VACATION PLANS

David was CEO of a nationally recognized company. He had established an experienced leadership team so he decided to take a month-long vacation.

Even though the company had projects they were developing, he felt he deserved the reprieve. David announced his plans to the Board and made the necessary arrangements.

The day of his departure, he found himself pacing. He had mentored his men regarding their responsibilities, and he had charted their obligations. Even so, he found himself rehearsing “What if” scenarios. David said his goodbyes to his team, started toward the elevator and stopped short. He felt sick to his core.

“David, we’ve got this,” Curtis said. “Go!”

The other leaders agreed. David relented, shook each leader’s hand one last time…

Woosh! The elevator descended from the penthouse to the lobby.

David counted the floors as they whizzed by him, “Twelve, eleven, ten…seven, eight…one.” David’s driver, Jerome, tipped his hat as David exited the building and sat in his Tesla.

“Home, sir?”

“Hum,” David replied, his mind drifting, still questioning his decision.

SECOND THOUGHTS

Jerome pulled away from the curb. David watched the high-rise in the rear-view mirror. It started to look like a toy. As the city streets broadened to four lanes, and the luminous cement towers were replaced with residences and decorative scrolled street lamps, David realized he hadn’t prayed about his decision; he had simply decided to treat himself to this reprieve. A whole month? David thought, pressing his abdomen, What was I thinking?

David placed his hand on Jerome’s shoulder. “First and Concord.”

“Sir, we just came from….”

David was silent. Jerome made a U-turn, “How fast can I…?”

“Floor it.”

“With pleasure,” Jerome replied.

As soon as they reached the office complex, David scrambled to exit the Tesla. Jerome, never got an opportunity to open David’s door.

“I’ve been wanting to try out her power. She’s a jewel!”

David heard none of Jerome’s remarks. He had bolted back into the elevator.

As the door to the executive penthouse opened, David was greeted by his team who had gathered around the elevator, predicting his return. David blushed, but said nothing.

“Welcome back,” Alan joked. “Did you enjoy your…let’s see…twenty-three-minute vacation?”

“We placed bets as to how far you’d get,” Julia said.

“Tell me you got past Fourteenth Street.” Stephen said, chuckling.

David looked down.

“Hah! I get the cache!” Brian said, grabbing money from a dish. He fanned his face with the bills.

“David, you’ve trained us well,” John said. “Let us prove that to you.”

“We’ve got this,” Curtis added, “Really! Go home and relax.”

After some discussion, and after repeating the instructions David had given his team, he stepped back into the elevator, and with six people pushing him, he really didn’t have a choice. Curtis and Brian stepped in with him “to make sure he got into his Tesla.”

As the elevator doors opened to the lobby, Curtis addressed David’s driver. “Jerome, my man! Make sure ‘Mr. CEO’ gets to his estate.” He snatched a bill form Brian’s hand and handed it to David’s driver. “Here’s a tip to make sure he does.”

“Hey, that’s my fifty!” Brian complained.

“Thank you, sir,” Jerome said, pocketing the bill, “I will.”

David reclined into the leather seat. “Circle the building,” he said.

“Should I drive slow, sir?”

“Yes, Jerome. I want to remember what she looks like.”

IDYLLIC IDLE

David would vacation at home. That way he would be close to work—just in case. Besides, his estate had the finest amenities so it was the perfect arrangement. He called it his “castle in the heights.” Even though David’s estate was situated just outside the heart of the city, it felt like an oasis. David enjoyed watching the hustle and bustle of city life from his balcony, while enjoying the seclusion of his clifftop mansion. The residences were only sixty yards away but there was a field between his home that buffered him from city life. It was the perfect arrangement.

David dedicated the first part of his vacation to working on his cars. He hummed a new tune while tightening a radiator hose on his Shelby. He reached for a wrench. That’s when he noticed his guitar resting in the corner of his garage.

