Don't Fall On Your Sword

Now the Philistines attacked Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them. Many were slaughtered on the slopes of Mount Gilboa. The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed three of his sons—Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua. The fighting grew very fierce around Saul, and the Philistine archers caught up with him and wounded him severely. Saul groaned to his armor bearer, "Take your sword and kill me before these pagan Philistines come to run me through and taunt and torture me." But his armor bearer was afraid and would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. (1 Samuel 31:1-4 NLT)

There are a lot of situations in this life that vie for our attention.  Often times, I used to feel "stressed out" over those things.  How am I going to get all these tasks done?  Will she say yes if I ask her out?  Will they give me that next raise or promotion?  How are we going to pay all the bills with yet another child on the way?

Now people find me much more calm and at peace.  I will often use the phrase, "It's not worth falling on your sword about it."  People often give me a blank stare then.  They don't understand the reference I'm making.

You see, Saul was concerned about being captured, tortured, then killed.  His concerns may have been valid.  He was the King of Israel and his sworn enemies were closing in on him.  So, he decided to take matters into his own hands and fall on his own sword, dying before they got to him.  His plan worked.

I guess the question I ask myself is this.  Do I face anything that serious in my normal day to day life?  Is there anything we face that merits self-destruction?  I doubt it.  We may face stress in life, but nothing so big that we can't handle it.  Better yet, we don't face anything God can't handle and God is working together for the good of those who love Him.  Give it some time and God just might work it all out.  Trust Him to help.  It's certainly not worth falling on your sword about.  Saul had an armor bearer who watched Saul die.  How did he react?

When his armor bearer realized that Saul was dead, he fell on his own sword and died beside the king. So Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and his troops all died together that same day. (1 Samuel 31:5-6 NLT)

Here's the thing.  Perhaps we shouldn't be taking ourselves or our situations so seriously.  When we do, it's all to tempting to thing every failure merits falling on our swords.  When you fall on your sword, you end up "dead."  When you stand strong with God, you live to fight another day.  Don't fall on your sword.  It's just not worth it.