Desperation

Now Nahash the Ammonite came up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Make a covenant with us and we will serve you." But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, "I will make it with you on this condition, that I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, thus I will make it a reproach on all Israel.

 

1 Samuel 11:1-2

 

 

 

Nahash was simply toying with the Israelites emotions. He knew they were desperate, confused and disorganized and thus offered this ridiculous ultimatum—"I will make a deal with you on one condition; you will allow me to gouge out the right eye of every man." It was an outlandish and unreasonable proposal, but it was accepted by the elders of the city—leaders who were looked upon as tutors of wisdom—yet here collapsed under the pressures of desperation. From their perspective, their options had run dry.

 

They were desperate people living in desperate times, making desperate decisions.

Desperation often occurs when we feel as if we've run out of options—when we find ourselves painted into that proverbial corner with no way out. Under such circumstances even the most ridiculous can sound reasonable.

Desperate times often demand desperate decisions and at times decisions that are unwise, which can risk the lives and safety of others, especially if decisions are based on circumstances of the moment and give no thought to the future.

 

We need to make sure that we avoid this vortex of desperation in all areas of our life.

 

When life seems to lead to nowhere but a dead end, desperation has a tendency to pull us into its downward spiral of confusion if we let it. Decisions that we must make for life cannot be made in desperation. If desperation breeds where options have gone dry, then we must, in all our decisions never stop seeking options and consider all viable alternatives that will allow us to achieve the godly goals for what God has in store. We cannot afford to allow ourselves to resign to the perception that our options have run out, otherwise we become open game to the enemy who will toy with our emotions, as Nahash did with the Israelites, and we will soon find ourselves agreeing to the ridiculous, rather than the reasonable.