Steven Furtick - Running For a Reason
How many are grateful to be in God's house today? All right, for all the early adopters who sat down, stand back up, I hadn't read my scripture yet. You jumped a gun, didn't you? Oh, man. I have a message today that I believe is going to inspire your life and encourage your faith for all of the things God has called you to do. We're going to read two Scriptures: 1 Samuel 22:1-5 and 1 Corinthians 9:24-26. The first one is about the great king David, and the second one is from the great apostle Paul.
"David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father's household heard about it, they went down to him there. All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him. From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, 'Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?'" That is a very powerful way he says that. "Until I learn what God will do for me". "So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold. But the prophet Gad said to David, 'Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah.' So David left and went to the forest of Hereth".
That's the first Scripture. The second one is in 1 Corinthians, chapter 9. The apostle Paul, writing to the church at Corinth, gives a metaphor I want us to apply our minds to for a moment today. "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air". Let's stop there. "I do not run like someone running aimlessly".
I want you to look at your neighbor like you're on the same Olympic team. Just give them an Olympic look really quickly. Look at them with some Olympic eyes. Look at them like a winner. Look at them deep in their eyes and tell them, "We run for a reason". I want to remind somebody who came to church today, "We run for a reason".
God, only you know all of the purposes you have in eternity for this moment in time, so I ask you, God of heaven, to invade earth. Fill these earthen vessels with the glory and the oil of your anointing so we can flow and move forward in everything you've called us to do. We cannot afford in this season of our lives to run dry. So now, God, we ask that you would pour into us, for we are poor without you. Your Word says we will receive from you as we acknowledge our need for you.
Father, we need you this hour. Please come in a way we didn't ask for because we didn't know we needed it. Touch the place in us that is too insecure to be shown to others, but in your presence there's no modesty, for you are our maker. Every hidden part, every secret thing, deal with it, God, in this place. Between you and them, God, use me as your instrument. I'm available to you. Blow through me, Holy Spirit, as if I were a woodwind instrument, and speak to these people what you need them to know for the place you've called them to. I consider it done because you're good and you're faithful. I thank you for it in advance. In Jesus' name, amen.
Father, we need you this hour. Please come in a way we didn't ask for because we didn't know we needed it. Touch the place in us that is too insecure to be shown to others, but in your presence there's no modesty, for you are our maker. Every hidden part, every secret thing, deal with it, God, in this place. Between you and them, God, use me as your instrument. I'm available to you. Blow through me, Holy Spirit, as if I were a woodwind instrument, and speak to these people what you need them to know for the place you've called them to. I consider it done because you're good and you're faithful. I thank you for it in advance. In Jesus' name, amen.
All of the runners in the house, raise your hand. I wrote that title down. "We run for a reason". That's my message: Running for a Reason. I thought, "That sounds like I'm launching a 5K. That doesn't sound like I'm starting a sermon". But the Lord comes with these amazing confirmations. I put my Bible down yesterday for a few minutes to take a little study break. I'd been up since early working on this message, and I just needed a little break. When I put it on the Olympics, they were running the relay race. I had already picked out the title and the Scripture, Running for a Reason, so I took it as a little bit of a sign.
What I must confess to you is…it's so embarrassing…I started crying watching these people run. Now, not in a big ugly cry way or anything. Not crocodile tears. Just a little trickle tear. The bad part about it was the person who won wasn't even American. They weren't even from our country. I didn't feel the tears come while she was running. I felt the tears come when she was looking at her teammates after she pulled ahead and won. I'm like, "Why am I crying? This isn't even my country. I don't even like to run". In fact, when I see runners on the road, I judge them. I do. "Don't you know there's a better way to get in shape than this"? There are so many preferable ways to exercise. "Well, it's a runner's high".
Okay. Well, I would choose a non-runner's low over whatever… There is no high on the other side of that that makes it worth it to me, but observing this lady made me emotional. As I paused and thought about the correlation between the message I was preparing and the emotion I experienced, I saw that watching someone run and knowing the importance and the priority of what they're running for and who they're running with… That's why it made me emotional. It was a relay race, so when I saw all of the people the anchor of the race brought along with her into victory, it touched me to know that something kicked in at that moment that made her say, "For my country I have to do this. For my friend I have to do this. For my mom who sat at every track meet since I was 4 years old…"
I thought about all of the people who believed in her when she first started running, when she wasn't much of a runner, and I thought about my wife Holly. I'm just telling you this because the connection was profound to me. When we first started doing ministry together, I had no visible gift or really any kind of clues that this ministry would exist one day, but she believed in me. I know she believed in me because we served on a ministry team together where we sat down… I didn't know how to be a leader. I had never led a ministry team before. We're sitting there, and we're planning out our summer that we're going to go around and travel and preach. I'll never forget this. I put up for discussion what our theme should be for the summer ministry.
