S ) "11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, 'Behold, my son who came out from me seeks my life; how much more now this Benjamite? Let him alone and let him curse, for the LORD has told him.'"
2 Samuel 16:11 (NASB)
O) This man, Shimei, came out to David and his men while they fled Jerusalem because of Absalom. When he came out with curses for David, the men with him assumed he was only bitter, and speaking his own anger, and falsely ascribing his words to the LORD David, however, was not so quick to write him off. David recognized there was some truth to what the man had said. He allowed the man to live, bearing the curses along the way. It was exhausting, but they endured, and the man Shimei was allowed to live.
A) It's all to easy to believe that the bad things that happen to me are because of the devil. After all, he is my enemy, where God is my friend. However, I must always remember that the LORD is also my Father in heaven. Because of this, as the Bible makes very clear, He disciplines me if He loves me. Curses are the opposite of blessings, but describing circumstances as either one always depends on perspective. So many things that look like a blessing, end up rotten. So many "unanswered prayers" are exactly what we needed to hear (or not hear, or not get). And I think, some curses are actually discipline, that God will use to bless me as a son.
P) Father, You're love and wisdom are beyond my perception. I trust Your words, though. So Father, I seek Your discipline. I know that there is comfort in the hardships You allow, or even orchestrate for me to face. In them there is testing for me to seek You, and discipline for me to become the son You want me to be. In those hardships, there is love. Help me to correctly discern blessings from curses, and always consider how You might be using circumstances to my favor and benefit, and Your glory. Let Your will be done. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
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