps. 13:6; 116:7; 142:7).

First Samuel 22:1-5 (MEV) teaches us that “David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s household heard it, they went down to him there. There gathered to him every one that was in distress, and every one in debt, and every one that was discontented. So he became captain over them. Now there were with him about four hundred men. Then David went from there to Mizpah of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, ‘Please let my father and mother come forth and be with you until I know what God will do for me.’ He brought them before the king of Moab, and they lived with him all the while that David was in the stronghold. The prophet Gad said to David, ‘Do not remain in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah.’ So David went and came to the forest of Hereth.”

A stronghold is a protected place where the members of a military group stay and can defend themselves against attacks. Second Samuel 23:8 (MEV) goes on to teach us more about David: “These are the names of the warriors whom David had: Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was head of the three. He was also known as Adino the Eznite, on account of eight hundred slain on one occasion.”

God handpicked David to be the heir to King Saul’s throne over Israel; He removed Saul due to his disobedience. God instructed the prophet Samuel to make a house call to Jesse’s family. He had eight sons and one of them was to be the next king of Israel. Samuel did not know who that would be until he saw him in person. David was the smallest of the litter and even his father did not consider him a candidate, as he was not very kingly as a small shepherd boy. Further, Jesse’s failure to even bring his son before Samuel along with the other sons is evidence of his view of his son. Like many fathers, we fail to see our children’s potential in God. God always sees our potential, not our limitations. In one day, God took David from delivering lunch to delivering a nation.

We, as Christians having a relationship with our Father, need to make sure we are not complaining but reigning in Him! Whining gets nothing done. Let’s make sure we are shining the light He has ignited in us! Bitterness steals our joy and the precious time we have here; we must be better selves today than we were yesterday! With our Father, ALL things are possible!! {eoa}

Leanne Goff is a catalytic leader. A pastor, author, international speaker, entrepreneur and business owner, Leanne is a power-packed minister about identity and destiny, as well as cultural transformation. She delivers her message of transformation with relevance, wit and intensity. Leanne has been personally mentored by Leif Hetland and trained as a 7-Mountain Consultant by Lance Wallnau. Leanne is an ordained minister through Randy Clark’s Apostolic Network (ANGA) and is also associated with the Global Legacy Network at Bethel Church in Redding, California.