Michael Todd - A Distraction Named David
Get your Bibles out, get your notepads out, smartphones, dumb phones—every phone is welcome here. We have been in a series for five weeks now, and the title of this series may be paramount, something that you need to go back and watch every month. The whole purpose of this series is to help you figure out how to put death to your distractions. The truth of the matter is I’ve been talking to some people and polling them on what they’re getting out of the message, and it’s so crazy that there are several people who have been around God long enough to think that they don’t need to zone in on what God is saying to them about their distractions.
I have kept hearing how this is such a good series for people who are distracted. I’m talking about some of my staff and some people who came in town, saying, «Oh my God, this is for those who are distracted.» Hold on, for those who are distracted—do you know what pride will do? It will hinder you from hearing God. Before we go into this heat that’s about to come here, I don’t want you to miss it because your pride makes you deaf. Hear what I’m saying spiritually; you’re not able to hear what God is trying to say. Somebody say to me!
From now on, I do not want you to think at all about how anybody else’s distractions need to be changed through the word of God. I only want you to think about the distractions that have been keeping you from stepping fully into what God has called you to do. Watch out for the distractions you have become so familiar with that you actually don’t consider them distractions anymore. I need you to be aware that certain things that you have deemed a part of you are actually keeping you from purpose. Today, I want to tell you, scream to you, be your alarm clock: focus, focus on God. Focus on Jesus. Focus on His word. Focus on the instructions He gave you. Everything else should be secondary. Is that too plain? Because the truth of the matter is there’s a part of me that desires to impress you and say it in a brand new way so that it feels deep. I can’t because it’s so simple—focus!
What happened to the thing God told you to do during the 21 days of prayer? We’re only three weeks away from when it ended. We’re three weeks post 21 days of prayer and fasting, and you’ve gone back and undone everything you did during those 21 days in three weeks. How—how did we get from knowing God spoke to us ten years ago to go into ministry, to go to this school, and do what God told us to do, to now being like, «I don’t even know what God is saying; I don’t even know if He hears me»? I’m talking about real things that I’m listening to and observing. Somebody locks in when they’re here in church, goes off to school, and doesn’t even look like the same person six months later. How does that happen? It’s a lack, a loss, or a distortion of focus.
Many of us have lost our focus for so long that it’s become a perspective. You’re not trying to focus anymore; this is just your perspective. My perspective is that all people are going to do me wrong because I didn’t focus on mending that one relationship that really tied to my heart. I never really forgave them; I never really walked away from that; I never did the counseling that I needed to do. So now people are going to do me wrong. Come on, y’all! I’m telling you, if you don’t focus and fix the things that God tells us in His word are important, we will turn something that we have not focused on intensely into a perspective about a whole group, situation, genre—all these things. God said, «Could you let me come here and fix your focus?»
How do we do that, Pastor Mike? I’m glad you asked, because Hebrews 12:1, our scripture of the year, says, «Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to this life of faith,» somebody say, «I live a life of faith.» Say it like you mean it: «I live a life of faith! I live a life of faith! I live a life of faith! No matter what I see, I live a life of faith. My faith will affect my life—my faith, my prayer, my giving, my encouragement. I live a life of faith!» Some of y’all need to say it by faith: «I live a life of faith. I don’t know where I’m going to live next year. I don’t know what’s going to happen down the road, but I live a life of faith.» I’m trying to inspire somebody to stop living a life of fear, a life of failure. If you categorize your years by the failures that happened—"Oh, that’s the year I lost such and such,» «That’s the year that I didn’t make it into this,» «That’s the year they left me"—you need to flip it. «That’s the year that God let me survive that.»
«That’s the year that God changed my perspective on that.» It’s not that it didn’t happen, but that’s the year that God made me into something I wasn’t. «That’s the year I found out that I was built like a dog.» That’s the year—you all got to hear what I’m saying! I live by—okay, so since I live by faith, somebody say, «I live by faith.» Some of y’all need to say that every day you wake up: «Thank you, Lord, for another day, and today I’m going to live by faith.» Since I live by faith, I have to address some of the stuff that tried to get on me. I know culture tried to tell me to put on this weight; my family told me to put on this weight. I know everybody’s been trying to tell me to put on depression and anxiety and all this other stuff, but since I live by faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.
The real reason I have to strip off the weight is because I have a race to run, and I’m going to run it with endurance—not the race that culture tells me to run, not the race that my family laid out for me, not the race I even laid out for myself. This is where a lot of disappointment comes from: it’s because you lay out what somebody told you were beautiful and tall, so you should be a model. Then somebody else says, «You should be a model.» You posed in the mirror, did a little thing, and thought, «I don’t look like a model.» No, I’m just saying. I’m giving a very simple example of how it happens. You get a couple of people to confirm what they see in you; you never consulted what God made you for.
Now your disappointment, 15 years in New York trying to be a model, has led to only having walked up Madison Avenue looking at things in stores you could not buy. Why don’t you? And now you are disdained, frustrated, faith lost in God because that’s not—that’s not the race for you. I mean, take some pictures, but that’s not the race. I mean, walk in your friend’s show, but that’s not the race, right? I mean, model—do it—but it won’t fulfill you. I’m not saying you can’t do it, but just make sure after you ran that practice round that doesn’t count, you still have energy to run your race. So many people are tired because they are running races that are not actually qualified. Right now, I’m just saying that sometimes distractions come from us running the wrong race. He says, «I want you to run the race that God has set before you.» Verse two: «And the only way we can do this is by keeping our eyes on Jesus.» Somebody shout at me, «Focus!»
