Monday, November 7, 2016

How do you act when told "no"?

While there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul. Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father's concubine?” Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, “Am I a dog's head of Judah? To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David. And yet you charge me today with a fault concerning a woman. God do so to Abner and more also, if I do not accomplish for David what the LORD has sworn to him, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.” And Ish-bosheth could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him.
(2 Samuel 3:6-11 ESV)
In this true tale of two kings, the house of David was getting stronger, while the house of Saul was growing weaker.  God was blessing the house of His anointed. Meanwhile, within the house of Saul, it was Abner, Saul's cousin, who was getting more powerful.  That is evidenced by his taking Saul's "woman" as his own, a pagan practice when kings transitioned power.  Ish-bosheth rightly saw this a Abner's claim to power and rebuked it.  He told him he was wrong. Abner, like many of us, did not like being told he was wrong, and decided to get revenge for being rebuked. He decided to bail out on the King he had helped get put in office. He did not like the lack of appreciation, since he was the one who had "done all the work."  Do his words sound familiar? Are they ones you have heard in your own head? Do you seek revenge by withdrawing support? Do you react when you are told you have done wrong?  Do you expect people to trust you?

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