1 Samuel 30:6b-8 “But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”
Life is full of setbacks and heartache. The difference between unsuccessful people and successful people often comes down having mental toughness, intestinal fortitude, and simple faith. You can be someone just like David who lets failure derail you, feel like a victim, and tell “your story” of defeat to everyone you know. Or you can do the most difficult and healthy thing of all: move on and try a different approach to accomplish your goals.
The psychologists of our day say there are three mental tricks you can use to feel better when you want to give up.
-Give someone a genuine, massive compliment.
The reason this technique works is that it takes the focus off of your self. It’s easy to become self-centered and overly focused on your own problems until you realize that everyone is insecure about something. Doctors say that one of the most therapeutic things you can do is make someone’s day and to tally out of the blue, give them a massive, genuine compliment.
-Be thankful for what you’ve learned. No matter how bad it is, no matter how much it hurts, no matter how much money you lost the lesson you learned from it is far more valuable, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time. Even if someone totally took advantage of you or did you wrong, take a minute to actually thank them in your own mind or out loud. You can bet it will feel strange and it will go against every instinct in your body, but thank them for teaching you such a valuable lesson. It will make you that much stronger next time.
-Read some quotes from the greats. When you’re feeling down read some quotes from some of the most successful people of all time. This is a great reminder that everyone must face setbacks. In fact, it is a pre-requisite for success. There is no record of anybody accomplishing anything (even in the Bible) without many setbacks and failures along the way. Remember always that setbacks let you know that you’re making progress.
This was David’s worst day ever. His family was in captivity or dead, his possessions stolen, and his men who had sweated blood for him now stood in opposition and wanted to take his life.
(1) David returned to what he knew was right!
Verse 6b-8 “But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?”
When David heard the news he told the resident priest to go get him his prayer cloth and the Bible says that he strengthened himself in the Lord his God. The difference between what he was doing and what his 600 mighty men were doing is the determining factor that brought David face to face with his destiny. David praised and sought God for a plan of action that would bring restoration to himself and to those left in his charge.
(2) David discovered that he could not stay in Ziklag any longer.
There are two things you need to realize just as David did:
-Every single high achieving man or woman has been a person who has thrown off the natural tendency to play it safe and stay within their comfort zone. They continually try to exceed their previous levels of accomplishment and realize that only by moving forward can those goals be achieved. You cannot hide from your destiny. It will find you and what you do with depends on your faith in the Lord.
-Every single important accomplishment in the history of man has come from men and women who have had the courage to take the risks. These are the one that step out on faith even though they have no guarantee or assurance of success.
Psalm 91:1-3 “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.”
(3) David discovered on his worst day ever the true power of fulfilling his destiny.
Verse 8b “And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”
In studying the lives and stories of the most outstanding men and women of all of history, we find that every single one of them has been a great failure. David learned four important lessons in his Ziklag experience.
-He learned that people do not always understand the importance of failure in achievement. In his worst moment on his worst day ever, he remembered the Lord.
-He also learned that it is impossible to succeed without God help. Great success is often preceded by great failure because we try to do things our way rather than listen to the Lord.
-He realized in that moment that every single person who has tried to accomplish something outside the ordinary has suffered setback, obstacles, defeat, adversity, disappointment, and heartache over and over again as they have moved toward their goal unless God is on their side.
-David understood at this crucial moment that the main difference in achieving ultimate success in battle was inevitable as long as he kept on pressing toward his destiny.
Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
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