My master left me because I fell sick

[Ebn Barbara]

When King David and his men were chasing the Amalekites who captured their women and children from "Ziklag", they met an Egyptian servant and David asked him:
"To whom do you belong, and where are you from? And he said: I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick" (1 Samuel 30:13).

The Egyptian servant said a very clear word:
“My master left me because I fell sick".
A worldwide concept that many of us have experienced and still do: when we are in a good physical and mental health, doing our work and tasks completely, our directors and colleagues love us, appreciate us and take care of us, but the problem comes when we get sick or face some issue that causes our work and effort to stop, then everybody will gradually forsake us and complain about our situation, and most of the time they completely leave us.. Unfortunately this concept has entered our churches, among the believers too!!!
And in this passage of God’s word, we see this Egyptian servant proclaiming clearly that his master left him because he fell sick, he left him in a difficult place and situation, subject to death!!!
When his master was benefiting from his services, he kept him, but when he fell sick, in other words when he couldn’t benefit from his services anymore.. He left him.
And when David met this servant, he was chasing the Amalekites with 600 of his men because they captured their women and children. However, 200 of his men became feeble and couldn’t continue with him so they stayed in the valley, and when David and his remaining men defeated the Amalekites and took back their women and children and all that was taken from them, in addition to much plunder, they returned back to the men who were still in the valley..

So what happened then?
"Now David came to the two hundred men who had been so weary that they could not follow David, whom they also had made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near the people, he greeted them. Then all the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David answered and said: Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man’s wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart. But David said: My brethren, you shall not do so with what the Lord has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us. For who will heed you in this matter? But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike. So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day" (1 Samuel 30:21-25).

Perhaps the incident of the Egyptian servant had an impact on everyone, but here we face two contradictory situations.
The circumstances are alike; the 200 men became feeble and didn’t continue the battle, just like the Egyptian servant who fell sick. And the word says: all the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David refused to treat those men with mercy and love, and they put the usual equation in front of their eyes: they fell sick, became feeble, afraid, weak, they withdrew… and they didn’t participate in the battle, so they don’t have the right to share the spoils. This is a similar attitude as the Amalekite who left his servant because he fell sick.
However David’s heart was different, God said it was according to His own heart, and his reaction was:
"But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike".

David refused to treat the sick, the feeble, the weak, or those who drew back… as the wicked men asked him to; he also refused to do with them like the Amalekite did to his sick servant.. He treated them with mercy, and unconditional love that was not related to what they did. But: as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall their part be, and he made it a statute and an ordinance for his people.

As many scholars agree, we read in psalm 71 the following words of David:
"Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails… O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me… Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me… You shall increase my greatness, And comfort me on every side" (Psalms 71:9-21).

Did the incident of the Egyptian servant and his master’s neglect to him because of his sickness have an effect on David?
Is he still keeping its pain and memory inside of him?
I don’t know.. but David was asking God not to cast him off in the time of old age, and when his strength fails him, which means when he gets sick, feeble, weak or when he falls short… he was asking God not to leave him and to make haste to help him.

What does the Holy Spirit want to tell us from this meditation at the beginning of this New Year?

Beloved: who of us didn’t get sick, become feeble, fall short, or get weak, and who of us was able to completely fulfill the role God called him to. Who among us didn’t sin, drawback, was able to be loyal to the Lord at all times, or fail in some issue. Who didn’t.. didn’t.. and didn’t…
We’ve all experienced these matters.. and maybe today while reading this message you’ll find yourself sick, not fit for God’s work, or at least falling short or having weaknesses, not fulfilling your role as you should, and maybe more. Maybe you’re solitary, having low self-esteem and feeling rejected, maybe you fell into big sins, and maybe.. maybe .. and maybe…
The message of our loving and compassionate God, the God of every good gift, to all of us is the following:
"Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, Who have been upheld by Me from birth, Who have been carried from the womb. Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you. To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike?"
(Isaiah 46:3-5).

In the beginning of this year, the Lord wants to eliminate from our memory the world’s equation that may have controlled our thoughts. It says that if we’re doing our role perfectly and if we don’t have any shortages or breaches in our life or ministry, the Lord will love us and take care of us, but if we get sick, fall short, sin or maybe don’t perform any work, then the Lord will leave us..
Beloved: the Lord is not like the Amalekite, and you are not like the Egyptian servant, so that He might leave you when you are sick, weary, or fall short. He is a good Father and His love is unconditional and not related to what you do, because His word says:
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

While we were still sinners.. committing the ugliest sins, the Lord died for us. He didn’t wait for us to be good, to do any work for Him, or to love Him, but while we were his enemies in our thoughts and perhaps our actions, and far from His ways, His unconditional love was revealed and He died for us paying the ultimate price, His precious blood, to save us. So please don’t let this truth get off your mind not even for a single moment, because Satan will always try to get us away from the simplicity we have in the Lord by his hypocrisy, you and I are always loved whether we worked for God, accomplished our role, and sinned or not, even more, if we are extremely bad we can’t decrease the love of God not even by one inch, because we are not loved and accepted according to what we do, nor according to our circumstances, we are loved and accepted according to the blood of the Lord, His free grace and His unconditional love, so how can the Lord leave us if we get sick?
Would you leave one of your children if he gets sick?
Or on the contrary you give him extra attention and care?
If you as a parent give your sick child extreme care, what about the Lord then?
"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him"
(Matthew 7:11).

Also notice with me the inspiration’s accuracy in the passage we’re meditating on from the book of Isaiah, it exactly says:
“To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike?”
Do we compare the Lord to the Amalekite and his way of treating his servant?
Unfortunately many times we do compare the Lord to the Amalekite man who forsakes us when we get sick or when we fall short or sin, this is what our thoughts and feelings tell us many times !!!
But today with the beginning of this new year, I want to tell you that it is not your emotions or what you are feeling nor the experiences you went through that dictate to you the attributes of God and His attitude toward you, it is His word which He put in our hands that determines His character:
" … I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you" (Jeremiah 31:3).
His love is everlasting and nothing can change it..

"Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord" (Jeremiah 31:20).
Ephraim was not pleasing God’s heart; his behavior was not satisfying God, but look deeply at what the Lord said, despite all Ephraim’s transgressions and God’s rebuke to him, His heart is still yearning for him and He has mercy on him, this is God’s heart beloved, and this is His message to us in the beginning of this new year, a message to all the sick, the weak, the neglectful and the sinners who were not faithful, who didn’t perform their role as they should have, to all those who feel guilty and rejected, the Lord says:
My heart yearns for you; I will surely have mercy on you. Even to your old age I will carry you. I accept you with all your weaknesses. And as their part is who are healthy and completely performed their duty, so shall their part be who fell sick and were neglectful alike.

Let the Holy Spirit put these words and this unconditional love deep within you, so it can be a practical experience in your life. Let Him make you feel the warmth of God’s love and His closeness to you, He came to this earth for you, He came to remind you of what the Lord has said, and to make God’s word an experienced reality not just mere information in your head.
Don’t let your feelings control you and your relationship with the Lord. When Peter cast the net upon the Lord’s word, his feelings were in opposition to the Lord’s request, for he said to the Lord: we toiled all night and caught nothing, why would I cast the net again? But when he did he got a great number of fish.

Let’s do like Peter in the beginning of this New Year, let us cast our nets according to what we read from the word of God in this message, let us start a new year by giving the Lord the opportunity to heal us from all the hardships, disasters, failures, sicknesses, weariness and disappointment we were exposed to during last year… let Him reward us by a multitude of fish and plenty of fruit in all the domains we need..

To God be all the glory.