The only way I can do this with everything changing, with a new trend, another reason to be canceled, with everything going on—the only way I can do what I’m supposed to do on this Earth is to focus on Jesus, the champion who initiates—meaning He started it—and perfects—meaning He’s going to keep doing it until it’s right. He initiates it in me and perfects my faith. Hold on! The only reason that I’m here is that I live a life of faith, and God is the one who initiates and perfects my faith. The reason I can do this is because I have proof, because of the joy awaiting Him. Jesus endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now, He is resting, sitting in a lazy boy—not working, not moving, not trying to still do something on Earth; that’s the Holy Spirit’s job. Now He said when He said, «It is finished,» He did His thing; He is sitting there at the place of honor beside God’s throne. Somebody shout at me one more time: «Focus!»
Yes, the only reason that I’m spending so much time trying to help you understand the value of focus is that we give so much energy to our distractions that many times we don’t remember to focus. Have you ever tried to stop doing so many things that you forgot what you were supposed to be doing? Have you ever walked into the kitchen and thought, «I got to get something to drink»? «I got to get something to drink! No, don’t talk to me, don’t talk to me! I’m getting something to drink.» Then you stand at the refrigerator, and it’s not until you get into a different environment that you remember, «Oh, I’m distracted!» Distraction, distraction, distraction, and you’re trying to block out all the distractions. Many times, the fight against the distraction makes us forget to focus. So today, I’m going to help you because the Word has helped me remember to eliminate a distraction that’s probably plaguing all of us in some way or another.
I began to think, «Alright, Lord, how am I supposed to help these people?» I’ve been telling them about Samson; he got his hair cut off last week. I need to finish the story because my man Delilah is up there just swooning my guy. She must have that uchi Wali Wali because I’m thinking, «Why is this man going through all of this stuff?» He’s going to let her cut off his hair; he loses the promise—all this other stuff. Then, He said, «Michael, come out of the story for a second and let them see the distraction from another person’s standpoint.» I said, «Okay, God, what do You want me to do?» He said, «I want you to go about three or four chapters later in 1 Samuel, and I want you to find my man over there.» I said, «Your man?» He said, «Yeah, I want you to find my man David.» I was like, «Oh, I know David and Bathsheba!» He said, «Uh-uh, that was a distraction, right?» He was like, «Yeah, but that was later.» I want you to find out where David entered into the story.
This is what the Holy Spirit said: «Why do we meet David?» He’s most people’s favorite Bible character. The name David was the most popular name in 1989. Everybody’s cousin’s name is David; your middle name is David. How many Davids do we have in the room right now—middle, first, or last name? I see you; you definitely look like a David. What I’m saying is, we love David. But David wasn’t always loved. Today, I want to teach you something I’ve never seen before that I think a lot of believers are doing, and I want to help us reverse it. But first, I think it would be easier to show you what I’m talking about than tell you. So, let me put this over here.
How many people drink dark sodas? Come on, Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, come on, root beer—there’s something wrong with your insides! You know you can put whatever this is on your car battery—never mind; that’s not my message. But you put this into you. Inherently, having a cup of this is not bad. How many people have ever met someone whose breath stinks? It’s a sin! How many people have ever used Mentos to neutralize Satan’s dragon breath? Let’s leave it at there. There’s nothing wrong with a Mentos; honestly, it’s good in many situations. There’s nothing inherently wrong with your dark drink of choice in moderation. But if I take the top off of this and decide to mix it with these little things that aren’t supposed to be with it, it turns from neutral to nuclear when it comes in contact with the wrong thing. Why did it overflow at just the contact? Neither one of the things were bad.
This is a picture of what I’m about to show you. Write this point down: fractured focus turns something neutral into something nuclear. «Pastor Mike, explain yourself.» There is nothing inherently wrong with the internet; the internet is neutral. It’s what website you type in that makes it nuclear. Money is not inherently bad; money’s neutral. It turns nuclear depending on how you use it on whose hands it’s in, I just want you to think about the things in your life that are okay until they get into the wrong people’s hands. Relationships are neutral until they get into an abusive person’s hands. Nuclear power has made power seem bad; power is not bad in the hands of someone with the heart of God, but it is devastating in the hands of someone who is only looking out for themselves.
A title is not bad; it’s neutral. Everyone say, «A title is neutral.» It’s neutral, but some people use the title to turn others into things that are this small. Pastor Mike, why are you telling us this today? I’m trying to give you an example of where we usually put our focus: we put it on the thing, not the person holding the thing. You missed it. A platform is neutral; it’s who stands on it and how they use it that can make it nuclear. A promotion is neutral. What are you trying to say? Watch this: all content is either a mess or multiplied by the hand that holds it and the heart that controls it. Anything you have is neutral until it gets into the hands of someone with a bad heart, right? A greedy heart, a heart that does not want to see God’s will done. The reason I’m bringing this up is that too many people focus on the thing and not the person holding the thing.