I was trying to get everybody involved, but I found out God so loved the world he didn't send a committee, and if you really want to get something done, you just have to make a decision. We were going back and forth, and I threw out the theme "Run to Win". I said, "How about 'Run to Win'? Wouldn't that be a good theme from 1 Corinthians, chapter 9"? One person didn't think that was a very good idea because, you know, "Well, it's really not a competition. It's really not about winning". A girl told my oldest son Elijah one time, "It's not whether you win or lose; it's whether you're having fun". He looked back at her, cold-blooded, and said, "Well, I'm not having fun unless I'm winning". He was, like, 5 when he said that.
So, it's in the blood. We're kind of competitive. I liked that theme about "Run to Win". So, this guy is saying, "Well, it's not really a competition," and then this girl over here is saying, "Well, I think the Christian life is really more like a walk". One has a problem with the word win, and one has a problem with the word run. All I'm left with is to. One of the team members looked at me. She was really soft-spoken. She said, "Steven, we need you to lead us. Tell us what to do". From that moment forward, I decided you can be confused as long as you're confident. That's the great secret for life. You can bluff your way through a lot of stuff in life.
When she said that to me so softly… I don't even know if anybody else on the team heard, but she said that to me, and I said, "Run to Win"! Then we went on the road. I'm going to get to this story about David and what Paul said in 1 Corinthians in just a moment, but just to set the table for this revelation… We get to our very first church. We're so excited. We have developed our curriculum. We have developed our teachings. "This is Holly's session, this is Seth's session, this is Joni's session, this is Grace's session, and then I'm going to come in and close it out. We're going to do it over the course of five days and really build this theme of 'Run to Win.'"
You know, all of these wonderful plans. But we arrived to the spot, and there were no people. Zero kids had shown up for the youth camp, and it was our first camp of the summer. I looked at Holly. I had learned from our little committee meeting, "We need you to lead us". I said, "You! Make a flyer," and I pointed at her. I think that's the moment she fell in love with me, when I said, "You! Make a flyer". I think something about that just… "Ooh. Ooh. Make a flyer". She made a flyer. It said, "Run to Win". We went to Walmart. We covered 500 windshields with "Run to Win" propaganda, telling those kids to get to the Baptist church.
By the end of the week, there were 25 kids in the room. I preached like it was 25,000, because I've always been doing it from a place of passion, not a place of performance. I'll preach if there are five of you, five thousand, or five million. See, I think this is a common misconception about people you see who go really hard after something. A lot of times, you will see the results of their ambition and not really understand the reasons for their ambition. For Holly and me, I'm thankful that not only have we always had something to run for, but I'm grateful I had someone to run with. That made me smile to think about how here I am, 25 years later, still running with the right one.
Now, this is not a marriage seminar. So, I'm crying watching the Olympics, and I'm thinking, "God, this is you speaking to me," because I must be speaking today to people who are exhausted. I must be speaking today to people who need a second wind. I must be speaking to people today who are running the race of their life, running around, running like a chicken with its head cut off. What a disturbing image we use to just describe picking the kids up from practice. "I've been running around like a chicken…" Why do you have to cut a chicken's head off? Just say you're busy. But Paul said, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run…"?
When I asked a moment ago, "How many runners do I have in the room"? I was surprised. I thought every hand should go up, because everybody is running from something. As a matter of fact, if you are not a runner, you will find yourself lonely in the context of the Christian faith. The Judeo-Christian faith, which takes its roots and has its ripples from this Holy Scripture, is full of people who ran for different reasons, starting with… Let's talk about our most famous runner in the Bible. If I say, "A big fish swallowed him up and spit him out," you'll say, "Jonah". (Look at how smart you were with that Bible trivia. You studied, didn't you?) The Bible says Jonah ran away from the Lord.
