July 10, 2018
Do your best, trust God for the rest.
Turn to the Old Testament and you will meet that great hero, King David. One day David and his men were out patrolling, doing what God told them to do. But while they were away, some bandits attacked their city. The bandits burned the city, stole their possessions, and kidnapped the women and children. When David and his men returned, they were devastated. They wept until they could weep no more. But as David sat there among the ruins, watching the smoke and ashes fill the air, he made a decision … a decision that would change his destiny. He was knocked down on the outside, but he decided he was going to get up on the inside.
The spirit of a champion began to rise within him. Instead of sitting around crying over what he had lost, the Bible says that “David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” (1 Samuel 30:6) In other words, he got up on the inside. He said to his men, “Get your armor back on. We’re going back out there to fight for what is ours.” And they did just that. As David and his men rose up, God supernaturally helped them recover everything that had been stolen. But – and here’s the lesson – I don’t believe any of that would have happened if David had not first gotten up on the inside.
You may be sitting around waiting for God to change your circumstances. Then you’re going to be happy, then you’re going to have a good attitude, then you’re going to give God praise. But God is waiting for you. He’s waiting for you to get up on the inside. When you do your part, He’ll do His part. He’ll begin to change things and work supernaturally in your life.
Some of you in this room have had some losses in life. Somebody took advantage of you, mistreated you, or deceived you, and now you are tempted to sit around crying over what you’ve lost, thinking about how unfair it was, and how your life will never be the same. I understand. I do. I’ve had those feelings, too. But you need to turn that attitude around. Do like David. Do your best, trust God for the rest.