I can tell you so many stories where I was warned in church against things: «Stay away from that.» The problem was that the person telling me to stay away had already harbored evil in their heart toward that thing. They had experienced that thing in a way that they didn’t tell me, so they tried to make it something everyone should avoid. Good, because it was their issue. I grew up not being able to understand certain things because I was told to stay away from them, but I had to realize in my maturity with Christ that there are many things people will avoid because they believe it’s bad. Social media is not bad; it’s neutral until you get into comments and slide into DMs. It was neutral before your curiosity or deceit. Pastor Mike, why are you bringing this up? Because I have to set the table for the distraction that has been killing many of us, and we’re going to find it here in 1 Samuel 18:5-9. It took me 15 minutes just to show you that the thing may not be bad; it may be how you’re viewing that thing.
1 Samuel 18:5: Whatever Saul asked David to do, David did it successfully. So Saul made him a commander over the men of war. Who made David a commander? Who made him a commander? I just want you to stay with me. He made him a commander over the men of war and appointed him, a decision welcomed by the people and Saul’s officers alike. Take note: when the victorious Israelite army was returning home after David had killed the Philistines, women from all the other towns of Israel came out to meet King Saul, dancing for joy with tambourines and cymbals. This was their song: «Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands.» This triggered Saul; this made Saul very angry.
What’s this? Y’all going to credit David with ten thousands and me only thousands? Next, they’ll make him their king. So from that time on, Saul kept a jealous eye on David. Today, I want to expose the distraction of comparison. David was not Saul’s problem; Saul was Saul’s problem. The title of my message is «A distraction named David» because all of us somewhere in our lives have turned something neutral into something nuclear because of our own issues. That was never supposed to be a distraction for me, and I made it one. It was never supposed to be an issue for me, and I made it one. It was never supposed to be a problem for me to go into that store, or be around those people, or eat dinner at this place, but because I put my focus on the wrong thing, I made a distraction that was actually supposed to help me.
Okay, some of y’all don’t know the story, so I have to go back a bit. The problem is that David was sent by God to torment all the things that were tormenting Saul. Saul had done some things to get out of right standing with God. We’re going to talk about him in just a moment. He now was unable to sleep; he had insomnia, and things were going on. He said, «Is there anyone?» First, even before he had insomnia, there was a Philistine giant taunting his whole army. None of his men would fight him. David comes along and kills his greatest enemy. Now he comes to a place where everyone is like, «Yo, Jesse’s boy!» He was fine with that, but then he was getting tormented. He said, «Can anybody play?»
The same dude who killed your giant plays a mean guitar. He begins to play his lyre, and the evil spirits go away. The Bible tells us that he killed two giants in this king’s life, and up until this point, he was good. But it was after—watch! He put David in a position; David did not position himself. After Saul put him in a position, he goes and wins more victories. Now, watch this: give me more context. Oh my God, Saul is the first king of Israel. He has no one to compare himself to. Your distraction of comparison is illegitimate because he made only one of you. Oh my God, he only made one of you! You’re out here comparing your eyes, your shape, and your status to everyone else, and they cannot be compared because you’re the only one of them.
Saul is out here with nobody to compare to, yet his kingdom is expanding. His giants are being fought without his hands. Everything that concerns his name is going to another level, and he puts his focus on the song of some women he doesn’t even know. Now you’re saying this is crazy, but have you ever been in a place in your life where things are actually good, where you felt good about your situation, until you went on Instagram and saw that somebody went to Dubai on a whim? Y’all know what I’m talking about—social media influencers; somebody just paid for them to go to the Ritz-Carlton in Dubai, and you were good with your courtyard stay. You just told someone how refreshed you were, and you needed that long time to catch up on your series. Then all of a sudden, the question is, «Where the heck is Tone?» It had nothing to be compared to, but as soon as you put yourself in that place, the distraction of comparison took your joy, took your peace, took your contentment.
I’m coming today to ask you: are there things in your life that were never meant to be distractions but are now because you have embraced comparison? Saul listened to a song that made him sacrifice everything. One song, one song by people who weren’t in his inner circle, one song, not from his core, one song from the crowd, made him sacrifice everything. If you go on to read it, Saul spends the rest of his life attacking the very thing that was sent to help him. Run it back; it’ll make sense. He spends the rest of his life attacking David, the thing that was sent to confront the Philistines that were trying to attack him. He used all his energy, all his effort, and all his power on a distraction that was actually supposed to make him better. Good, good.
The reason I’m bringing this up is because when most of us get triggered, we focus on the wrong thing. Did y’all hear? When he got triggered, he heard them singing this song, and he didn’t think, «Oh my God, I’m a good leader. David killed ten thousands; Saul killed thousands.» That’s a lot of thousands! I don’t know how many thousands it is, but we’re in the thousands because the kingdom was not credited to David. The only king without anyone to compare to was Saul. So any credit still gets counted for Saul, but his insecurity—I got good bumps saying this! —his insecurity took a song sung by someone who was just passing through, and all he focused on was, «Y’all going to bring your tambourines out here?» That’s what it said—tambourines! You’re going to sing this little song: «Who made the song? Who wrote it?» Ben, can you give me? I want to show them what it sounded like. This is what it sounded like right here:
Turn it up! Turn it up! DJ, he’s coming in town! «Saul killed thousands; David 10,000.» They’re not like us! They’re not like us! Y’all see what I’m saying? They’re not like us! I’m just saying, think about it! «David 10,000; Saul killed thousands; they’re not like us.» You can say that, but I’m just saying culturally relevant, Saul is sitting there saying, «Whoever made that…» What I’m saying is that instead of thinking, «Man, we did that,» the chorus should have been, «They’re not like us!» He should have been able to celebrate the victory. But because of comparison, all he heard was, «He’s not like me! I’m the king! He’s not like me! They didn’t grow up in the family I grew up in!» «Why did they get that?» «Why is Michael Todd’s ministry…» I’m just saying we may be supposed to be teammates. We may be the answer to a prayer in the future that you need us to win, but you will turn the blessing that God wants to bring into your life into something burdensome you chase for the rest of your life because you’ve seen it through the lens of comparison.
