Your mission, should you choose to accept it Dream Team, is to use the next few days to identify and conquer the things in your life that make success seem imPossible.
Enemy #1: Doubt
“When the Philistines heard that David had been crowned king of Israel, they tried to capture him; but David was told that they were coming and went into the stronghold. The Philistines arrived and spread out across the valley of Rephaim. Then David asked the Lord, ‘Shall I go out and fight against them? Will you defeat them for me?'” (2 Sam 5:17-19).
We all wonder if God will be there in our time of need, just as David did. “Will you defeat them for me?” he asked. David had good reason to doubt God’s ability to protect him – he had people after his head! When you are about to enter your destiny, Satan seems ready and waiting with his schemes to prevent you from fulfilling that destiny. When David was anointed king of Israel, God’s destiny for him was revealed for everyone – even Satan. So, of course, Satan’s response is to rally the Philistines, not just to try and kill David’s, but to defeat David’s destiny, and end the prophecies of old.
David does two things that we need to notice. First, he retreats to his stronghold. It is a place of
protection. It is a quiet place – for us, this could be a closet, our bedroom, or wherever we go when life overwhelms us. Second, he talks to God, and asks God for a response. Sometimes we remember to offload our problems, but need to be mindful of His response. In David’s stronghold, he asks God for the strategy to defeat his enemy. God reveals it to him and he goes on to defeat the Philistines. Go figure, David NEVER lost a battle. Why? Because he learned to ask God for the strategy to defeat his enemies. What if we never lost a daily battle because we asked God first on how we can defeat the struggle? What is God waiting to conquer for you, if only you’d ask him to help?
There are times we doubt God’s ability to care for us, and his ability to care about us. Sometimes I think God’s silence means that he’s not listening, and that’s my cue to take matters into my own hands. Oh, and then there’s the path I choose when I think I’ve heard an answer from God but it’s really just me. We all know what happens to those who take matters into their own hands; interpret a direction they believe is from God and head down the wrong path entirely. How many decisions that are documented in the Bible were made by people who took matters into their own hands because God didn’t give them an immediate answer to his knowledge of their future? Was it Abraham and Hagar (Gen 16)? Or perhaps it was Rebecca and Jacob? Did God have other plans, other means for fulfilling His will for Jacob that did not involve lying and deception? Of course He did.
Sarah and Rebecca both fell victim to the same problem I sometimes encounter. The it-hasn’t-happened-yet-so-God-must-have-changed-His-mind syndrome. That combined with the we-can’t-trust-our-Lord-to-provide-the-means-to-make-it-happen disease turned out to be a terrible combination for both of them. Sarah, and Rebecca both took matters into their own hands because the outcome that God predicted seemed unreachable by their human hands. What obstacles seem unreachable in your life by your own hands?
If you’re still not sure what God would have you do, don’t be like Sarah, Rebecca, and Jacob. Rather than taking matters into your own hands, just wait. David was hidden in the stronghold, so if he wasn’t sure of God’s direction, he could have stayed there safely. 2 Peter 3:8 says “With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.” Be patient, and truly wait on the Lord, because he does care for you, and about you, even to the tiniest detail. Isaiah 40:27-31 says: 27 Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or, whine, Israel, saying, “God has lost track of me. He doesn’t care what happens to me”? 28 …Haven’t you been listening? God doesn’t come and go. God lasts. He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out. 29 He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. 30 For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. 31 But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind. Are you involving God in your business? Are you asking Him to show you the strategies for success, or are you simply hoping to get there eventually?
Reflect:
How have you been doubting God’s ability to provide for you? What are you afraid to give to him because you think he can’t (or won’t) handle it? Think about it, and then confess aloud in your quiet time with the Lord what you haven’t been able to trust Him with.
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