Okay. Well, judge Jonah all you want, but Moses ran from a crime he committed once it had been discovered. Moses ran from a body he buried in an effort to defend his own people. Moses ran so far he ended up leaving the place where he was the prince of Egypt and becoming a shepherd for his father-in-law Jethro. Jacob ran from Esau. He ran from his own brother because he tried to steal his identity. You know who we never talk about when we talk about runners in the Bible, though? David. David ran. You don't believe me? Well, he shows up one day with some lunch for his brothers. Check this out. He's just a young boy. He's 17 years old or something like that. He wasn't able to go out to the war, but his dad charged him to bring his brothers a meal.
I love this picture in 1 Samuel 17. It says, "David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were". If you know this story, you won't be surprised to find that when David ran to the battle lines… Look at verse 23, the next thing that happens. "Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. Whenever the Israelites…" That's all of the people who had been watching this go down day after day after day after day. "…saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear". David is running toward what others are running from.
There is a spirit about David. There is a belligerence about David. Some would say a naivete about David. What everybody else is running from… He's like, "Who's that"? Some would call David dumb. I believe he's running for a reason. The reason I believe he's running in this moment is he hasn't lived enough yet to know you don't run toward giants; you run from giants. In some things being dumb and young will help you with in trusting God. It really will. Sometimes being young and dumb will make you go to Walmart or Kinkos and make 500 flyers when nobody showed up for your event and walk around Walmart putting them on windshields and not even worry, "What if somebody shoots me while I'm touching their car without permission"?
That's the thing I would think about now. "What if there's a lawsuit? I don't want anybody putting anything on my windshield. I don't want to do this". Something about being young will make you run. We were laughing the other day because Elijah has been home for the summer, and I've missed the sound of him just running through the house. No, not running for any specific thing through the house. Just running because, apparently, he has the excess energy to just get where he's going that much faster. You would think maybe he was late for an appointment or maybe there was something that needed attending to. No. Just running because he's young. Just running because, "Why not? I just feel like running".
I think to myself, "I wish I had the energy just to run for no reason". But wouldn't that look weird if you saw me run…? I mean, why did you laugh? It doesn't look right for me at this age to be running for no reason. You are thinking to yourself, "Look, man. That's kind of awkward. We don't want to watch you run for no reason just because you have excess energy to burn". A lot of times, the initial thing that fuels our passion in our walk with Christ is our ignorance, not our awareness. It's why we run into relationships and have no trouble trusting people. We've never had trouble with people. We don't know yet not to trust them.
Our trust muscle has not yet been ruptured, so we run. We run to opportunities because we've never experienced loss. We run to investment because we've never experienced collapse. We run because we're young. David not only runs to the battle lines when he's delivering the food to his brothers, but when Goliath came toward him with a sword… By some estimates, 9 feet tall of Philistine, fierce, warrior energy steps to the battle lines. The Bible says in chapter 17, verse 48, "As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly…" There's something about this dumb, young David that I think we all miss in our lives. That's the power of nostalgia. It's taking you back to a time when it was new to you and you didn't know what you didn't know, so you would just go without a plan.
"Who needs a plan when I have youth? Who needs a plan when I have personality? Who needs a plan? I'll figure it out when I get there". Y'all, to me, these days, I don't go 12 minutes from the house without locating the nearest restroom I might could stop at along the way. That's just the truth. But here's what I want you to know. It's one thing to run when you're young. It is another thing to intentionally run when you've been through some experiences that could have made you bitter, that could have made you afraid, that could have made you stay put where you are. Paul is describing in his great letter to the Corinthian church how the runners run in a game. He says they set their mind on a goal, they set their feet on a path, and they run in a line, and when they enter the games… I don't know if you noticed this. He said they go into strict training.
Now let's do a little bit of a relay race from David to Paul. David, of course, was hundreds of years before Paul came along. David and Paul are both experiencing the same type of thing. Paul is taking the gospel to the churches that have never heard about Jesus, and he is dealing with these issues. David, of course, is the second king Israel has ever known. He's following in the wake of King Saul, who was supposed to support him, mentor him, and show him how to do this king thing. But Saul attacked what God was trying to anoint.
There is a sense in which sometimes God is bringing you something that is intended to relieve you, but you resist it because of something that is within you. You can't even figure out why you're pushing things away, things God sent as an answer to your prayer. Have you ever pushed away an answered prayer because you didn't know how to sustainably deal with it? I have. I have prayed to God in seasons of my life to send me people to encourage me and support me, but when the encouragers came to support me, I didn't believe what they said, because my own insecurity made it impossible for me to believe they could really feel that way about me.