I know I’m preaching today. It’s important for us as a church to realize that this is the enemy’s way of desensitizing the body of Christ. It’s happening not just from outside but within, in the same city, down the street. Let me tell Transformation Church something: whenever someone speaks of another church in this city, you speak well of them.
Look at me! I don’t care what they said about us; we are on the same team. It’s kingdom here. It doesn’t matter the insinuation. If someone speaks negatively about us, God bless them, because at the end of the day, God fights for us! Do you hear what I’m saying? Maybe we were trusted enough to be a part of their growing process, but don’t ever let me hear you say, «I don’t mess with that church!» Because that’s just lazy parenting. Number one: if your heart has not grown to the place where you can bless people that you know potentially don’t share the same views as you, it exposes a lack of spiritual maturity. He said the only way the outside will know that you’re mine is by our love, our good words, our encouraging words to one another. The enemy doesn’t have to do anything about that because all you have to do is start comparing what they did to what you did.
This happens with siblings and parents. Y’all don’t make it better. Don’t ever say, «Be more like your brother!» That is bad parenting, number one! Okay, I’m going to get in trouble. You should be more like your sister! But I’m not them! That’s right! So it’s lazy parenting to say, «Because they have a propensity to do these things, it doesn’t mean I can’t. I just may need to be motivated, encouraged, or corrected in a different way.» If you think you’re going to copy and paste all the same parenting skills to all five of your kids, you need to stop having them. This is the truth of the matter: you’re being lazy right now! I need something different than Gabriel. Gabriel needs something different than Raphael. Raphael needs something different than… Do y’all see what I’m saying? Many times we sow the seed of comparison into our own children: «Why can’t you just…» And then to the oldest children, we place an unrealistic expectation on them to be perfect. As soon as you tell them to be the example and now everybody’s compared to you, they begin to hide from you because they never want to disappoint your expectation of them.
This is too much. Okay, let me go back to the word and just tell them what the Bible says. Jesus! All I’m saying is that comparison can enter the households of believers, and we don’t even credit the enemy with it. We just act like it’s normal human behavior. Yeah! Yeah! So good! I mean, their marriage looks great! Y’all know we do that. But did you see how it can’t be? There’s no way! And why couldn’t you celebrate if it was? Why? Why? Couldn’t it be, man? I really pray that everything we see is actually, man, that it’s like that from the root to the fruit. God, I bless that marriage. God, man, how inspiring! Father, just thank You.
The problem with that is it takes humility to see other people’s greatness and still be able to celebrate it when you’re in a place where you don’t feel that same level of accomplishment. What I know right now is comparison is killing Christians; it’s killing y’all, and it’s not new. It’s all the way back when Saul, the first king of Israel, comes in contact with one person who gets a song made up about him. What song have you accepted as truth that was just somebody’s opinion? How did those ladies know? Oh my God, how many people were killed? Okay, I just want us to objectively think about this. How would they even know? It must have just been their opinion of what they did not see but what they heard, and they made up a creative lyrical poem set to tambourine and lyre, and that’s all it took to take a king to a place of obsession.
Kings and queens deep in the comments arguing with Preacher Man 61:6. No, no, no! I’m just—you’re the king of the race God placed you in, and you’re mad now, down here talking about, «Ain’t nobody ever gonna disrespect me like that! Ain’t nobody!» Watch this—oh my goodness! Because of Saul’s lack of focus, he doesn’t confront the young lady singing the song; he confronts the one who’s actually winning victories for him. That makes no sense, but distractions and comparison will leave you in situations that are a conundrum. Why am I even doing this? Why am I mad at them? There are people right now you don’t like just based on assumptions. You have no evidence; she’s just a hoe. You don’t know that. Look at how she’s dressed—does that mean she’s a hoe? They’re greedy. No, no, no; they were hungry. They ate their food, and you didn’t get food, so now you’re calling them greedy when they were prepared. The question, and I’m saying little things, but how many times do we take something we assume and turn it into—watch this—a truth, not the truth, a truth?
Pastor Mike, what can we do? 'Cause we can’t stop the things from triggering us. Come on, let’s be honest. Are we a hot church—humble, open, and transparent? How many times can you just walk into a place, see a type of person, and it’s like, «Uh-uh!» triggered, ready to fight, ready to cuss, ready to leave? Triggered doesn’t always mean engaging. Some of y’all get triggered when you see people and be like, «Oh my God, people!» Woo, gotta get out of there! Sometimes triggers make you confident in one moment, and you get triggered, and just how to protect yourself from comparison. I’m going to give you four things that I learned from Saul’s life because I should have titled it «Distraction Made by Comparison,» 'cause David wasn’t supposed to be a distraction for him.
