Articles
Why Me?
Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of Saul. His family were enemies of King David. At the age of five, his father, grandfather and two uncles died in battle, and he became permanently disabled as well. Later in life an uncle of his was betrayed and murdered to gain favor with King David (2 Samuel 4). All in all when reading Mephibosheth’s story, you can’t help but feel that you wouldn’t want to be him.
With all the tragedy and their consequences, it is normal that Mephibosheth was afraid in David’s presence. But where is it written in his story that tragedy and strife equate to no hope? One can infer that Mephibosheth let his struggles take his focus from God. Thus, by the time he was in front of David, his only response to any kind of compassion was to question it. Do you ever find yourself questioning compassion and hope? It is important to personally grow in your Individual relationship with God (through study and prayer), so that you can become confident in God’s existence. Knowing God always exists means knowing that hope and compassion always exist as well because they are one in the same. In Mephibosheth’s case, God is the reason why love and oath existed between Johnathan and David. Consequently, God is behind Mephibosheth’s story ending as happily as it does (2 Samuel 9:12-13).
The question of, “Why me?” no matter how you look at it, shifts your focus from God, His love, and other people, to yourself and your own circumstances. This idea of shifting focus can also be seen at the end of Matthew fourteen with the boat and the storm. When Jesus is out on the water and tells Peter to come, Peter’s focus shifts from Jesus to the turmoil in front of him. Because of this begins to sink, crying out for help. After Jesus saves Peter, they both must walk back to the boat with the storm still raging. But the Bible does not say that Peter was afraid walking back. Can you guess why Peter was so confident walking back? It is because Peter’s focus was no longer focused on the storm but on Jesus. Where will you choose to place your focus?
Inspired by: 1 Sameul 20; 2 Samuel 4, 9; Matthew 14:22-36; Matthew 15:29-31; 1 John 3:1; Psalm 8; 1 Peter 3:6
