“David was extremely thirsty and said, ‘If only someone would bring me water to drink from the well at the city gate of Bethlehem!’  So three of the warriors broke through the Philistine camp and drew water from the well (2 Samuel 23:15-16).”

“God led David to victory through all four battles mentioned in 2 Samuel 21:15-22, but He brought victory to David through someone else.  He saved David, all right, but He purposely made him dependent on someone else.

Several wonderful reasons might exist for the method God used, which we can pick up by reading through the list of David’s mighty men:

1.  For the sake of the people – Israel did not need David to be like a god to them.  He could not deal with being put on that kind of pedestal or subjected to that kind of pressure.  He was bound to disappoint them.  God will never allow any of us to be the only one through whom He appears to be working mightily.

2.  For the sake of King David – God protected David by not always letting him be the hero.  He gave David a few heroes instead…He humbled David and made him depend on them for his life.  None of us will escape this important life lesson.  God will force us to need help.”

From my study this morning.  I have been given a few heroes myself.  Women it is really hard to imagine not living life with at this point in my journey.  We help each other raise our kids, work through tough emotional times, encourage each other on in relationships.  I call them my people.  Not because I don’t love anyone else, but they’re the people God has given me right now to walk closely with.  I am loyal to them.  I depend on them in the healthy (I hope) interdependent way God designed. 

We help each other in this journey to simplicity of heart.  Sharing life with them is one way God has used to help us out of some of the consumer mentality.  I like how Jen said it in Spending Week of The 7 Experiment:

“This month was the hardest for me.  Checking spending – big, casual, small – was inordinately hard, indicative of what I cherish  The difficulty level was proportional to my entitlement…Vast consumption is so ordinary, that its absence was shocking…I’m missing the convenience of consumption, but I’ve missed the camaraderie more.  I’ve created conjoined twins out of buying and connecting. 

Eating a meal in a restaurant is one thing, but friends padding around barefoot in your kitchen and chopping carrots for your soup and sipping coffee on your deck is another creature altogether.  This exits the expediency of consumerism and enters the realm of hospitality.

There is something so nourishing about sharing your living space with people, where they see your junk mail pile and peewee football schedule on the fridge and pile of shoes by the front door.  Opening your home says, ‘You are welcomed into my real life.’  This square footage is where we laugh and hold family meetings and make homemade corn dogs and work through meltdowns.  Here is the railing our kids pulled out of the wall.  This is the toilet paper we prefer.  These are the pictures we frame, the books we’re reading, the projects we’re undertaking – the raw material of our family.  It’s unsanitized and truthful.  We invite you into this intimate place, saturated with our family character”  (pg, 143-144).

I know so many people who do this hospitality thing well.  God has used our friends to help us in this area, too.  We definitely need each other to do this life together.