10. Strengthen Yourselves

It’s much easier to dig your well, and even drink from your own well, when things are going well - when you’re feeling strong and full of vision and purpose. However, it’s much harder when things are tough, when you’re weak and worn out. We need to learn how to drink from our own personal well, whether life is good or bad. Instead of looking to others to hear from God for us, we must learn how to press into Him and hear His voice for ourselves.

There is an astonishing example of how to strengthen ourselves in the Lord, found in 1 Samuel 30.

“Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire 2 and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way.  And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. David's two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.  And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him .... But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.  And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, ‘Bring me the ephod.’ So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. And David inquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?’ He answered him, ‘Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.’” 

When I’m going through a tough time, this scripture puts everything into perspective for me. David and his men had been away making war for some time. On returning home to Ziklag, they found that all their women and children, livestock and possessions – everything they possessed and everyone they held dear – had been captured by the Amalekites.

When I try to compare what David went through with my petty concerns and troubles, they pale in comparison. The absolute shock and grief of finding your home ransacked and your family gone is unimaginable. To crown it all, David’s own men, his faithful warriors who had stood by him through thick and thin, had reached their limit and were talking of stoning him. The situation could not have got much worse!

David, it says, was ‘greatly distressed’, and no wonder. Naturally speaking, he had no-one ‘on his side’, he had just lost everything and everyone dear to him, and there was no-one to comfort him or turn to. But this is where he sets such a stunning example of how to dig deep in tough times.

David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

I can just imagine him praying, crying out to the Lord and worshipping until he found the strength and peace he needed in order to go on.

But here's the secret!

The Bible says that David strengthened himself in the Lord HIS God. Not the God of his father, Jesse, or the God of his priest, Abiathar, but HIS God. He drew from that wellspring of life which he himself had personally dug since a child. That same source of life and strength had given him the courage to fight lions and bears as a shepherd boy, the bravery to face the giant Goliath as a teenager, and the strength to continue serving King Saul as a man, even when his life was in danger.

Once David had strengthened himself, he inquired of the Lord about what to do – whether to pursue the Amalekites or not. God told him “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all”. So he did. Despite being physically exhausted after having just come back from battle, and emotionally exhausted due to the trauma of finding his family kidnapped, David obeyed God and rallied his troops. They pursued the Amalekites and took back everything that had been taken from them, plus a lot more booty besides!

God honours us when we turn to Him and drink from the well of our relationship with Him, rather than look to others to help us.

Shallow Wells

Psalm 42:5 is such a good example of how to strengthen ourselves in the Lord: “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God”.

I love that! We need to learn how to use this tool of strengthening ourselves in the Lord. Sometimes it actually takes us talking to ourselves (in a healthy way!) to get us out of the pit of despair that we can find ourselves in. It’s called self-talk.

Sometimes we need to say to ourselves, “Soul, what’s wrong? Why are you feeling so down? Come, on, trust God! Let’s hope in Him because He will save us, He’s our Saviour! Remember what He’s done for us in the past, think about how good He is! He was good then and He is good now. He did it then and He will do it again. Trust Him!”

I believe that some of us have shallow wells because we haven’t developed this discipline of pressing into Father and finding our strength in Him. That means that, when we find ourselves in tough situations, we naturally turn to someone else for help or support. So, what does ‘digging your well’ look like in that context?

I recall a time when a church-related meeting I had attended went drastically wrong. I was in quite a state at the conclusion of the meeting and got out of there as quickly as I could before I lost the plot and started sobbing. My first thought was ‘I must phone my friend, she’ll know what to do’ (let’s call her Mary) and I reached for my phone as soon as I got to my car. But Father is so kind, and I remember feeling what was almost a physical reaction to my phone when I picked it up, as if someone’s hand was on mine, stopping me from dialling the number.

Even in my emotional state, I knew it was Holy Spirit stopping me so, instead of dialling Mary’s number, I just got in the car and drove home, albeit crying all the way! Everything in me wanted to phone her, pour out all my woes, talk about how unjust it all was and ask her for some nuggets of wisdom about how to deal with the situation. But I felt Holy Spirit so strongly urging me not to do that so, instead, I went up to my bedroom and had a very long and rather messy time of crying and praying. I told Him exactly how I felt, how unjust I felt it was, and told him the story from my perspective (He is so kind, He loves it when we do that, even though He already knows it all!).

When I had got it all out of my system, I put on some worship music and tried to still my soul before Him, thanking Him for His goodness and telling Him that I trusted Him with the situation. I was able to release it to Him and ask for some wisdom about what to do now and, oh my goodness, He is so kind! He told me what to do and it was so uncomplicated. It was wisdom from heaven and it made sense of everything.

That day was a turning point in my walk with the Lord, and a real deepening of my ‘well’ took place. My default changed from turning to man to turning to Holy Spirit; from drinking from other people’s wells in a time of need to drinking from the well which I was digging myself, with the Lord.

He proved Himself to me that day as the Wonderful Counsellor and my Teacher. Mary is a Godly woman and I know she would have listened sympathetically and given me good advice. But I found that nothing can compare with running straight into the arms of our Father and being able to access that heavenly wisdom which Holy Spirit will share with us.

That doesn’t mean I never turn to the Marys in my life anymore – I do, because Father often speaks to us through other people or circumstances. But we must always talk to Him first, and then speak with others, where it’s helpful and appropriate.

Fresh Water 

There is an invitation today for you to come to the Father, to dig deeper into Him and develop real intimacy and dependency on Him. He has so much to say to you and so much He wants to show you. He longs to spend time with you and is just waiting for you to turn to Him so He can touch your heart, speak life to you and pour His love over you.

Can I encourage you to make camp, and pitch your tent right by the well which you have dug or are digging with your God. Every time you pray, worship or read His Word, you are digging that well a little bit deeper, and you will find water! Life giving, pure, fresh, cool water is waiting for you in that place of encounter.

When you first begin to dig, you might find it hard and your well might not seem that deep, or the water level so high. However, I want to assure you that, the more you dig, the more water you will find. The deeper you dig, the purer the water, and the stronger the flow.

You don’t need to rely on other people’s wells anymore. You can turn that around and become a well of lifegiving water for others instead.

Dig deep into His presence in worship and prayer; delve into the treasure chest of His Word. The fresh water that comes from the well of life tastes so sweet, so start digging and watch that wellspring of life erupt!

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Until next time ….

Ask yourself, ‘Do I know how to strengthen myself in the Lord, or do I always turn to others for help in times of trouble?’

Ask Holy Spirit to show you what ‘digging your well with Him’ looks like. Is He leading you into a season of study, reading or worship? Does He want you just to be with Him, to be still and stop striving? Or does He want you to be more intentional about pressing into His presence?

Ask Him to show you fresh ways of connecting with Him.

Nicky Heymans is an author of historical fiction who is known for drawing fresh life and inspiration out of familiar Bible stories. She would love to hear from you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or ask questions by scrolling down to the bottom of this page and clicking on the 'contact' link, and she will get back to you.