Moment of Power #4
Encourage Yourself
By: Fleming J. Ivory
“David encouraged himself in the Lord,
His God (I Samuel 30:6).”
The story of David overcoming the threat of total vanquish of him and his people while on the run for over seven years (at the time in Ziklag), by the Amalekites, is fascinating and uplifting. this sequel of the great “King Davide” thrills readers and reminds us (the believer) that when it seems like we have lost everything and can not seem to find a positive word of encouragement from anyone, we have within us as victors, the strength and power to encourage ourselves. The words courage and encouragements derives from the same Hebrew translated via Greek meaning:
To give strength, to repair, to give physical and internal strength (hazaq).
Just a reminder borrowing from the last moment of power, we must remember to carefully, cognitively and strategically store in our minds words, experiences and truths that positively sustain us for the remainder of this journey called life. I read a great book when I first got locked up, “The Secret (Rhonda Barne).” In her insightful and delightful book, she reminds us to simply….
Remember to Remember.
Back to David. This is the same David that was chosen to become the next king of Israel at a very young age, just before defeating Goliath. for those of us who remember the story, “David and Goliath. Before killing Goliath, David:
1). He remembered how he saved his Father’s sheep by winning a deadly scrimmage against a bear and a lion. He Remembered What’s In Him, his strength and abilities.
2). he informed the Giant..HE WAS NOT AFRAID.
3). He remembered how powerful he was/is when he fight in and with the unlimited power and possibilities of Gods’ Power and grace (power=dunamis= unlimited dyno mite like power).
Just before his victory over Goliath and him being chosen/anointed to become the next king of Israel, Saul (king at the time) was fired and rejected by God. He then attempted more than one time, after David’s successful triumph over the Philistines, to kill David, sending David on a run constant run to save his life. During such exile and anguish, God still great plans for David, yet he had tests and challenges to past and endure. Although he had to wait, he was able to encourage others later throughout the history of mankind:
“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart:
wait I say, on the Lord (Psalm 27:14).”
” Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man:
thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion (refuge, covering, tent, harbor) from the
strife of tongues (psalm 31: 20).”
The Amalekites had destroyed Ziklag, where David and his people resided and took his and others wives and children hostage, while taking all their possessions. They then burned the city with fire. There were men who fought with David (in his army) who were so discouraged, they talked about stoning David. It really looked like he had literally no one to confide in and could not trust anyone. Life can get that lonely and troublesome in the world of incarceration as well. David went to the right source, The Lord his God, in Prayer. It reminds me of when Moses dies and Joshua was to lead God’s people into the promised land. Highlight the word promised (past tense). God has already promised you great things if you remain faithful! He has also promised his people our own purposed designed life of success, regardless of the giants that may distract us or or set backs that may delay the promises:
“Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to
all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand
or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest (Joshua 1:7).”
I love how the scripture starts off with saying “only” be thou strong and courageous. You see, we have a choice to either buckle in from pressure or remember God’s great power and abilities he has placed in us, that we have won battles before; therefore, we have the power to encourage ourselves. David encouraged himself in the Lord his God after being greatly distressed of the situation and not having anyone to go to, seemingly (See I Samuel 30: 5-10). David prayed to God, asking if he should pursue, will he be able to overcome his enemies and will he be able to recover all. Get God’s response…”Pursue, for thou shall surely overtake them and WITHOUT FAIL recover all (I Samuel 30: 8).
When our backs are up against the walls of life…When everyone around us are wanting us stoned (punished) instead of encouraging us..When the enemy (due to our disobedient however) has caused lost for us, our spouses, children, family and friends…
If we gather ourselves, remember who we are and pray for God’s direction, we too can encourage ourselves in the Lord our God. We too must remember to remember how God has given us wisdom, strength and fortitude to overcome major obstacles time after time:
“Ye are of God little children, and have overcome (nakaio GK, prevailed mightily), because greater
is he that is in you than he that is in the world (I John 4:4).”
Davide and 200 men (he started with 600 against maybe thousands of enemy soldiers), after coming to the Brook Basor that scared most of the men away, due to it’s fierce and intimidating scene of dead bodies floating, went forward to battle. You see, everyone in your life don’t have what it takes to cross over the fearful brooks in your life. Such brooks are places of danger and uncertainties. They did however, meet a young member of the enemies camp, who was dying. David demanded that they feed him, revive him and save him. The former enemy gave the intel on how to overcome the Amalekites in return. Simply said, we never know God will place in our lives to help save us.
Remember to Remember, as Rhonda Byrne reminds us:
” I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).”
Remember who God is.
Remember the power God gave you.
Remember who you are and what you are able to accomplish , when you believe.
I know it sounds cliche; but, You can make it and you definitely can make it with God on your side. Prison can be scary, lonely and intimidating. You can Pursue. You can Overtake. You can overcome ALL, without fail.
Sometimes, there is a wait. David was chosen to be king at an early age; but, he had to wait and he had challenges to overcome:
” But they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and
not be weary; they shall walk and not faint ( Isaiah 40:31)”.
David and his men defeated the enemies and recovered all without fail. Saul, his biggest enemy dies shortly after and in II Samuel 2, David is now anointed king of Judah, after seven years on the run. Joyce Ann Brown an advocate who served 9 1/2 years in prison, wrongly convicted says it like this:
Two prisoners looked through bars. One saw mud and one saw stars. I just never stopped looking at the stars.
Encourage Yourself.