So, I pray a prayer for God to send a person. God sends a person in response to the prayer, but the patterns of my life will not enable me to receive that person. So, I prayed a prayer for a person. I have a pattern that won't allow me to receive the person, and now I keep praying about people God has sent, and I am praying away what God gave because of something on the inside of me. What I'm trying to say is as fast as God is running to you, some of you are running from the answer he gave because it does not feel familiar. In Paul's letter, he was talking about people who run to get a prize, and in David's story… There's a similarity. Both are about running, but for different reasons.
I want to read you the story again in 1 Samuel 22:1 now that I've set the context, and then I'll answer the question of the text. It says, "David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father's household heard about it, they went down to him there". Here's where we need to take a little break away. David is in a cave, but he's called to be a king. Isn't it confusing when God calls you one thing and your circumstances call you another? Isn't it crazy when God calls you free and your habits call you addict? Isn't it crazy when God calls you loved but your emotions feel closed? Isn't it amazing when God calls you chosen but you feel left out?
Enter David, the chosen one of God, the one who wasn't called to appear before the prophet Samuel when he came to anoint the future king. As a matter of fact, at the moment the king was about to be chosen, David was just doing his chores, tending the sheep. But the prophet knew each time he went to anoint another son with oil, "This is not the one God has chosen". One commentary says the oil froze until David showed up. The oil would not move from the flask of the prophet to anoint the next king. David did not have to chase the crown; the crown chased David. This may set you free from thinking you have to be at a certain place at a certain time or you have to get the attention of a certain person or you have to be recognized in a certain way in order for your anointing to be real.
Being recognized doesn't make it real. It is what it is before they say what they say. I was anointed to preach when there were no people coming to the "Run to Win" seminar. I'm anointed to preach today. The only difference and what has changed is the number of people I'm doing it with and for. One thing I need you to know about your life is it's one thing to run for something you chose to run toward. "I'm going to start this business. I'm going to find a husband. I'm going to get my life together. I'm going to lose 20 pounds. I'm going to run a marathon".
(The Devil is a liar. The Lord didn't tell you to do that.) It's one thing to run after something you chose, but it's another thing to run when you're being chased. I don't necessarily just want to preach today to those who are running toward something. That's wonderful. If you're motivated and inspired and are like, "By 50, I want to have this much money. By 40, I'm going to have that much so when I'm 50 I can have this much…" That's fine if you've figured that out. But there is a sense in which you and I both know that sometimes what's really moving you in your life is not what you're running to; it's what you're running from. People see what you run to, and they judge you by that. People see what you run to, and sometimes they admire you for that.
The significance of the text in 1 Samuel 22 is that David is a king and he's in a cave. He's not running from a giant. No. He's not running from his assignment from God. No. He is running from the king, and he is running from what he is going to be. Not by his own choice. David did not sign up for this event. Saul, the king, was supposed to hand David the baton. Instead, he is beating him over the head with the baton he is supposed to be handing off. See, some of us run because we weren't handed everything easily. Some of us run because what we were handed was hazardous.
Some of us run, and we don't even understand what compels us and drives us. You don't really understand this until you take some time in life to reflect and ask, "Why am I so hard on myself? Why am I so prone to anger? Why do I always look for how things are going to go wrong even when they're going right"? You start discovering that some of the things you are broken by are because of the batons that were not handed to you in the relay that never was because you are running from something. It's hard to run toward what I've never seen. It's hard to run toward wholeness when I only saw my parents cuss each other out. It's hard to run toward wholeness when I only saw people continue to self-sabotage. It is hard to run toward something that has never been exemplified before me.
So, now I find myself, like David, running from something I ought to be able to run to. Saul should have helped David, and he didn't. So David is in a cave because of a king who did not ever want his crown to begin with. The Lord sent me to speak to somebody today to tell you, "Don't let the place you're in make you confused about the person you are". That oil that was on David's head… It didn't just stop on his head. It ran down, because when they anointed you in the Bible times, the anointing was an announcement. The Bible says Samuel had a flask filled with oil. It wasn't a quarter full. It wasn't half full. It was a full horn of oil, and it was dumped on David's head. It was dumped on David's head to signify David's destiny.
As the oil ran down his head, David didn't know what it really meant at the time, but the oil was trying to tell him something. The oil was trying to tell him that every king will have some caves. Don't let the cave you're in right now cause you to forfeit or discontinue the thing God has put in you. Maybe this is why it meant so much when I went to preach to the women in the prison this week. Every day, they are surrounded by signals and signs that say, "My life is over". When we went in with our worship team and our staff that go out there every month, not just once a year, and we showed up to announce to them, "God knows your name," all of a sudden, women who were stuck in a situation were lifted to a place to remember that before the situation, God spoke his word over their life.
