Jumping In Too Fast

David's life was just one roller-coaster after another ... after the long arduous struggle between him and Saul, David then found himself in the middle of a rival (essentially civil) war with those that remained between the two houses. This bitter clash lasted for a long time, and then even dug deeper into its core as trusted friends and even family members turned on eachother ... David was not innocent, and stumbled much, but this infighting broke David's heart ... and whether it was someone from Saul's house, or his own, this civil war was not what he wanted - unification of God's people and ultimately submitting to God's will is where we often find David's heart.

In 2 Samuel chapter 18, this war now finds itself with [another one of] David's own sons falling in battle as he turned against his own father.

So through some crazy happenings, David's son Absalom lost his life, and in the middle of all the chaos someone needs to go tell David. It is apparent here that some (not all) realize that despite Absalom being an enemy of the King, this is not "good news" to bring David. Nonetheless, one individual is told to bring the news to the King, and is sent off.

However what happens next is quite interesting ... a second individual (Ahimaaz) insists on bringing the news (even though being warned that this is not the news one wants to deliver). Through convincing he too is sent off, and actually outruns the individual who already left - thus arriving to King David first.

So David upon his arrival has this bizarre conversation ...

'Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king, "All is well." And he bowed before the king with his face to the earth and said, "Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king." And the king said, "Is it well with the young man Absalom?" Ahimaaz answered, "When Joab sent the king's servant, your servant, I saw a great commotion, but I do not know what it was." And the king said, "Turn aside and stand here." So he turned aside and stood still. ' - 2 Samuel 18:28-30

Now there are several perspectives on this if you read various commentaries. Did Ahimaaz (a priest) want to soften the blow by announcing general victory, without being the one to deliver the news the King is afraid of the most? In all this chaos, did Ahimaaz actually not know specifically what happened? However, whether unknown or not, one thing struck me ...

   How often do I push my way into a conversation that I'm really not invited into?
      How often do I want to be the first to speak, instead of the first to listen?
         How often do I run into these conversations, meetings, situations unprepared?

                  ... all because I want to be first.

I'm so fast in so many of the wrong ways!

Maybe it's my issues with control, anxiety, or even simply excitement over things that challenge my self control. I thrive on intellectual conversation vs. small talk, and sometimes I get so excited to share my perspective I don't stop and listen first.

In the age of social media, some posts can almost bait me to want to comment on something, especially when I see perspectives and choices being made that I feel are far from God. However I have gotten well at realizing I'm not going to change minds in a 140 character tweet ... even just 140 seconds of eyes meeting eyes is incredibly more effective. Fortunately life is more than social media, but unfortunately my successes and methods in social media need to be brought to real conversations more often than they are today ...

I want to be more like that individual that I meet in a conversation that is prepared, calm, attentive, and only speaks when needed, but speaks well and in love ...

Next time when I find myself dumping information out of my mouth at the gate of a discussion, may I remember Ahimaaz running to deliver news that was incomplete, rushed, and not what the listener needed to hear anyway ...

I need to stop jumping in too fast ...

His,
~Matthew