The Furnace of Hard Times

Painting "Finding Safety" progressing along...

 

The painting above is another version of one I did earlier but was not happy with. So, it will become a new painting. Physically it will be a new angle and more dynamic from a colour perspective. The inspiration comes from David's experience hiding in a cave from his demonised King Saul. It was the worst and most difficult time of the whole seven years he was avoiding Saul and his 3000 mercenaries out to kill him on sight. 

During the time that he lived in this secret cave, others heard about it and came to join him. The thing was that these were disgruntled men from all over Israel and it's neighbours. They were as desperate as David was. Here was David, a prince, a son-in-law to the crazy king, one who had been anointed years earlier by a prophet to become the king. This man was a true-to-life legend and hero in his own still very young years of life. (Remember Goliath?)

Their thoughts might have been something like this. "He's in trouble too so why not join him, a young man of notoriety, hitch our wagons to this man and maybe we will get lucky. Someday, we could be part of his entourage when he becomes king. We'll be his personal body guards! Live like kings, maybe even get a monthly pay-cheque!" 

Truth be told these guys coming together were real wild-cards. They were used to living and surviving on their own. Also, they had a lot of personal issues, like rage, anger, revenge, personal debts, personal enemies etc. etc. They did not get along with most anyone. According to the Psalms David wrote during that time, he described life in the cave like sleeping with uncontrollable animals who had very sharp teeth!

There was a time this is just how I felt. Frustrated with life. Angry at the turn of events. Unforgiving, harsh and just waiting for anyone to offend me in some way. Looking for a fight of some kind. Harsh and angry words very close to the surface ready to explode, and during that time they often did. I was hostage to my emotions and to the circumstances of my life. Finally, when I realised I was destroying my life, my relationships, my career and basically anything I touched, I began to look for help. Like these men, I found someone David foreshadowed with his life, leadership and kingdom.

These are the kind of people, and I was one of them, that this painting is depicting. Drifting spirits with their emotional baggage, hurt, frustrated, bleeding, angry, looking for something better. Hoping that by joining up with a leader like David, something good would come of it.  

This difficult experience was the turning point for David's life. It here, in the cauldron of boiling personalities that he honed his leadership skills. Somehow he, even as young man, hiding and living in a stinking cave was able to mold these desperate men into a cohesive unit. He gained their respect and admiration. They began to understand the importance of loyalty, to David and to one another. They had each other backs. The many difficulties, trials and dangers they experienced with David from that point on moulded and changed them into a cohesive fighting unit. They developed into faithful men who could be trusted. They in fact became his core leadership during the years of his kingship. They fought with David against the enemies of Israel.  Due to their expertise, the nation grew, both in size and in prosperity. Many enemies, when they realised they were up against David and his men, waved the white flag. They were feared by the then known world.

They decimated the nations around them so they had no will or financial resources to fight back for many years. They brought peace and security to the nation and to Solomon's reign following David. It is not surprising then that they became heroes in their own right, as you will find a list of many of the leaders of this group at the end of 2 Samuel as the "Mighty Men." of David's reign.

 

It is in the furnace of pain and suffering, that cave of trouble, where great things are fashioned and born. In this painting, they are wanderers, lonely and hurting, looking for a place to belong.

Like them, we also need to find someone who can lead us out of the cave of trouble to assist us to become the hero's, the "Mighty Men and Women" we are meant to become. This is how God works, taking the cast-outs, the rejected ones, the hurting ones and making them great in his "upside down kingdom." It's his speciality.

"David longed for water and said, "Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!" So the three mighty warriors broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David..." 2 Samuel 23:14-16