This cave situation in 1 Samuel 22 is not David's fault. He is not like Jonah who decided to run from God. He is not like an Olympic athlete who wanted to give their life to get a gold medal. He is not like Elijah. Remember Elijah, the one who ran from Jezebel? You want to be like, "Dude, what are you running from? You just called down fire on 850 false prophets. Excuse me. I'm not being sexist, but one woman? One anything after what you've seen should be enough to make you stand firm". Maybe you need an illustration. I think you need an illustration. Okay. All in our backyard we have deer. We also have a Boston Terrier. I noticed that the dog is smaller than the deer. I also noticed that the deer run from the dog.
Now, if you watch Bo chase a deer, you can see his arrogance that is unjustified. This little dog who can't do anything is chasing a big deer. I'm thinking to myself, "This must be the most thrilling event in the world for his brain to process". "I can make something this big run, and I don't even have to bark. All I have to do is this". But I saw a movie in my mind the other day. I wondered, "What if the deer turned back and ran at Bo? What if the deer even hissed at Bo"? All of a sudden, I don't think Bo would be so bold, because he would realize, "This thing that is bigger is being triggered by emotion that can't affect him in the least, so I can no longer manipulate this thing that is bigger than me into running from me".
If the deer ever turned around, it would be the worst day of Bo's life. If the deer ever found out "I'm bigger than you," Bo wouldn't run up on a deer. Bo wouldn't go outside. I told you last week he's scared of a suitcase. What do you think he's going to do with a deer? If you ever got the revelation that "Greater is he…" Oh yeah. The Devil is hoping you never find out you're bigger. The Devil is hoping you'll always flinch and fall back, but I see somebody turning around today, talking about, "Wait a minute. Why am I running from you"? I mean, if you're going to run, if you're going to quit your family, at least have a good reason. Don't do it because they got on your nerves.
If you're going to quit loving your wife, at least have a good reason. Don't do it because she didn't appreciate you. That's not a good enough reason. Trouble isn't a good enough reason for you to give up. Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising its shame. Jesus said, "I hate this, but I love that". "The joy set before him". What I'm running toward and what I'm running from. It all comes in concert in David's life. "Wait, wait, wait. God didn't protect David". Yes, he did. He didn't protect him from being chased. He kept him chosen although he was chased. Our expectation of God must not be that there will never be anything chasing us. Our expectation of God is that we are chosen while we are chased.
I'm not preaching to everybody today. Some messages are for everybody. This one is for somebody who has something on their heels. As a matter of fact, you have hell on your heels, and you are running from something. You can't figure out why, and you're like, "But the Bible says, 'Rest in the salvation of God.'" Yes, rest in his salvation, but run toward his arms for this season of your life and let him be your strength. You know, this preacher from California pulled me aside one time and said, "I can tell you struggle with depression". I said, "You act like that's a hieroglyphics revelation, the Da Vinci Code. I tell my church all the time that I deal with depression". He said, "No, I can tell".
I thought this was a nice thing for him to say. He said, "I could tell you deal with it because you give people the tools to deal with it". Then he said something. And you know how preachers talk in alliterated outlines. He said, "The tools you use tell me a lot about the trouble you've been through". I said, "That's a compliment"? I said, "I'm not depressed all the time". He said, "No. I just can tell what you've been through by your tools". Maybe this is a helpful way for you to look at the situations in your life. I have to tell you a little bit more about David. Do you know that David prayed in the cave? He's hiding from Saul, who has already thrown multiple spears at him, at his head. Talk about experience, on-the-job training. And he has lost his best friend, so he's all alone, and he prays in the cave.
Now look at this in Psalm 142. This is the prayer David prayed in the cave. You're going to be surprised what David prayed in that cave, but maybe it'll be a tool for you to use when you're in a cave. Look at verse 3. "When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way. In the path where I walk people have hidden a snare for me. Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life. I cry to you, Lord; I say, 'You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.' Listen to my cry…" I think he is feeling unheard. I think he is feeling unseen. You don't say, "Listen to my cry" if you feel like the person is already involved in the situation.
"Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need…" "Oh, David, I can tell you deal with depression". "You think so? I put it in the Bible". "I am in desperate need". The three people who need this message are going to really receive from this next part, the three people who have been running a race and are being chased by something and cannot see what they are running from, but they can feel it and know it, and it has become a template for the track their life has taken and the trajectory they're on. He said, "Rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me".
