REIGN — A Short Story After My Own Heart
“Everyone wants to be King David, but no one wants to know the storms before the rain.”
Beloved, we love the crown, but Scripture insists we study the cave.
David’s story is not a fairy tale about favor without friction. It is a sermon written in scars. If you are walking through adversity—betrayal, delay, hidden battles—David is not here to impress you. He is here to keep you alive.
I. Before the Crown: The Storm of Becoming
David’s first storm came early and quietly.
He was anointed king while still smelling of sheep (1 Samuel 16). Oil ran down his head, but nothing changed the next day. No throne. No applause. Just fields and lions. Goliath fell, yes—but fame is a storm too. One victory introduced him to jealousy. Saul loved him, then feared him, then hunted him.
David ran—from palaces to caves. From applause to loneliness. From public worship to private survival. He hid among enemies, pretended madness, slept on stone, and learned to sing to God when men wanted him dead.
Lesson:
Sometimes God anoints you long before He appoints you. The delay is not denial; it is development. The cave teaches what the throne cannot—how to trust God when nobody is clapping.
If you are hidden, misunderstood, or running from things you didn’t start—this is not punishment. This is preparation.
II. During the Crown: The Storm of Responsibility
David finally became king—and the storms did not stop. They changed shape.
Power tested his heart. In a season of rest, he fell into sin with Bathsheba. A private desire became a public disaster. The prophet Nathan confronted him, and David broke—not defensively, but deeply: “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51).
Then came family storms. His son Amnon’s violence. Absalom’s rebellion. A father fleeing his own palace, barefoot and weeping, while his son sat on his throne.
Lesson:
Being chosen does not make you immune to failure. Being powerful does not cancel consequences. But repentance can redeem what pride would destroy.
If you’ve fallen in a season you thought was safe—hear this: God is not done with you. Brokenness can still be a bridge back to purpose.
III. After the Crown: The Storm of Legacy
Even in old age, storms followed David.
A census driven by pride brought judgment. Choices echoed beyond his lifetime. Yet God still called him “a man after My own heart.” Why?
Not because David was perfect—but because he was honest. He returned to God again and again. He finished worshipping, not pretending.
David’s reign ended not with thunder, but with instruction—preparing Solomon, organizing worship, pointing the future to God.
Lesson:
Your story does not have to end where you failed. God measures hearts, not highlight reels. Legacy is not about never falling—it’s about always returning.
IV. A Word for Today’s Storms
Today, storms look different—unpaid bills, broken marriages, online shame, depression, delayed dreams, silent prayers. But the rain still comes the same way: after endurance.
If you are:
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In the cave → God sees you.
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On the throne and tempted → God can restore you.
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Wounded by your own choices → God can still redeem you.
The crown is heavy. The calling is costly. The rain always follows the storm—but only for those who stay.
So don’t rush the rain. Don’t envy crowns you haven’t paid for. Don’t quit in the cave.
David didn’t reign because he was strong.
He reigned because he kept running back to God but what if we never have to run back to God ?
We can by Never Leaving in the First Place JustLike I ave Prayed for Myself
And so will you.
Amen.
Frank Adeche writes from www.netchurch.cam
