Based on 1 Samuel 30:1-25 (New King James Version)
“Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, ‘Please bring the ephod here to me.’ And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. So David inquired of the Lord, saying, ‘Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?’ And He answered him, ‘Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.’ So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind. But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor. Then they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water. And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So when he had eaten, his strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights. Then David said to him, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you from?’ And he said, ‘I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick. We made an invasion of the southern area of the Cherethites, in the territory which belongs to Judah, and of the southern area of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.’ And David said to him, ‘Can you take me down to this troop?’ So he said, ‘Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this troop.’ And when he had brought him down, there they were, spread out over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all. Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, ‘This is David’s spoil.’ Now David came to the two hundred men who had been so weary that they could not follow David, whom they also had made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near the people, he greeted them. Then all the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David answered and said, ‘Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man’s wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart.’ But David said, ‘My brethren, you shall not do so with what the Lord has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us. For who will heed you in this matter? But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike.’ So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.”
Why do unpleasant things happen in this life? The answer that God gives us through the Word is: because of sin, and that is why He hates sin. God made all things very good in the beginning, when He created everything. But, when sin entered, disorder, evil, destruction, and finally, death entered. Sin infected everything created, and that is why we have what we have today. But within all that, and the reason why God admitted that sin existed, is so that every living being would have free will, because having options is what makes free will then have its real value and function.
Now, is the reason unpleasant things happen to us individually because of our sin? The vast majority of the time, I am afraid to say that difficult things happen to us as a consequence of our own actions, and if we are honest, we would realize that fact. But, from time to time, God also allows us to be tested, and testing is something that happens when someone else sins (because sin will always be involved in this sinful world). In the case that we read today, we cannot see that David sinned there, and that the Amalekites invaded the places where David was because God had a problem with David (although we read that there were bad and perverse men with David). However, this problem did not arise because of David, but rather, because God wanted to test David and accomplish something else in his life.
We can see several things here, and among them is the pain and anguish that the Amalekites caused, and we see that they did it out of pure evil (this business of people invading in a cowardly and surprisingly manner and taking prisoner defenseless people is nothing new). But we see the wise and faithful actions of this David who loved God, despite his imperfections. Did David panic? Did he cower? Did he let himself be carried away by fear (because the people wanted to stone him for something he had not done wrong)? No. He was distressed though, as is very understandable, but he didn't let it go any further. What did he do? “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” And the Word tells us this also: “So David inquired of the Lord…” And what happened? God answered him and told him what to do. Why? Because God saw his loyalty, his faith, and above all, his love for Him. His love for God was more powerful in David than his own anguish, his pain, and his worries. Why did God allow such things? Because God wanted to test David, to see what he would do, and if his love for Him was real (because it is very different to know something than to see it realized), and to see if he would be ready for greater things, especially for eternity and everything that comes with that. The Lord does the same with those of us who have decided to follow Him (because God does not test neither the world nor the unbeliever). The Word tells us this: “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…” 2 Corinthians 5:9-11a. We are tested to see if we are worthy to enter His kingdom through the Lord Jesus Christ (because true faith must always have its product, its work). And the only way we will be ready to act as we should, especially when we are tested, is through the Word, as it is written: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17. So then, are you getting ready for whatever test God may allow to happen? Lord bless! John. God bless Israel.