Now, when he said, "The righteous will gather about me when you get me out of this…" Some of you all are praying, "God, when you get me out of this, oh, it's going to be amazing. I'm going to pay my tithes. Lord, I'm going to give you 50 percent if you'll just get me out of this". ("Do we have 55? Do I hear a 56? Do I hear a 57"?) The Lord is like, "Whatever, whatever, whatever". Listen to this. He's praying, "The righteous will gather about me". He's praying for support. He's praying for help. He's praying for somebody to care. He's praying for somebody to see. He's praying for somebody to hear. He's screaming in a cave. There's echo [echo, echo], and there's no one talking back.
Watch what happened in 1 Samuel 22:1. His father's household heard David was running, and they went down to him there. Not only his family, which we're going to talk about in a second, but look at who else came. "All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him". "Okay, God. Remember how I was praying for you to send me people? I take it back. I don't need anybody, Lord. Just me and you, Lord. 'All I need is you, Lord.'" And here come 400 lined up. And what are they? They are David's 3D army. You ask, "Where do you get that from"? They were in distress, they were in debt, and they were discontented. God might show up at your door with 3D this week.
Remember how we were saying sometimes you pray for something, and then it comes, and you don't want it because it came in 3D? It came in debt, distress, and discontentment. It came in the form of a need. Why would God answer a prayer with a need? Come on. Think with me. I can't just say stuff that makes you want to shout. I have to help you so you know that while he was praying in that cave, these… You know, he prayed, "God, then the righteous will surround me". And here come in debt, in distress, and discontented. David is like, "Let me try that again. 'Then the righteous…' You thought I said 'wretched.' I said 'righteous.' Sorry, Lord".
Now we have a decision to make, church. Why did these 400 people show up at David's cave in the moment of greatest need in response to God's answer to the prayer? I will suggest to you it's because David was anointed, because he was chosen because he was anointed. For everybody who is in the cycle of self-pity, of "Why is everybody always making withdrawals from me and not deposits?" it's because you're anointed. "Why doesn't anybody tell me 'Good job'"? Because you're consistent. They won't tell you, "Good job" when you do it consistently. They'll tell you, "Good job" when they're surprised by it.
The moment they stop being surprised, they stop saying something. Ask your kids who ate your peanut butter and didn't say a word. They didn't even throw the jar away either. They just left it in there, because they expect peanut butter in the pantry. They expect you to be on time. They expect you to be kind. Their expectation is the greatest compliment, so don't cry about it. I told one preacher one day, "You will know you're a good preacher when people stop telling you, 'Good sermon,' because they will all of a sudden become less concerned about you and how you felt about it, and they will become more concerned about them and what God spoke to them through it".
I put this to you as a personal challenge today. Are they running to you for a reason? What did you think God anointed you for? What did you think the oil was for? What did you think God blessed you with that experience for? You say, "Well, they're using me". Nuh-uh. God is. The moment the oil hit David's head, he should have known, "Uh-oh," because there is no crown where there are no caves. If God is going to do this thing for me, there are going to be caves along the way. Oh, how I want to preach to everybody who has a great dream. Oh, how I want to preach to everybody who wants to have a loving family or a righteous life in Christ. There will be caves along the way. You will be confused along the way. "Wait. I want this, and I'm reaching for that, and I feel this, and I'm doing that. I did that for them, and they did that to me".
Don't let the cave confuse you. You're still anointed. Don't let their lack of appreciation confuse you. You're still anointed. Don't let the fact that they don't want to run with you anymore confuse you. You're so anointed they don't want to go that direction anymore. That's fine. God will give you somebody else to run with. They might be 3D, but you're just going to have to… Watch. This is the heart of the message. This message is dedicated to my brother-in-law who just turned 47 yesterday. I told him I was going to dedicate this message to him. Look at me, Jody. Do it confused. David was used by God, but in this moment of his life, he was very confused about what God was doing. Can both be true? Absolutely. I am very confused about what God is doing a lot of the time that he is using me.
Do you remember when Jesus knelt down and washed the disciples' feet? He told them something very important. He said, "You do not understand what I do now, but later you will". Sometimes you have to take a lap and understand later. Sometimes you have to take six laps around the walls of Jericho and trust that "Something is going to happen when I blow this trumpet". I come against the discouragement in your spirit that says, "What's the point"? I come against the catalog in your mind that tells you it was all in vain. I come against the tears you've cried because of who wasn't by your side. Open your eyes! David is a king in a cave, and so are you. He is running from a king, and he's going to be a king. Kings can be announced and anointed anywhere; they can only be developed in caves.
