10 Then David arose and fled that day from Saul, and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying,
‘Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”12 David took these words [h]to heart and greatly feared Achish king of Gath. 13 So he disguised his sanity before them, and acted insanely in their hands, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva run down into his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man behaving as a madman. Why do you bring him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this one to act the madman in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?”
Fear drives us to do crazy things, and it drove David into the hands of his enemies. And when he realized his mistake, then David had to actually act crazy to avoid being killed at the hands of Achish.
But God did not give us a Spirit of fear, and this is one of the rare times that David gave in to fear rather than trusting in God. Now, to be sure, David’s life was in danger, but to run from one man looking to kill you into the arms of an entire nation that would love to see you dead is plain crazy.
When fear seems to be running our lives, there is only one sure antidote. Give up control. That’s right, stop trying to control the things that are causing your fear, because you can’t control them anyway, and you are not IN control.
God is always in control, and when we give up control, He can work miracles in our lives. Plus, God gives us a peace that is not possible anywhere else. A peace that doesn’t make sense in light of worldly circumstances. He gives us what we need to make it through the storms of life, because He is in control, and knows the plan He has for us.