It would be nice, he thought, to compose a song. Notes to a melody started to form in his mind. I should write those down, he thought as he installed a supercharger in his Fiat. It was hard work, but he was happy to do it.

David tuned the engine and bled the brakes on his Cobra. He put down his wrench and hummed the lyrics that were forming in his mind…

Pray now! David heard in the recesses of his spirit.

“Later, God,” David mumbled in protest. He continued his work.

Satan grimaced, and shot a projectile…. David was unaware.

David washed the grease off his hands and retreated to his balcony. Although it seemed trivial, he longed to watch a sunset. With his work responsibilities, he rarely paused long enough to enjoy one. David entertained thoughts again of composing a song, but he suppressed the notion. The melody gradually slipped away….

ENTICED

The reds and blues of the setting sun painted the surrounding homes in a deliciously dreamy color palette. He reached for his binoculars and watched the bats swooping moths gathering in front of a streetlight.

As sunset gave way to twilight, lights flickered in the residences below. They were like randomly appearing gems. David began to play a game as to which homes would light up next. He giggled as some he guessed correctly while others he missed outright. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a woman rising from her bath. David gasped. She’s beautiful, he thought, but I should look away.  It was a war between flesh and spirit.

Satan fanned his arrow array. He released his bow. The weapon stuck fast….

David found himself looking intently at the lady’s form. He imagined the scent of her perfume, as he watched her towel-dry, dress, and lie down for bed. David continued to watch after her form was no longer visible, her silhouette impressed upon the recesses of his mind, the visual imagery taking shape in his imagination.

David began to entertain thoughts. He tried to shake them off, but they kept coming. Soon, he found himself devising a secret scheme to sleep with the woman. Conflicting thoughts tore at his subconscious. I should pray, he thought. But instead, he entertained lustful desires.

Satan’s grimaced widened. “I’m a self-made man,” he said, shooting a projectile.

Before dawn, David had mastered a deceitful scheme. He knew just how he would proposition the woman without being discovered. What harm will come out of a little sex? he reasoned. David had become an adulterer of the mind.

He phoned a buddy to learn the lady’s identity. His friend disclosed her name. He now knew full well that the darling whom he lusted after was married—and her husband was a new hire, employed by his company. He knew all about the man—his salary, his work ethic, and even his hobbies. David knew he could order his phone buddy around so he pulled him in on a scheme. Then he paid off this go-between in order to assure his silence. At David’s bidding, his buddy arranged an excuse for the lady to meet David at his estate the next evening.  Surely, she would think it was work related, since he had sent her husband on a business trip that very week.

This is going to be easier than I thought, David mused. The trap was set.

The trap was set for David…. Satan folded his arms, propped his feet on a smoldering cinder, and scratched his back with an arrow while he watched his victim tumble further into transgression. Although unaware, David had become a marionette on a string, and Satan was the puppeteer.

DECISIONS

David had never before entertained thoughts of having an affair, but now his mind was running helter-skelter. If only he had looked away, turned his chair, gone inside, composed a song. But David had not, and he did not want to stop now. The rational mind was cooking up some wicked schemes and David was entertaining them with a passion. He had his dialogue polished and ready to try out. “Are you lonely when your husband leaves? Trust me to meet your needs. What a lovely dress! You have a beautiful smile….”

The knock at the door came. David opened the latch and smiled. It was Showtime! He would possess this woman!  Sure enough, before the evening was over, he had enticed this prized beauty and she had consented to a game of sex. Was it consensual, though? It was a seduction, in reality, but David convinced the lady she had agreed to the affair.

David had played the game of lust, and he had won the prize of sex.

Satan hurled a ratchet between David and the lady. He didn’t want them to repent or apologize, especially to God.

When David’s vacation ended, he gladly returned to work. Why did I ever leave? he thought, guilt knocking on the door of his subconscious. David pushed off any thoughts of the lady and he buried himself in his work. He knew she’d be too embarrassed to tell anyone he had stolen her virtue, and he refused to speak to her. Silence fell upon the lady like a black cloak; she wore the garment of shame. David noticed, and was satisfied this was enough to buy her silence.