The thing in me that needed to preach today needed to show up at age 18 when there were no kids. It needed to be set free from the need to do it because of approval. I could not have delivered this word to you today without my caves. I am saying to you, my brother in Christ, my sister in Christ, I don't know what you're running from. I don't know if it's generational. I don't know if it's recent. I don't know if it has been heightened. I don't know if it's other people. I don't know if it's deep down inside of you. God said to tell you, "Don't waste this cave". Caves come with the territory. Everybody is running from something. Everybody is running after something. Paul said, "I'm not running aimlessly anymore". Running around like a Christian with your head cut off, not even thinking about it anymore, not even strategizing it anymore.
Look at what David did in verse 3. The pressure was so overwhelming. He is already a fugitive. He is already confused. He looks around, and here's his old dad and his old mom talking about, "Hey, David. We heard you were in a cave. We came to keep you some company". Do you mean this is the same Jesse who didn't even bring David in from the field when they were coming to get the king? But now he needs him. I'm going to tell you something very important about people. People see you how they need you. That's why some people hate you and don't even know you. They need you to be an enemy, because if they make you an enemy, they don't have to take responsibility. To be honest with you, that's why some people think too highly of you. They need you to be a savior. The truth is you're neither.
So, in the moment that the 3D army, the dysfunctional army, the 3D army of dysfunctional derelicts arrives at David's door with his mom and dad, he goes to Moab. Do you remember anything about Moab? Do you remember a lady named Ruth, David's great-grandmother? He had Moabite blood, but Moab wasn't his home. He had to leave his home for a little while, and he took his parents to Moab. He went to the king of Moab, who wasn't exactly his friend, and he said in 1 Samuel 22:3… This is the most anointed verse I've read in a long time in this church. He said, "Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me"?
My senses were heightened and my attention was riveted by the word until. "When the oil hit my head, and when it flowed and ran all the way down, it ran for a reason, but I'm not sure what it is yet". "I know God is speaking to me about some things. I know there are some things he's pruning off my life right now, but I don't know yet. I'm not even doubting God's capacity at this moment. I'm just lacking clarity".
Listen to that again. You're not doubting his capacity; you're lacking clarity. David said, "This is too much for me right now". He prayed, "God, I have no one to support me". You can be surrounded and still not supported. You can have 50,000 friends on your phone and no one to be intimate with. You can live in the house with them, breathe the air with them, share the food with them, and still not feel like you're one of them.
Now David is charged with the task of receiving his own family. He is running from a king, and he is becoming a king, and he is about to occupy an office he did not even run for. There was no process of David putting himself forth as a candidate for king. I'm here to preach to somebody today. You didn't ask for this battle. You did not even ask for this. You didn't even know what it was. You did not point to that item on the menu. You did not say, "I want to deal with this". You did not ask to be raised that way, exposed to that thing, dealing with that thing. You did not plant it, but now you are having to deal with the weeds of it. Well, what then? What is the answer for those of us who are living in the "until"? The truth of the matter is David was anointed long before the others knew it.
I want to say about you that what will be true of you in the future is true of you right now. You are a king even in this cave. You are valuable even though no one else sees it right now. There are times when I'm preaching where the Holy Spirit is giving me what to say and it is for somebody. I do not know who it is, but God is calling you, saying, "This cave you have been in is closed for business, because I have more for your future, and I need you to move forward even though you're confused".
Can you imagine the faith of that, to come out of a cave, go to Moab, and say, "Can you take care of my parents"? "I don't know what God is going to do. I don't know how this report is going to turn out. I don't know if my kid is going to come back. I thought they were the last time, but that was just a false alarm, and they're still not doing well. I don't know, but will you keep what's important to me, even in my confusion"?
I just picture somebody in here today. You've been running with weights that God does not intend for you to carry forward into your future. There are some things you need to drop for what God has called you to do…the expectation of where you should have been by now, the guilt Christ paid for and nailed to his cross. Would you put that behind you so you can run the race that is marked out for you? While you're at it, stop looking around at other people's race. God has called you to run at your pace for this season. I found out something about God, and I found out something about the Enemy. When God puts something significant in me, the Enemy sends something significant after me. You should have known the moment the oil hit your head that this was not going to be easy.
