Let's look a little more at the life of King David.
After David had been a rather successful king he had a son named Absalom.
To make a long story short, Absalom wanted to be king, he felt he could do the job better than his father. So he gathered followers and formed a rebellion against David.
This was David's reaction when he heard the news.
2 Samuel 15:13-14 (NIV)
"A messenger came and told David, "The hearts of the people of Israel are with Absalom."
Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, "Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin on us and put the city to the sword."
At first this could look like David was afraid, but he was not. Just as he would not use violence to take the throne, he would not fight to keep it.
"If I find favor in the Lord's eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. But if he says, 'I am not pleased with you,' then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him." vv 25-26 (NIV)
The Psalms give us a little bit more insight into how David was feeling. It was at this time he wrote Psalm 3.
"Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
"God will not deliver him."
But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side."
Psalm 3:1-6 (NIV)
When the circumstances came to take away his position, he didn't see it as his position to hold on to. God gave him the kingdom and God could take it from him in any manner he saw fit. He trusted God to do what God wanted to do.
That is our lives in Christ. That means we travel the roads he has chosen for us. When Jesus told his disciples his road led to a cross, Peter rebuked him for it. Jesus, in his response told them all,
"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done." Matthew 16:24-27 (NIV)
The battle isn't about what we do with our lives day to day. The battle is for our very soul, for who we are becoming.
Jesus calls us to be disciples not because he wants us to abandon our heart, but because he wants us to discover it. We find our purpose in this life on that path, and only on that path.
That is why God will test us with circumstances often beyond our comprehension. Because his dream is to see us all transformed into the very image of Christ.