What distractions are you making right now? What families are you supposed to be in a relationship with that you won’t even approach because of the way y’all met, or you’re scrolling on IG, never actually having a conversation with them but you heard what somebody else said about them? Your business would flourish if you teamed up with that other gym, but because somebody who paid you for two weeks and then went over there and paid them for two weeks came back and made a song, «Their gym don’t have this!» I like being here with y’all because you da—and now you’re looking at somebody you’ve never met who’s supposed to be the answer to your prayer to actually take over the city in this area. You’ve made them into competition, comparison, and distraction.
I’m just giving y’all examples because the Holy Spirit is really giving me a lot of them. Married people, how in the world did you marry that person? You loved them for years, and now they’re your competitor, laying in the same bed because of the walls of pride that have been built up. Now, you compare how much money they make versus how much money you make, how much money they spend versus how much money you’ve seen them spend on Amazon, how much their hobby costs versus how much your nails, eyelashes, and lipstick cost, and okay, I’m just— and you turn the person, watch this, that was supposed to compliment you, you turn them into competition.
Let me tell you the first way that I figured out that Saul got to this place of making David a distraction. It was disobedience. Write this down: disobedience leads to insecurity. A lot of times, people say, «Don’t disobey God, 'cause when you disobey God, things can happen.» It’s like, «Yeah, but we serve a gracious God. We serve a God that pours out His faithfulness and His mercy even when we don’t deserve it. God will take His hand off of certain things; He’s not going to bless foolishness over and over again until we actually make a decision to repent. But what I’ve found is that even when I don’t experience the consequences of my disobedience on an outward level, my inward self takes a hit.
So when I disobey God, my insecurities start to flare up because I know who I am with God. When y’all saw me do that, „I got the keys, the keys, the keys,“ that wasn’t Michael Todd. I lose my keys! Do you understand what I’m saying? That ain’t—that ain’t like I got the keys; the only way I was on top of this building saying, „I got the keys, the keys, the keys,“ is because of my relationship in obedience to God. As soon as I disobey God, all of my fleshly, regular self shows back up. Here I am, Lord! That’s why sometimes I’m so shocked that He still wants to use me.
And that’s why God is saying, „Just obey Me. Keep Me close; you look different.“ I got this picture in my head like I’m Iron Man with God. When I’m with God, you don’t even see me. See, I’m flying, y’all know what I’m saying? I’m out of here with God! But when you walk around doing this without God on you, this is how most believers look. We disobey God, and we’re like, „No, I’m good, pray for you! We’re going to invite God’s presence,“ no power. What I need to be seen in at all times is the obedience of God. But this is the problem with Saul: he was the first and only king, yet he disobeys God, which leads him back to his insecurities. All of this starts with insecurity, but when you step into God, it seems like those insecurities don’t define you anymore.
Not that I don’t have them; it’s just not the thing you notice about me. People say, „Man, you’re so confident.“ No, AB, I’m scared! Come on! Oh my God, Pastor Mike, do you ever get nervous? Every time I get up here! But as soon as I put my knees on that concrete and say, „Father, this is not me speaking but use me as an oracle. Let Your word come out of me and take over all my faculties. Holy Spirit, tag team back again. Let’s do what You do!“ When I do that, that suit—do you understand what I’m saying? Yes! But what disobedience does is it disarms that. I can act like I’m standing in it, and no power!
In 1 Samuel 13, if you go back, you’ve got to understand that Samuel was a prophet, and he’s the one that anointed Saul as king. Saul didn’t even want to be king; his insecurities were so bad that when they went to acknowledge him as king before the people, he was hiding in the luggage. He couldn’t fathom that God wanted to use him that way. He couldn’t fathom that, from his tribe and at his age and with his issues, God wanted to use him. But my God has a way of taking people who don’t even view themselves as qualified for the position at all, and He has a way of pointing them out and saying, „You! Me? Yes, you! I want to use you. I want to make you into what you never thought you could be. I want to change generations through your life.“ We’re hiding behind our luggage, our baggage.
He gets called out of that, gets anointed as king, and then there were battles happening. When the battles were happening, God gave specific instructions through the prophet Samuel. He said, „Hey, listen, we’re going to do a ceremony that honors God and is going to cause you to win victory. I’m coming back; do not do it without me.“ 1 Samuel 13:11: Saul sees people in his army starting to get killed. He sees people getting killed; he’s focusing on the wrong thing. He goes ahead and does the sacrifice without Samuel. As soon as he finishes, Samuel walks up.
Ain’t that how it happened? But Samuel said, „What have you done?“ Saul replied, „Hey, don’t even worry about it! I’ve seen you do it before. I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn’t arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are ready to make a big bash, so I said the Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the Lord’s help, so I was compelled to offer the burnt offering myself!“ Try to make it spiritual. „I did what God told me not to do, but I did it because I felt compelled.“ „Hey, to go and talk to her?“ No, you didn’t! God told you to be single in this season, but I offered it myself before I–I know it was before you came! Samuel, how foolish! You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you! You did not obey! Had you obeyed, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever!»