You should have known the moment you survived the car accident, "There's a reason the Devil tried to end my life right there. There is something ahead of me that is so great it makes the Devil afraid". That is the reason I run. I figure if the Enemy sent something against me in this season to try to get me to abandon it, there must be something ahead of me that is absolutely amazing. It's amazing what's ahead of you, bro. It's amazing what's ahead of you, man. Your kids are going to talk about, "Dad did that. He did it with the weight of the world on his shoulders". There's something amazing in you. "Mom carried all that and she still carried us". So, the Lord said, "Make me your stronghold". You don't need that cave. When you're called, you're covered. The prophet told David, "I know you're running, and I know there's a reason".
Look at verse 5. "Do not stay in the stronghold". What is a stronghold, church? It is a place of temporary protection. It is meant to be visited but not lived in. Some of the ways you developed to deal with your life were temporary, and they served a purpose, but they're over now. The prophet named Gad told David something. He said, "Go to Judah". Why Judah? Because that was the place David was from, and that was the place where he would be anointed. That was the place where he would be covered, and that was the place he would be protected. So, God says, "I will cover you in every place I call you to".
Would you come out of the stronghold? Would you come out of the stronghold just for a moment today? I know the cave felt safe for a season, but the cave is closed now. I know you kind of had to be like that for a season to get through it. I know you were trying to prove something having sex with every different woman to try to prove something you never received in your childhood, but would you come out of that now? It's time to grow up. God has something with your name on it to make a difference on the earth, and it's not just about you anymore. Come to Judah with me.
Judah is the tribe David is from, and Judah is the name that means praise. I found it significant that when David left the cave, God called him to a place that literally meant praise. I think it is a sign that when we praise God in the place where we are, God begins to move. The oil begins to flow. I don't run for nothing. Everybody runs, but I'm running for something. I'm running with someone. The Lord told me that if I can't run anymore, he'll lift me up on wings like eagles. So, I appreciate the cave, but I'm already covered.
Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for the blood that covers me today. I thank you for the times in my life that I've known it to be true. While I was praying in a cave, you were sending people. Hallelujah. You were making plans. Thank you, Jesus. And you were fulfilling purpose. Sending people, making plans, and fulfilling purpose. I declare your Word over this church.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you". Just because we are not aware of them does not mean they are not active. God, I come against everything that shoved those kings into those caves. I come against everything that has told this child of God, this individual, they will never be what you've called them. Right now, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for your covering, protecting presence over our families. Say it out loud. "Devil, in the name of Jesus, you can't have my kids. They're covered".
Now start clapping like you know your kids are covered. Try this. "Devil, you can't have my mind. It's covered. You can't have my heart. It's covered. You can't have my vision. It's covered. I declare that in Christ I am a new creation. I am a child of God, and I'm running this race in the strength of Jesus".
Come on, give God a great praise! Get back to Judah. Somebody needs to come to Jesus right now. You need to run to Jesus right now. He's already running to you. The Bible says in the story of the prodigal son the father ran toward his son. God is running toward you, running with forgiveness, running for your redemption, running to receive you with arms open wide. All you have to do is repent. All you have to do is say, "God, I'm here. I'm sorry I ran from you. I was running from you when I should have been running to you".
There's somebody here today. You need to receive Jesus. This is your chance. I want to pray a prayer with you. If you will pray this prayer from your heart, the Bible says God will hear you from heaven. He will forgive your sin. He will give you his grace, and he will make you new. You will be born again. You will be saved. This is your moment. Repeat after me.
Heavenly Father, I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. Today, I make Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe he died that I would be forgiven and rose again to give me life. I receive this new life. This is my new beginning.
On the count of three, shoot your hand up if you prayed that prayer. I want to celebrate you. One, two, three! Shoot it up. I see you. God bless you. Incredible. Come on, we can do better than that! High-five at least three people and say, "I'm running for a reason". You have something to run for, and you have someone to run with. You are not alone in this thing. Do you hear me?
I know it feels lonely to be chosen sometimes. You're not alone. You're chosen. The two feel the same sometimes. You're not alone; you're chosen. That's why you're running. That's why the Devil is chasing you. You're chosen. But guess what? What I'm running toward is greater than what I'm running from. So I'll see you on the next lap. Lift your hands. Now unto him who is able to do immeasurably more than you ask or imagine, to him be glory through Christ Jesus in the church, now and forever.