Work/Life Balance

By Alessandra Velsor

“Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah. Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel. Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, ‘I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply. Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise, I will take the city, and it will be named after me.’ So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. David took the crown from their king’s head, and it was placed on his own head. It weighed a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones. David took a great quantity of plunder from the city and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking. David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.”—2 Samuel 12:24-31 (NIV)

One of the most critically acclaimed TV series this past year has made me ponder: “What if I could keep my work life separate from my home life?” It initially sounds like quite an innovative plan when we don’t think much about the details. Still, we get the mess of Apple TV’s Severance because God never intended for us to separate our identities or sever our brains to fit into two different realities to avoid pain. He’s created us to be one unique self who gets to experience all the ups and downs that come from both places simultaneously.

We live a life filled with seasons, as David and Bathsheba’s wise son Solomon (born in this passage) later so eloquently writes in Ecclesiastes 3:4 (NIV): “A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” How does this relate to David and Bathsheba or Joab and the Ammonites? The first half of this story deals with the aftermath of David’s sin and repentance, when he pens the famous Psalm 51. In the previous chapter, he had taken Bathsheba, killed her husband, then married her, and bore a son who died as a consequence. We open this chapter with David attempting to care for his new wife as she mourns the death of her firstborn. God blesses them with Solomon (meaning peaceful one), who is named by God Jedidiah, or beloved one. Solomon is sent to them as a peace offering, or God’s way of displaying His love and forgiveness to David.

The second half of this story deals with the continuation of the war in 2 Samuel 10, and we notice how David isn’t fully present in what’s going on in Rabbah, and his nephew Joab had to do the heavy lifting of this battle against the Ammonites. David’s distracted by Bathsheba and his personal drama, which affects his professional duty as the king of his nation. But unlike Abner’s betrayal of the house of Saul earlier in this book, Joab remains faithful to David despite his lack of participation, even willing to give his king the credit for this particular victory.

I don’t know about you, but there are parts of this story that make me question why God continues to bless David the way He did. A sorrowful repentance and heartfelt pursuit of this king for his King is one to follow when we fail and succumb to our temptations. If we go back to 2 Samuel 7:14-16, we’ll be reminded of the promise God made to David.

God isn’t surprised and knew His anointed king would fail him, and His plans to use this for His glory to bring His own Son into this world through this messy lineage remind us today that we serve a God who will chase after us even when we don’t deserve it. Our victories aren’t our own; He graciously allows us to experience them in the hopes we give Him all the glory.

Life is hard to balance without Him. Abide in Christ always, especially when you feel your home life or your work life is falling apart. Our personal lives will affect our professional lives and vice versa. Because, as much as we sometimes wish it wasn’t so, we were created to hold both the positives and the negatives in us; otherwise, ask Mark how that worked out for him in Severance...

Pause: When’s the last time you’ve witnessed God come to your rescue and show you victory even though you didn’t deserve it?

Practice: Reflect on Psalm 51. Is there something you need to repent from? If so, write your version of this Psalm and ask the Lord for forgiveness.

Pray: Father, thank You for how You keep forgiving me despite all of my failures. Today, I choose to abide in You the way David did after he sinned. I don’t do it for Your blessings or the benefits that come from being with You, but simply because I love You and I want to bring You ALL the glory that comes from my life. Holy Spirit, convict me and guide me to the path God has chosen for me. Give me all the desires of His heart and transform me into who I’m purposed to become. Jesus, thank You for Your sacrifice and for making me righteous in the Father’s eyes, because without You, salvation is hard to achieve. Only You, oh God, are holy and deserving of praise. Amen.