Oh my gosh! This means if he had focused on the thing God said and not gotten distracted by the people scattering, we would have never met David. David is Saul’s replacement because of distraction. Come close—the only reason we know David is because Saul got distracted. I hope we never have to meet your replacement because you didn’t fix your focus. I’ve decided I’m not meeting my replacement out of disobedience to God. I could be in the seat at Transformation Church talking about, «Man, this church is crazy, bro! I love this church! The music, music and D!"—sitting there—because I did not obey God when Bishop said, «It’s time for you to lead this church.»
I could be giving big offerings and in full disobedience, watching somebody else up here doing what God called me to do. And Saul didn’t even recognize that he didn’t mess it up just for him. The Bible says that the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. You just robbed your children and their children and their children of royalty because you couldn’t fix your focus. He says, «But since you didn’t do this…» Verse 14: «But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of His nation.» Dang, didn’t even give me 30 days! I mean, think about it! My man is like saying, «You disobey, right now the Lord has already sought him out. Got your replacement!» But the only reason is not because you’re a bad person, it’s just you didn’t obey Me.
So write this down so you can know: disobedience leads to insecurity. Pastor Mike, why is that important? Because insecurity leads to comparison. People who are secure don’t compare themselves. I’m not saying they may have never done it, but there are people that walk around like, «What do they have on? How does this look? How do I sound?» They’re always comparing themselves. But your genius is you! Your genius is who God created you to be, even if people aren’t accustomed to you. So we usually factor in our greatness by how people receive us. I’m good whether you like me or not, okay? I know that’s hard to receive because I know we live in such a politically correct thing. I’m good, yeah, yeah, yeah, I may not be your cup of tea when it comes to preaching, but the proof is in the pudding. If nobody wanted—I was good at what God told me to do in my race when I was in youth ministry. Yes, I was long-winded, yes I’d say some things that were questionable. Yes, no, no, no. Let me be—I’m not discounting that I don’t have room to grow, but please don’t act like I wasn’t good.
See, some of y’all got to get a Holy Spirit-given confidence back— that unshakable confidence! You understand? Because God called me, and no, I’ve never done this before. Do you know? Well, everybody else, that’s good for them, and if I had judged what God was doing in me by the response of people, many times when the crowd starts talking, so do comparisons. «Yeah, they didn’t like it!» So who should I be like? If I was trying to be Elevation, if I was trying to be Pastor Furtick, or if I was trying to be Joel Osteen, or if I was trying to be T.D. Jakes, I’d be a horrible junior version of all of them. But can’t nobody beat me! At being me, you need to believe that right now, no man can beat me at being me.
Come on, one more time: nobody can beat me at being me. So why don’t you like you? If God loves you and likes you, why don’t you? If He called you and chose you with all your flaws, why do you hate yourself? If He made you to have life and life more abundantly, why do you keep thinking of suicide? It’s because somewhere you started comparing yourself to something that was not designed by the Creator for you. Today, I’m asking the church to put down this distraction of comparison. Maybe I’m 40 and I don’t have what I thought I was going to have, but why would I take away the joy I could have in this season by looking at what they have that I don’t have and don’t know how I’m going to get?
When my insecurity starts to rise up, that was given to me by all the distractions I believed. Then that’s when I get into comparison. Look at this: 1 Samuel 18 tells us that all of Saul’s generals liked David; his son Jonathan and his family liked David; and even the ladies liked David. It was too much for Saul to handle that David was winning in areas beyond the authority he gave him. He was fine with David winning on the battlefield, but when David started winning outside the place that he told him to win in, he thought, «No, no, not my family, not the generals, not the others.» These are all things that turn people who are supposed to be your allies into your enemies. Hear what I’m saying: comparison turns your allies into enemies.
Saul should have been grateful; he made a great decision. «Whoa! My generals like him. I was scared about how my generals would accept him because it’s a new guy coming in, but all the others love him; my family loves him; Jonathan loves him; I mean, the ladies love him. That’s probably good for promotion! We can get the word out some more.» Maybe we turn the song around! I mean, he could have spun the whole thing, but all he saw was this: «Oh my God, I have to go back.» Thank you, Holy Spirit.
Okay, go back to where 1 Samuel 18:8 says that it made him angry when he heard the song. He said, «What is this? They credit David!» Comparison is usually fueled by credit. They credited him with it, and now I’m going to start comparing myself. Watch this jump from the song to verse 9; watch the extreme amount of imagination that has to be injected. Watch all of the assumptions! He said, «They credit David with tens of thousands and me with only thousands. Next, they’ll be making him their king.» That’s 2 + 2 equal a million. How did we take that jump? Comparison will make you jump to conclusions that don’t make sense to anybody. All right, here we go. Disobedience leads to insecurity; insecurity leads to comparison; and comparison leads to fear.
In 1 Samuel 18:2, Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with David but had departed from Saul. So he sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand men, and David led their troops and companions. Watch this: he had great success because the Lord was with him. When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him. When you can’t identify the root of your irritation with somebody, it’s usually your insecurity. Have you ever met someone you can’t tell why you don’t like them? «I don’t know, it’s just something!»
