In I Samuel 30, David had his family taken, his livestock taken, and his belongings taken by an invading army. With the help of God, David went to the enemy’s camp and took all of his stuff back! Not only had his enemy taken his relatives and resources, but the enemy had robbed David of his strength and had ruined his credibility with his men.
How do you take back your family? How do you take back your strength? How do you take back your reputation and credibility with people? Look at verse 6 from the NKJV: “Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.”
Verse six doesn’t say that the Lord strengthened David, but that David strengthened himself IN THE LORD. David got very proactive. He then sought out the presence of God. When you have been robbed by your enemy, when the enemy has your family, when the enemy has taken your livelihood, when the enemy’s tactics have left you without strength, when your reputation and credibility have been compromised, you need to:
Run to the Lord. Take initiative, take ownership of any disconnect from the presence of God.
David had been leaning on his own understanding. He had been making decisions without consulting God. It has been noted that during this time in his life, he didn’t write any of the Psalms. No praise and worship was flowing from him. He had been living disconnected from the seeking of God’s presence, and he had been living in enemy territory.
The enemy robbed him blind. Everything was gone. It wasn’t just a setback. It was total destruction. He knew he couldn’t fix it. He knew there was no one to go but to the Lord. And so, David strengthened himself in the Lord.
The second thing I would tell you if you want to recover what Hell has stolen from you is that you need to: Rely on God’s Truth
David had started to believe the lie that eventually Saul would find and kill him. He said it himself in I Samuel 27:1. He believed he was doomed to be killed by Saul, and that is why he wound up fleeing to live in the land of the Philistines. That was faulty thinking. He had been told over and over by person after person after person, even people in high up places, “We know that one day you will be King of Israel.” God had even proven that He would protect David from Saul time and time again.
You know, if you tell yourself an untruth long enough, you can start to believe it. Eventually a lie can start to sound like the truth. When you believe the wrong things, you will act the wrong way.
Because David believed something false, he set himself up to be robbed of his destiny.
Listen, the only way to get back what Hell has stolen from you is to replace every lie in your heart and mind with the truth of God’s Word. Even if you don’t understand everything you read, if you will open it, if you will read it, if you will ask the Holy Spirit to help you get something from it, if you will meditate upon it, if you will read it again, if you will pray about what you read, if you will talk to people about it, you will start to notice a different way of believing which will produce a different way of behaving.
Third, in order to walk into enemy territory to get your stuff back, you need to:
Robe up. Put on the full Armor of God.-Ephesians 6:10-18
Make sure that you are saved. Without the Spirit of God living inside of you, you are living an unprotected life. That makes you vulnerable every day to an attack of the enemy. Wake up to the reality that your enemy isn’t that democrat that you can’t understand or that republican you can’t deal with. Wake up to the reality that your enemy isn’t the boss that you think is unfair or demanding or that co-worker that is seems critical of your work. Wake up to the reality that your enemy isn’t the spouse you live with, the parent that is trying to protect you or the sibling you think is hogging the spotlight. Wake up to the reality that your enemy isn’t the kid at school who is poking fun or trying to make you look bad. Realize your enemy is the devil himself.
Yes, pray about the boss, the school kid, and the co-worker, but pray about the dark and evil power that is prompting and provoking those people to do what they are doing. Pray that the powers of evil be broken in their lives. Pray they get a revelation of the love and grace of God so that they can be changed from the inside out. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of Hell itself. Pray the darkness will be exposed. Pray the Kingdom of God will come to your school hallways, your office cubicles, your training sessions, your homes, and your neighborhoods.
Walk in truth and be prepared to witness for God in the midst of any battle. God is greater than anything you face. People need to know it and see it in your life. Get your armor on and get ready to fight. Recovery is ahead.
Resolve to recover whatever it is that the enemy has stolen. Take initiative with the enemy.
You also have to get bold about your enemy. You can’t hide in the corner and just wait for things to work out. You have got to get aggressive. You have to determine you are going in and you are going to recover whatever it is that Satan has stolen from you. We need to not only stand against our enemy, but we need to go after what is rightfully ours.
David did, and the Scripture tells us he got it all back. Every person was recovered. All livestock were recovered. All of their stuff was recovered, and their enemies were obliterated.
It’s time to take some stuff back. Let’s strengthen ourselves in the Lord right now. Let’s rely on God’s truth, and let’s robe up in the power of God’s might. God told David he would recover everything, and David believed him. David resolved to get it all back.
