Valentine's Day 17 ~ Bitter Unto Death

February 17, 2014 · Day 17: Bitter Unto Death There's a story in scripture which has the potential of resonating with all of us, if we took the time to really see it. It's a scary story. It's a story that is like a lot of other people's stories. It's a story that is a warning, and to be honest, I need this story. I need the woman, Michal (it's actually pronounced like our modern-day name, Michael) and her story. You need her story. We all need her story. I need her story to be on my mind more often. I understand it. I get it. I hear it. I see it. I read it. I re-read it when I fall into the same harmful trap that she fell into. Unfortunately, I keep falling into it. Satan knows he can trap me like he did Michal. It is one of the only stories in the Bible that really tells the story of a bitter woman...a hateful woman. All of us have the potential of being bitter and hateful when life throws us unfortunate events and circumstances. Michal had a calloused heart. The thing with callous, is that it can always come back. Physically speaking, we can have calloused hands and feet from working hard, but we can lose callous when we stop working. The thing is, if we start working again, our hands will harden again. So it is, with our heart, in life. Bad circumstances can cause callous on our hearts. God can remove it and we can go for days, weeks, months, years with a soft, open, and pliable heart, but with more circumstances, it's easy to get built up callous again. Michal didn't deal with her callous, just as we are prone to do. Michal was Saul's younger daughter (1 Samuel 14:49) and she was also naive. Saul heartlessly used her as a pawn (the beginning of her calloused and bitter life), to try and kill David (1Samuel 18:20). Michal loved David and Saul used this against her. Scripture never says that David loved her, but it's likely that he did WANT her, because he took Saul's challenge, in order to win her. Saul didn't think David would succeed in killing 100 Philistines, to win Michal, and hoped he'd be killed. Instead, David killed 200 Philistines and Saul was forced to give Michal to David (1 Samuel 18: 20-29). Michal was stuck in this ugly triangle, but it ended up working out for her....or so she thought. In chapter 19, she risks her life to save her love, from her own father. She lies and helps David escape. Apparently, Saul in his anger, gives poor Michal to another man, Paltiel (pronounced Pal-tee-uhl) whom she probably did not love (1Samuel 25:44). David has since fled to hide from Saul. Time passes, and eventually David gets an opportunity to make an advantageous agreement, with Abner (another crazy story all in itself). Abner agrees to the conditions (David had asked him to go get Michal, who has now been married to Paltiel for probably quite some time--2 Samuel 3:12-16). Enough time had passed for Paltiel to clearly love Michal with all of his heart, because he followed her and Abner, as he led her away, weeping behind her for quite some time. Paltiel; another victim of tragic circumstance, stuck in another love triangle. It's likely, after all that time, that Michal probably loved him too. :(. Finally, the bitter story, in which Michal has been used, forced here, forced there, and treated kindly by David at times, but mostly by Paltiel, ends with Michal biting the dust (2 Samuel 6:12-23). It's the same dust we've all had in our mouth. Dust that gets there, just like it got there for Michal: by circumstances out of her/our control. Michal had no choice in any of these matters. She was caught between a rock and a hard place, most of her life. The tragedies she faced seemed never-ending. The only choice she did have, was how she handled herself, during these awful circumstances of being pulled here and there, a victim of storms that were not her fault. And she chose to handle all this very badly. She ended up hating David and despising him in her heart. She hated God. She disrespected David. She had no fear of God. God punished her with a life of barrenness and the shame that went with it, the rest of her life. By this time, David has two other wives, and Michal likely had to live in the palace with them. She likely witnessed all of the events with David's fourth wife, Bathsheba, which happened soon after Chapter 6. Remember that Michal was David's first wife, and she had loved David, in the beginning. Now she lives in the palace with all three of his other wives, the beautiful Bathsheba, included, AND she is barren. Who can blame her for how she acted? Poor Michal. None of us would want her life. We've all been there....been through trial, and if you haven't, you haven't lived long enough. Trial comes to all. But to all, a choice in how we will respond. And honestly, I've never been very good at responding. I've not gotten this "down" yet. The answer is, honestly, patience. James tells us this. It's pretty clear: Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 NASB) Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. (James 1:12 NASB) Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. (James 5:7, 8 NASB) ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* It comes down to this choice: Will we be patient in affliction like Job and reap blessings, or will be bitter like Michal and reap the fruit of bitterness, which is actually fruitless ness...barrenness. Both are hard in their own ways. But one makes a better story....with a better, happier ending!