What happens in this leader’s life is this: it’s all trying to do what comparison does, which is take your vision away. So what happens is you start getting just a little insecure about the people around you. It doesn’t take your vision away completely, but I sure can’t see what’s happening over here. When you’re disobedient, you lose peripheral vision. When you’re disobedient, you have to try to keep everything in front of you. Have you ever been caught in a lie and forgotten what lie you were telling? When you’re disobedient, you’re trying to remember, «Hold on, is anything back there?» This is what disobedience looks like. But what disobedience leads to is insecurity, and when I get a little insecure, my vision gets just a little darker.
So I can’t see over here, but what I could see is no longer clear; it’s dim. And when I put on these glasses of comparison, it leads to me walking in fear. Now I’m comparing, and when I see other people winning, when I see God doing things in other people’s lives, I become completely blind to Him. «Lord, I can’t see anything! I don’t know where the end of the stage is. Oh, there it is! Is the little step in front of me? No? Yes? Is it in front of me? Hold on! Wait, did somebody say—I’m hearing yeses and noes! Who wants to kill me? I’m not your enemy right here! Okay, thank you, thank you, thank you!»
Okay, all right, cool. Don’t move, don’t move. Hold on now; I’m trying to navigate my life off of memory, off of past seasons, off of things that I used to do. That’s a lot more stage than I remember. Okay, there we go. What does it look like when I’m supposed to be battling, fighting generational patterns, fighting my own flesh, and fighting through the trauma that I experienced just living in this sinful world? I can’t even see what God was trying to do through my alliance with something that I turned into a distraction. Right now, people may be getting up to leave; I can’t see people leaving your life. You can’t even see people coming in.
People are aiming for you, and you can’t even see it. You went to that new job and thought it was an upgrade, but that was a decision made in blindness. You’re in a relationship right now, and you can’t even see that they do not love you, don’t care for you, and are using you at this current moment. You can’t even see that your kids are being distant from you. Wow, you can’t see that they’re being influenced by everything else because you’ve turned the road. You’re going to be respectful to me? Yeah, yeah, but now you’ve turned the one conversation, where they weren’t respectful and were just being kids, into something that has now fueled a feud between you two, to where you won’t even share with them vulnerably anymore.
Wow, and in the years they need you most, you have now focused on that moment of disrespect and won’t let anybody just get out of your house. You sent them into a war, and you did this because of your pride. This is your child; I don’t know who I’m pointing at, but I’m pointing at you. This is your seed. Then you go to church and say, «Pray for my child; they’re wayward; hopefully, they find God.» They were in a place of growth and tried to flex that every person does. But your spiritual maturity and your ability—this is why we’ve got to put away the distractions. Their moment of a slip-up, failure, or even blatant disrespect triggered you. Now, because you’re triggered, you’re insecure, and you’re starting to compare yourself to people who are dead. You’re saying that you’re going to be a parent like your parents were, and you start comparing, and that leads to—oh, I’m just telling you—it’s a vicious cycle of the devil that has us all walking around blind.
Now I have to be cautious; I didn’t think I would have to think about stepping a moment ago. Pastor, how long are you going to keep this on your head? How long are you going to keep comparison as a distraction? I’ve been preaching this series for five weeks, and you keep thinking it’s for somebody else. Somebody is about to tune out and go watch another minister because I’m hitting your core, and you’re comparing it to how you felt last time. Listen, whatever God’s speaking to you right now, you better hear it.
Now my glasses are foggy; I still don’t have peripheral vision, but I’m getting better. All I’m saying to us, church, is that we have to set aside this distraction of comparison because it’s going to rob us of allies and make enemies stand all over this place. This is not the moment to leave because I want to pray for you. I want to pray that the seed of insecurities will be the thing that the enemy can no longer attack. It starts as insecurities, and then the enemy isolates and infects your heart, and then it irritates you. I really do believe that Saul’s life is a picture for us of how we have to make a decision today to stop comparing ourselves to other moms. You’re those kids' mom. God has equipped you with everything you need to raise those children, and He’ll give you everything you can.
So you stop breastfeeding, but you watch a mom have seven refrigerators full of stored-up breast milk, and that makes you feel bad about your day. I’m trying to use real examples, y’all. Now you don’t think you’re doing good, and you don’t even have help. God has blessed you, and somehow you’re speaking life into those kids, you’re dealing with the thing. Stop looking at them. Some of y’all may need to cut off access to people and things that make you feel inferior and flare up your insecurity. I don’t know what it is for you, but some of y’all are watching football because you almost made it.
«If I wouldn’t have torn my ACL, I would have been at the Super Bowl.» No, I’m just… And what I’m saying is every time you see that, you see your failure, and now you’re comparing yourself to 26-year-olds at 48. I mean, you’re in delusion; you’re delusional for real. You can barely walk down the stairs, and you’re thinking you’re about to go out there and get hit? No! I’m saying delusion will make you do that. Yeah, and you’re turning something—football—is neutral. Yeah, but for you, because of the insecurities, it becomes nuclear. Now you’re mad at your wife and mad at your kid. Nothing tastes good. You lost—how did all of that happen? It’s because I was distracted by something that wasn’t supposed to be a distraction.
Today, I’m making a fresh commitment to put all of my distractions before the one—the only one I should be comparing myself to. Jesus knew we would have a struggle with this comparison thing. Even the disciples who were walking with Him, seeing all the miracles, were over there like, «Okay, who’s better? Who’s better, Jesus? Where do I get to sit? Do I get to sit at your right hand in heaven? Like when we get there?» Look at this fool—like they were literally comparing themselves in His presence.
