David, after being annointed King over both Judah and Israel, moved upon Jerusalem. The inhabitants resisted him and mocked his ability to overcome them. In the end, David was victorious. God had blessed him and provided this victory, but not necessarily for David's sake. God gave David the victory for the people's sake. God may use you or work in your life to overcome obstacles, but when he does, you need to remember, It's not just about you.
And David perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake. (2 Samuel 5:12)
You heard of the phrase, "No man is an island". The statement declares that regardless of how much we may try to separate ourselves from others, our lives still affect other people. When God works in your life, he also is doing a work in the lives of countless others.
An example of this could be when friends and I, at 18 years of age, were traveling home from school. While on a back road, a tire became flat. Before I could get out to work on the flat, a car pulled up and offered to help. The car I was driving belonged to my sister and of course when we opened the trunk, there wasn't a spare. Quickly, the stranger took off the wheel, threw it into his vehicle and said he would return. I sat there and thought to myself, "What have I done? Before I only had a flat tire. Now I only have three wheels. What am I going to do, if this guy doesn't return?" After some time, he returned with the repaired tire, put it back onto the car and neatly put away all the tools. It was then, that he handed me a gospel tract. I never read it and I didn't need to. I knew that I had met somebody who had something that I did not and that I needed to search out the matter. A few years later, I came to Christ. Since then, I surrendered to the ministry, went to Bible college, served in ministry for decades, reached countless souls for Christ, became a teacher, principal, Dean of students and vice-president of academics at a Bible college. All of this because of a flat tire. Today there are many serving as pastors, missionaries, teachers and secretaries because of that day.
How would things have been had I not had the flat tire. Was God concerned about me? Yes, but more so in how his work upon me would affect others. Your situations in life are not just about you. They are about others. We will never know on this side of eternity exactly how God is working. What we must do is recognize that we are but a very small aspect of his great plan. As you travel through your day, look for the opportunities that The Lord puts before you. Some of them may be positive experiences and others negative, but in either instance, God is working good on your behalf and also for the benefit of others.
If you would like to read more of these thoughts in a hard copy format, my new book is now available at the link below.
https://www.createspace.com/4441566
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