Facing your Giants: Barbaric Behavior

Continuing my reading of the 'Facing your Giants' book by Max Lucado, the Chapter Barbaric behavior once again got me thinking (as this book keeps doing).


A Japanese solider in a World War II Prisoner of War camp was stock-taking and he found a shovel was missing. That sinking feeling, the horror! Fear sets in: could one of the prisoners have stolen it? They must have done. He rushes out to the courtyard screaming at the top of his lungs for all the prisoners to line up. His gun butt bumped up and locked against his shoulder, moving from one prisoner to another in very broken English demanding to tell him who had stolen the shovel. If they didn't tell who it was he would kill one prisoner every minute until he found out. A Scottish solider steps forward "I did it" he proclaims. BANG! He is shot. But the shovel wasn't found in the prisoners possessions.
Later the Japanese solider recounts the shovels, and the missing shovel that had caused all that trouble was there. He had miscounted, and in his haste and anger he didn't consider that he was in the wrong.

Reading this I thought what an amazing story, what a brave Prisoner to step forward, but maybe, just maybe he had enough of his treatment in the camp and thought that was the best option.

Returning to the chapter in the book, it continues the theme of David's Story and picks up where hopefully my last David Blog left off.

David, showing God's mercy and saving the life of King Saul, had allowed David to inherit the land around eventually becoming King. David, though at this point had his own personal army, had all the men with him who were trying to hide and escape Saul that previously had fled to the cave. There were, by this point, around 600 men. David used these men to play a similar role as Robin hood and his merry men by protecting and helping all the surrounding farms and hamlets.

Shepherds were moving their sheep closer to them knowing that they would be protected.

But trouble started. After harvest, whatever they had spare after their stocktake for winter, went towards a harvest festival party.

Nabal, a neighbouring farmer, who had previously sought for David's protection decided to hold such a party. It was fantastic! David thinks 'wow, this sounds like a good time! I might allow some of my men to go.' Turning up, Nabal pretends to never had heard of David, or his men, trying to make them seem like beggars turning up looking for food:

"¹⁰And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, "Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master." 
1 Samuel 25: 10-11

When David's men returned to camp to tell David, he was furious. He gathered his men and were ready to go and kill Nebal.

Yeah!!!! I can't tell you how much I felt like David here, about time for some righteous anger, how dare Nabal abuse the love and protection that David recently gave to the area!

I have been feeling angry over a few things recently, particularly about my family's views on my currently life situation. My life with my family and my life with God. They just don't understand. I really feel sometimes that with all the things with my health, my family should appreciate the difficulty of my coping with it, so they should understand that if I have found love and comfort in God then they should to be happy for me, not being annoyed.

So, as I said some righteous anger from David was exactly what I needed.

Whilst David was getting to move and attack, Nebal's wife, Abigail, had just found out what had happened with David's men. Scared of the consequences, and being a clever and beautiful woman, she decided she would try and help. She loaded up her donkeys with bread and fruit, and ventured off to meet David half way.

Meeting David at a brook where his men where gathering themselves for the final stretch of the journey, Abigail looked like a promising treat. She brought food and wine, she was attractive, this ultimately must have meant a great night was a head for David's Men. She went straight to David and begged for forgiveness.

What! She didn't do anything wrong, why is she begging for forgiveness? She apologises when she hasn't done wrong! Ultimately she pleas for David to leave Nabal alone. David looks at her, saw the love of God in front of him and decided to leave Nebal to God.

With both parties returning to their deserving camps, Abigail explains to Nebal that David was going to come and she had managed to hold him off. Nebal, not interested and too drunk to care, shakes off her words, at which point he had a heart attack and dies. David hears this, and so captivated by this woman who showed love, beauty and intelligence, they happily get married.

Oh, I can tell you I was not happy, Where's the anger and justice? The part that I related to?!

But then the chapter summarises and sadly makes me the guilty party.

Abigail offered her life for her husband and family. She took full responsibility and did it with courage, strength and purpose, to the point that in the end she was happy.

God sent His son to die for that very reason, Jesus was our mediator. Abigail stood in between Nebal and David, she mediated the situation to stop the circumstances to escalate the violence and hate. However people like to view God, whether as being nothing but loving or not, we should agree that the act of Adam and Eve made us live in a broken world of sin. We were punished; God was not only disappointed with us, but angry at the situation. All the years after the fall, we kept sinning and getting worse, and my understanding is that the Father must have been getting more disappointed and angry with us. Jesus steps in the middle and Mediates. 

The prisoner of war (mentioned at the beginning) did the same, he knew he wasn't guilty, like Abigail and Jesus, but not wanting more violence and hate he mediated the situation. This is when I felt guilty. We have a mediator perfectly placed to stop the escalation of anger and hate, so why was I looking for that righteous fight like David? Why was I so convinced it was all right arguing with my family? I, like David, was focused wrongly. When David had his focus moved by his mediator, things turned out alright. Why aren't my eyes firmly fixed on my mediator and only fixed on the troublemakers?

A question and a verse to finish.

How often are you too quick to anger, and need to take your eyes off the thing that is making you angry?

"⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near." Philippians 4:5