So He knew it was going to be a problem, so He said this: «All right, I’m going to die, but before I die, I’m going to live perfectly. Yeah, and I’m going to die knowing none of them can do this. So the only person they should be comparing themselves to is me. Everybody on this earth is not worth being compared to,» He said, «unless they have ascended and sit at the right hand of the Father. All you need to do is fix your focus on the one and only King.» Yeah, so yes, they’re beautiful, but they’re not you. Yes, they’re great at that sport, but they’re not you. When you become secure in who God’s made you to be—watch this—you can celebrate who God’s made them to be. Do y’all hear what I’m saying? We’ve got to celebrate what God’s doing in others way more, but it’s very hard to do that when you can’t see God’s hand on your own life. Very good.
Today, I want to pray for everybody who struggles in this area. I’m the first one. I can’t tell you how many times the enemy tries to wear me out with comparison. And when I read this, when I got the revelation of this, I had to come and lay—watch this—my excuses I made for myself at the altar because I thought everybody compares themselves; it’s fine, and God said, «You don’t have to.» And today, I’m telling you, you don’t have to. I feel the presence of God; you can stop comparing yourself to them, to it, to a money number, to an apartment, to a home. Stop, 'cause it’s robbing you of victories that you could be winning right now. If that’s you all over this place, would you lift your hands if you want God to take comparison and put it in its rightful place?
Yeah, today, Father, we’re saying we’re ready for change. Come on, online, right now, as you’re sitting there. Pastor Ro, just sing that one time for me. «Receive from God your—in no valley low, no mountain high, I’m done running away.» I want to be altered here at the altar. «Oh, no guilt, no shame; I lay down pride.» Yes, God, do a new thing on the inside. I’m ready for change. I want to be altered here at the altar. Father, here we are; we’re bringing the distraction of comparison to the altar today, and we are sacrificing it before You, Father God. All the things that we’ve picked up along the way—from childhood, from school, from sports, from television, from teachers, and coaches, and bosses, and from our own filter, the lies we’ve believed—God, help us see ourselves like You see us: a masterpiece made in Your image. Father, yeah, we have flaws, and yeah, we have things that we are working on, but God, You do not see us through the lens of our working version; You see us through the lens of what You’ve already made us to be. Today, Father God, we are asking that You would help us stop being addicted to comparison. Today, let our celebration for others go up as we become okay with being in community and connection with those, Father God, who are great at things we are not, who have different giftings, callings, and temperaments, and spiritual discernment. Father, let us be intrigued, Father God—not isolated—from our brothers and sisters. I thank You that Your Word says two are better than one. Father, where there’s unity, there’s a commanded blessing. Change our lens to see things the way You do, Father God. That means You’re going to have to heal some places in us that are fractured—our faith that has been fractured, our focus that has been fractured. Today, God, I’m bringing everything to this altar. Let me see You in a brand new way. God, I thank You, Father God, that fear will no longer lead my life—the fear of somebody else’s success, the fear of somebody else getting the job, the fear of somebody else being liked, the fear of somebody else, Father God, getting the promotion. Father, let fear no longer lead my life. Today, I declare I’m a person of faith. I am a person of faith. What is for me and my family and my generation and my lineage, I will not forfeit because of disobedience. Today, God, I squarely put my faith back in You. I’m ready for change, and today, God, I want to be altered here at this altar. The yeah, I’m ready for change. Goodbye, yesterday. Goodbye, yesterday. He’s calling my name; He’s calling my name. I want to be altered; I want to be altered.
Come on, just take a moment here; just lift your hands and just say this together: I’m ready for change; I’m ready for change. Goodbye, yesterday. Goodbye, yesterday. He’s calling my name; He’s calling my name. I want to be altered; I want to be altered. If you want to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior, we’re out of here in three minutes, y’all.
Today, I have no greater joy than to offer you a way out of comparison for the rest of your life. You’ll only have to be trying to be like our Father, and He’ll help you do it. He’s the only one that can help you change your habits. Once you give Him your heart, there’s no judgment here, 'cause I am as flawed as your worst day in my flesh. But all I keep doing is stepping into that Ironman suit and saying, «God, lead me, guide me.» You have the opportunity to do that today. The Bible says any man that be in Christ, he is a brand new creation; the old has passed away; behold, I have made all things new. Today is your day of salvation. On the count of three, whether you are in this room, all over the balconies in the middle, or online, today is the day of salvation. The church is praying right now because they know how monumental this moment is for you.
I feel the presence of God. Today is a day of transformation for you. If you want to receive Jesus, I just want you to slip your hand in the air. One, you are making the greatest decision of your life. Two, I am proud of you. But more than that, your name is about to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Three, shoot your hand up all over this place. I see you right there in the back; I see you, I see you—come on, I see you all the way up there. Oh, Transformation Church, I see you. More than I see you, God sees you. We believe that this is a day of change for you at TC. All the hands that went up online in the penthouse, today God’s changing your life. At Transformation Church, we’re a family; nobody prays alone. So today we all lift our hands and say:
God, thank You for sending Jesus to be my example, to be my Savior, and to be my Lord. Today I give You my life; change me, change me, change me. I believe You lived, I believe You died, so that I could walk in victory. I’m Yours forever. I’m Yours forever. In Jesus' name, amen.