When You Are Marked:
- You Are Elevated Through Obstacles
- You cannot bypass obstacles to reach the position God has called you to have.
- What we usually do is wait on an authority to remove the obstacles for us (e.g. parents removing obstacles to teach their baby how to walk, us praying to God to remove our obstacles).
- Obstacles are not bad, but necessary for your elevation.
- James 1:2-8: Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
- You cannot bypass obstacles to reach the position God has called you to have.
- Interruptions Are Introductions
- 1 Samuel 17:21-24: Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.
- When David was giving food to his brothers (something he was supposed to do), he was interrupted by Goliath. This interruption led to David being introduced to a new opportunity to show how God is great and working in his life.
- Because your elevation is wrapped in obstacles, interruptions are God’s way of interrupting your perfect plan and lead you to your next opportunity to go up. We have to go through the obstacles and accept interruptions with humility.
- EX.) “God, I wonder how/what you’ll introduce me to today that’s going to take my purpose to the next level?”
- 1 Samuel 17:21-24: Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.
- Your Perspective Positions You
- Important Question to Ask Yourself: How are you seeing … / What’s your perspective on … your obstacles?
- If your perspective is broken, you’re not going to move to the position you’re supposed to.
- EX.) 1 Samuel 17:24: Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.
- This verse shows the broken perspective from Israelite soldiers. Because their perspective of Goliath is of a powerful giant, their position is to fall back in fear.
- EX.) 1 Samuel 17:24: Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.
- Everyone talks a big game when there’s no obstacles, but when you retreat, usually, you retreat to a dark place away from the obstacles and away from God.
- When facing obstacles, we have to look “above the hills,” beyond the obstacles and see God, the overcomer of the world
- Romans 12:2: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
- You Make Inquires of Victory
- Inquiries basically translates to questions; when you’re marked, you ask questions that lead to victory
- 1 Samuel 17:25-26: Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.” David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
- Israelite soldiers asked questions based out of fear, self validation, and elevation, while David asked questions of offense, victory, and faith in God.
- 1 Samuel 17:25-26: Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.” David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
- The type of questions you’re asking to God exposes your faith quick and the state of your heart.
- We need to change our questions to God/obstacles from “Will we get the victory …” to “What will we do with the spoils …”
- David viewed obstacles as par for the course, necessary, for what God called him to do and that perspective led to his speech being rooted in faith.
- Inquiries basically translates to questions; when you’re marked, you ask questions that lead to victory
- Don’t Engage Intentional Ignorance
- 1 Samuel 17:28-30: When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.” “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.
- When David was confronting a Goliath problem, he was then super punched with the brother discrediting him. David did the mature thing of ignoring that battle and instead focused on the battle God had graced him with.
- 1 Samuel 17:28-30: When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.” “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.
We have to turn away from the obstacles that take us to our past and move us towards the obstacles that move us to our future.
Tinsai Worke
Hi! My name is Tinsai Worke, but you can just call me Tina. I am a young, devoted Christian and a part-time note-taker for different online sermons.