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES

As the days passed, one thought kept surfacing; I desire truth within your spirit.  David suppressed it. He knew reckoning with his sin would be painful and he didn’t want to confess. He was beginning to realize he wore the same garment of shame he had imposed upon the beautiful lady.

Weeks later, David’s buddy delivered the news.

“She’s pregnant.”

“Who’s pregnant?”

“You’re kidding, right? You paid me to bring her to you, and I did. I’m still keeping your secret, but her belly’s gonna tell on you soon enough. You might as well pack up your pencils and make room for the new CEO.”

Would David come clean? He was too proud, so he schemed some more. He decided to bring the woman’s husband home from his latest business trip. The woman, David rationalized, would entice her own husband to sleep with her because she would want to keep the secret more than David. He called the employee home “to work on a small project.” He met him in the airport and handed him a roll of cash. “It’s a gift,” David alleged, “for the loyalty you have to the company. Take your wife to a posh restaurant! Treat her to a night on the town that she’ll never forget.” David sighed in relief. The conception date of the child needed to be close enough to the husband’s visitation if this cover-up was going to work.

David had hired this employee for his uprightness, but now that loyalty backfired. The employee checked into nearby hotel, phoned his wife about the cash, and told her he needed to focus on his job assignment. He promised her that when he came home, they would have a night on the town. To the roar of jets, David’s employee finished the at-home assignment and left promptly to finish David’s distant project.

The cover-up had gone bust! David thought he could resolve the issue by whit, but he had failed. David would not admit it yet, but his biggest sin was against God. He had shelved intimacy with his Creator. David didn’t have the same inspiration he used to have for songwriting. He still played his old songs, but even those started to feel mechanical. Was his anointing slipping? David wondered if he would remain CEO if this indiscretion surfaced. He knew he should turn to God but he did not.

Satan chuckled. He steadied his bow; “One, two, three. Murrr….”

RESISTING GRACE

Meanwhile, David was filled with hatred. That employee was causing him trouble. Why was he being so loyal? Couldn’t he have just gone home and had sex with that woman? David wished the employee was gone! He’d have to get rid of him!

God cringed. “Come home, son. I’m still here,” He spoke into David’s spirit. “I still love you and the lady. Receive the wisdom that comes when you seek Me with your whole heart.”

Satan laughed as he shot; “…derrrrr!”

“Hey, buddy, I need you to do me a favor, David said to the go-between. You think the last favor paid well? This will make that payoff look like chump change!  I need you to arrange an accident…”

“An… accident?”

“It needs to be on the jobsite. Make sure it looks convincing, or you won’t get a dime.”

Dead.

David’s faithful employee, Uriah, was dead.

The accomplice had successfully carried out David’s murder plot. He was now free to take Bathsheba as wife. The big secret was stifled. That is, it was stifled into David’s subconscious, and he would not be free of the mental anguish until he came clean.

Meanwhile, he watched Bathsheba grieve the loss of her husband, Uriah, and the infant death of her firstborn son.

REPENTANCE

David finally wrote the song he was thinking about composing while on his vacation—Psalm 51 describes his heartfelt confession.

God swooped two repentant children into His arms—King David, the CEO-songwriter-poet, and Bathsheba, the beautiful lady. The Lord knew it would take a while, but He planned on working restoration into these broken souls for as long as they would allow. God began to spin the Potter’s wheel, lovingly remolding two lives into beautiful vessels of honor.

Satan retreated, sharpening his arrows, looking for his next opportunity.

Does knowing how cunning the enemy is renew your resolve to follow only God?

Lord God, I repent! Place me on Your potter’s wheel, and shape my innermost being into a vessel of honor.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

Genre: David’s Folly is a modern-day interpretation of 2 Samuel chapter eleven.

Copyright 2019: David’s Folly: Diane Virginia: All Rights Reserved