Recovering What’s Lost 失而复得

[Dexu Xia]

.But David found strength in the Lord his God. 1 Samuel 30:6

At the phone store, the young pastor steeled himself for bad news. His smartphone, accidentally dropped during our Bible class, was a total loss, right? Actually, no. The store clerk recovered all of the pastor’s data, including his Bible videos and photos. She also recovered “every photo I’d ever deleted,” he said. The store also “replaced my broken phone with a brand-new phone.” As he said, “I recovered all I had lost and more.”

David once led his own recovery mission after an attack by the vicious Amalekites. Spurned by Philistine rulers, David and his army discovered the Amalekites had raided and burned down their town of Ziklag—taking captive “the women and everyone else in it,” including all their wives and children (1 Samuel 30:2–3). “So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep” (v. 4). The soldiers were so bitter with their leader David that they talked of “stoning him” (v. 6).

“But David found strength in the Lord his God” (v. 6). As God promised, David pursued the Amalekites and “recovered everything the Amalekites had taken . . . . Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back” (vv. 18–19). As we face spiritual attacks that “rob” us even of hope, may we find renewed strength in God. He will be with us in every challenge of life.

What spiritual attacks or life loss are you experiencing? Turning from your despair to God, how will you find renewed strength in Him?

God, help me to find hope in You even as I face life’s challenges

失而复得

大卫却倚靠耶和华他的上帝，心里坚固。—撒母耳记上30章6节

在手机专卖店里，年轻的牧师正准备要面对坏消息。他在上查经班时，不小心把手机掉在地上，看来是要报销了。但其实不然。店员成功地恢复他手机里所有的资料，包括圣经影片和照片，甚至还救回他先前删掉的每一张照片。这位年轻的牧师说：“店员回收那个坏掉的手机，换了一个全新的给我。我不但得回原本失去的资料，而且还得到更多。”

大卫遭到残暴的亚玛力人突袭后，也亲自带队进行收复的任务。大卫被非利士人的首领拒绝后，他和他的军队回到洗革拉，发现亚玛力人劫掠并焚烧那城，“掳了城内的妇女和其中的大小人口，……他们的妻子儿女都被掳去了”（撒母耳记上30章2-3节）。“大卫和跟随他的人就放声大哭，直哭得没有气力”（4节），士兵们恼恨他们的领袖大卫，甚至商议“要用石头打死他”（6节）。

“大卫却倚靠耶和华他的上帝，心里坚固”（6节）。如同上帝所应允的，大卫追赶亚玛力人，“亚玛力人所掳去的财物，……无论大小、儿女、财物，大卫都夺回来，没有失落一个”（18-19节）。当我们受到属灵的攻击，心灵受创，甚至连盼望都被夺去的时候，愿我们也能在上帝里面得着新的力量。上帝会与我们一同面对生活中的每个挑战。

你正经历什么属灵争战或遭遇什么创伤或损失呢？
若将焦点从沮丧转向上帝，你如何靠祂得着新的力量？

上帝，在我面对生活中的种种挑战时，
求祢帮助我在祢里面得着盼望。