Encouraging yourself in the Lord

This blog entry is an excerpt from our new ministry manual "Listen.Learn.Obey"

"And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew notany, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way."

"So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouragedhimself in the LORD his God."

"And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.”

1 Samuel 30:1-8 KJV

The reason Ziklag was burned and the women and children were missing is becauseSaul did not execute the vengeance of God on the Amalekites as God desired him to, see 1 Samuel 28:18. Here David had to fight a battle that Saul was called to win. The first thing we need to know is what one generation doesn’t do another generation will have to do. Before these scriptures David was rejected or sent home by the Philistines. You know it’s a bad day when the devil doesn’t even want you on his team. David suffered rejection for no apparent reason.Prophetic people must learn how to respond properly to rejection. Responding properly to rejection is one of the doorways to destiny. Here David has been on the run for over 10 years. His enemies reject him, his two wives are gone, his city is burned with fire and his friends want to stone him. With friends like that who needs enemies? Anyway his reaction to all this is what opened the door of the palace to him. The Word of the Lord tested him and he was found faithful.

After all the madness David went through he did one thing. He enquired of the Lord. The way he encouraged himself in the Lord was by positioning himself to hear from God. He didn’t ask the Priest (or his pastor) to ask God, he asked the Lord himself and responded properly. Remember if we ask we shall receive. There are times when we will have to seek and knock, but nevertheless we will receive. Those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness shall be filled. David asked the Lord two specific questions, (my paraphrase) 1. Should I fight? 2. Will I win? As soon as he got his answer immediately he pursued the enemy and recovered all just as God said he would. The most important part of our walk with God is our ability to listen to him and obey. If I said that a million times it would be enough. David didn’t ask vague questions, he asked specific questions and God gave him a specific answers.David behaved like a King before the he had a throne. That is the kind of faithfulness God is looking for. Don’t wait for a tile to do what God called you to do, just go for it.

3 Lessons to never forget

1. The battles we don’t fight the next generation will have to. We must not allow our victory to be someone else’s because we don’t want to fight.
2. Responding properly to pressure prepares us for our destiny.
3. Positioning ourselves to hear God’s voice is how we strengthen our self in the Lord.