Bad Case of Spring Fever?

In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. —2 Samuel 11:1-2 NIV

 If you even remotely know the story of David and Bathsheba, this is all the intro you need to recall where it goes. If you’ve been around church much at all when this passage is taught, you have likely heard the valid point made, “David stayed back home at the palace when he should have been off at war like the other kings.” And, yes, that is a true and quite logical statement. Now, when we read this Scripture and hear that point made, we typically think things like, “What was he thinking?” “Was he looking for trouble?” “Could he have been more stupid?” I want to share two thoughts with you to bring this closer to home for us.

 1—The above passage says it was “in the spring.” Well, it’s springtime now. Try some of these modern twists of this passage on for size to see if you’re leaning at all towards David’s dilemma.

 In the spring, at the time when men work in the yard and clean out the garage . . .

In the spring, at the time when men play with their kids out in the yard . . .

In the spring, at the time when men start to take walks with their wives . . .

In the spring, at the time when men plan their vacations . . .

There’s a few examples. Write your own sentence. Fill in your own blanks. If you are heading into spring thinking about blowing off the war, snoozing, and walking on the roof—so to speak—why not take a lesson from David? It’s time to be where we’re supposed to be, doing what we’re supposed to be doing, fighting our own war.

2—This is only my opinion, but I believe David had been there, done that, and he was bored. Bored with war. Bored with riding off with the troops. Bored with besieging. I don’t know if he was struggling with depression or not, but after all, he got up out of bed “one evening,” which in Biblical translation means late afternoon, which is why he could see Bathsheba. As guys, it doesn’t matter how cool or awesome our life may look to someone else, when we get bored with the same ol’ same ol ‘, that is when the opportunity for trouble is in our face.

So, whether you’re an Indy car driver or a Wal-Mart greeter, if you’re a guy, you can get tired of routine and monotony. So, are you? . . . Uninspired? Unchallenged? Unempassioned? Tired of it all? . . . What are you going to do about it? How will you re-engage? Re-energize? Re-prioritize? If you don’t, you might just end up on a roof and you know the rest of that story. We all do. So get a plan. Talk to someone. Be pro-active about changing life. Be the king of your war!

Where are you supposed to be fighting? Where are you the king and your people need you to get off the roof and rule? Where are you walking around where you don’t need to be, just checking out the sights?

Do whatever it takes to breathe new life. Get off the roof and back in the war. Your people need you. We need you.