Monday, October 16, 2023

The Lord sent Nathan to David.

2 Samuel 12:1a

All of us know about glove compartments. In almost every car, these special places are where important papers are stored so they are not misplaced. Some of us may choose to keep a pack of crackers in the glove compartment. Others may stock straws or condiments there in case the person taking our order at a restaurant’s drive-through forgets to put them in the bag. You get the picture. When we put things in the compartment, we know that they are tucked away, safe, and easily accessible.

This is not the only thing we place in compartments. Many of us have learned to put our trouble in a compartment. Doing so is how we cope with stress. For instance, a husband tells a wife he has thought about leaving her; the wife puts that information in a compartment. After all, how can one deal with everyday stressors, while trying to manage very difficult situations? We learn to tuck the hard things away, so that we can walk out the demands of our lives.

Unfortunately, we sometimes put our sins in a compartment. What does that mean? It means that we isolate or split off the part of our evil nature that is difficult to deal with. We see this especially with Christian leaders who have a sinful stronghold in their lives, and they find it hard to both face their sin and walk out their Christian responsibility.

In the text, King David is in this situation. We all know the familiar story. He saw Bathsheba bathing on the roof and allowed himself to look at her and lust after her. The lust consumed him so much that he had to have her. After taking her, she got pregnant. David orchestrates a situation so that Bathsheba’s husband Uriah would have opportunity to sleep with her, so that Uriah would think that the baby was his. He eventually had Uriah killed because he could not cover up this sin. David placed this sin in a compartment for about a year and did not deal with it, until the day that the Lord sent Nathan to him.

PRAYER: Lord, give me the grace to face my failures and shortcomings. I know that I need to confess them so that I will be healed, but there are times when I act so cowardly. Help me face the parts of me with which I struggle. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen