Steven Furtick - Don't Miss Your Turn (03/13/2017)
This sermon from 1 Samuel 17:48-51 uses the story of David and Goliath to warn against missing divine opportunities. The preacher emphasizes that destiny often arrives disguised as ordinary, menial tasks, like David delivering bread to his brothers. He argues that obedience in small, seemingly insignificant acts positions us for major breakthroughs, and warns against getting distracted by internal conflicts (like David's brother Eliab) that keep us from facing our true, giant-sized challenges together.
Don't Miss Your Turn: The Setup Before the Showdown
If you wouldn't mind standing, I'd like to preach, and I want to read the Scripture while you stand. And I want to just share a simple message today from 1 Samuel, classic text. God has given me a fresh insight on 1 Samuel chapter 17, and I just want to give you verses 48 through 51. And I love this little Bible story. It's the one where David kills Goliath. Spoiler alert. And I think there will be some things in this message today that will be pertinent to your personal life as well as our plight as a nation. So I'd like you to lean in and listen carefully. I believe there is a word from the Lord in this house. How many are ready to receive it? Come on, are you excited? How many want to hear from God today?
As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line. God's people don't run from trouble. We run toward it in the name of the Lord. He ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him, reaching into his bag and taking out a stone. He slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone. Without a sword in his hand, he struck down the Philistine and killed him. David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword, drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, cut off his head with his own sword. Sometimes you've got to take what the devil brings against you and put it to use to do the work of God. And when the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. They turned and ran.
Now, I need you to announce my title to your neighbor, okay? And this might be something that your wife says to you when you're driving. You might have said this to your husband today, trying to find Elevation Ballantyne or whatever campus you're at. But would you look at your neighbor and give him my title? Say, neighbor, don't miss your turn. Look at your other neighbor and say, you might miss your turn. Pay attention. Don't miss your turn. Amen. You may be seated. Thank you, worship team. Thank you, worship team. All our worship teams. Oh, man. So much I want to say to you. Let me just look at you real quick. It's a new building, so I don't know where everybody's sitting and used to having people. All my familiar faces. Okay, I'm looking for my love. I'm looking for my love. It's good.
Those of you at the other campuses, you can't see this, but the way we've set up the room is very strategic. We have it where everybody can keep an eye on each other and monitor them to make sure that they are paying attention and being responsive in the sermon. So those of you on my right, if these people over here start looking like they're dozing off, they start looking bored, you could shoot a spitball at them. You can do whatever you have to do. This side over here on the left side, these people really love Jesus. In fact, it's going to be a competition. We're going to get to see over the course of the coming weeks and months which section loves Jesus the most, and so it should be interesting.
The Things We Almost Missed
But I just want to share a little bit with you today. I want you to get something on your mind as we look at this classic text in the Valley of Elah where the giant from Gath, who some say was nine feet, three inches tall, has come to defy the armies of the living God, and a boy named David decides to do something about it. I want you to think, if you would, just for a moment, about something in your life that you almost missed out on and that you came really close to missing out on it, but you did it, and now that you're looking back on it, you are like, oh, I'm so glad that I didn't let fear or apathy or laziness or other people keep me from doing that because I would have missed so much.
In fact, some of you, if you don't listen to other people, you're never going to come to this church. You know what I'm saying? And you would have missed out because this is a great place, great people. I said, this is a great place with great people. Come on, y'all. Let's break in this building. Don't be looking at me, Stuffy. Amen. Something you would have missed out on Holly, of course, is thinking about if she had said no instead of I do, how much she would have missed. She would have missed her miracle. She would have missed her man. She would have missed her moment. Aren't you glad you didn't miss it? You know, different things in life, opportunities that you had that scared you at the time.
Amy, think about it when I took chunks out the Golden Corral and said, start the church with me. Hattie said, I don't want to do it. I want to keep on working physical therapy, rubbing on old people's backsides. I want to keep serving the bunch. Nothing wrong with being a physical therapist. I'm just having a little humor here with you. But just imagine, you wouldn't even be here on the front row watching the grand opening of a location. Last night, I gave away almost a quarter of a million dollars, because that's what you do when you move into a $30 million building. You give away a quarter of a million dollars just to make the devil mad, to let him know that the church is on the move.
As a matter of fact, I want to make a prophetic announcement. This church is not going to miss our turn. We are determined in this season in our cities to shine like never before. The world needs us now, and we're not going to miss our turn. I'm not a big believer in having regrets. I think that what's better is if you can learn the lesson, get the benefit of the lesson, without the burden of the regret. You know what I'm saying? Get the burden of the lesson, or the benefit, or whatever I said, of the lesson, jet lag, without the burden of the regret. What I do believe in is the power of pre-Grant. I made up the word.
I believe that if you can learn how in your life to experience what you would experience if you did something dumb in your emotions without having to do the dumb thing and deal with the consequences and the disaster of your decision, I think it's a good thing. I might write a book about this. It's the power of pre-Grant. You know, so you can learn how to discern guys that you shouldn't date by seeing the patterns. That he's like the last guy. He's like the last guy. And if I go out with him and if I sleep with him, I'm going to end up having to be in the same cycle. And so I think there's something to learn from the things that we've missed out on, the things that we've almost missed out on.
The Overlooked Setup in David's Story
You may think this is a strange introduction, and I forgot that my text was David and Goliath, but this common text has an often overlooked application. I find in 1 Samuel 16 and 17… And those of you at our Matthews campus are going to be particularly interested in this sermon because I began to share on this topic with you a few weeks ago when I came over and surprised you for a visit because I was noticing that the climax of the story when David took his slingshot, his rocks, his shepherding equipment, and used it to kill a giant named Goliath, it almost didn't happen. It almost didn't happen. It's one of the most famous Bible stories. It's epic, and we learned it in Sunday school. It was a very violent thing to teach our children, but for some reason we do.
That with the first of five stones, he took him down. That David, the unlikely one, took down the giant that had defied in this challenge of champions in this ancient format known as representative combat where the sides would say, Instead of you sending all of your men and us sending all of our men, why don't we each just send our best fighter? And whoever wins that fight will represent the rest of the nation. And in this contest, we are very familiar with the conquest of David, the moment where he stands over Goliath. But I want to suggest to you that it almost didn't happen. I think a lot of us miss our turn to be used by God because of disappointment in our life. Setbacks we've experienced.
On the other side of disappointment, often we can see that our disappointments led us to our destiny. I'm preaching better than you're talking back to me. I'll give you a minute to catch up. What we thought is that some of the things that we thought we wanted were the things that God had to withhold to make room for the things that we ultimately needed. It is easier to clap about that when you're not living through it. Have you ever noticed how the way we explain something after the event has transpired is often much different than how we experienced it? We say after we've experienced something that, you know, well, it all turned out for the good, but you weren't so sure about that while it was happening.
You weren't so sure about that during the divorce. But now after the divorce, you can say, okay, well, I didn't want the divorce, and I'm not saying the divorce was God's will, but I can see how God's even using that now in my life. But when you're going through it, it feels like death, and you can't even see any life after this. You can't see how the fact that they laid you off from that job was actually preparing you for something, teaching you some things, going to get you some discipline in some areas, and that later on a door would open up that God would use to move you into new dimensions. But you can't see the destiny in the face of the disappointment. David is an illustration of how to deal with disappointment.
The Anointing and The Waiting
And I believe, and you want to know the truth about it, David was more than just a Shepherd, more than just a giant killer. He was a future king in training. I know many of you know this, but for the benefit of those who may not have gotten to go to vacation Bible school, let me share a little bit of the context of 1 Samuel 16. Can I teach a little bit? Can I teach a little bit? On the day that Samuel came to town to replace Saul, because the Lord was grieved that he made Saul king, because although Saul had the stature of a king, he didn't have the heart of a Shepherd. God, give us Shepherds, even in our nation, in political seats of power, that will have a heart for your people.
Give us pastors and fathers and leaders that will have a heart for your people. And so God said, I'm looking for a man after my own heart. Well, when Samuel came to town with his horn of oil, which was symbolically poured on the head of the next king, he went to Jesse's house, because that's where God told him to go. He said, the next king is in Jesse's house, but he didn't tell him which of Jesse's eight sons was going to be the king, because sometimes God will give you enough of the details to get you in the right area, but he won't give you enough specifics where you don't need him to show you what to do next. And sometimes we want God to show us everything about our life and our decisions, but if he did, we wouldn't need him.
So he gives us enough light to know the next step, but not enough light where we won't need him to guide us along the path. So he goes to Jesse's house. Samuel the prophet goes to Jesse's house, and he looks at all the sons of Jesse. Eliab was the oldest one. One's name was Shammah. All these boys that were so impressive. Eliab was very tall. Saul was tall. And God said, Not him. And not him. And not him. And not him. And not him. And not him. I love this about God, that he selects what man rejects. He uses the weak things of the world to confound the wise. And after they passed over all seven of the select sons, Samuel says, Do you have another one? And when Jesse talks about David, he doesn't even have the common courtesy to mention his name.
You know, he calls him. I want to read this to you. It's in verse 11, chapter 16, verse 11. Jesse said, Well, there's the youngest. There's the youngest. He doesn't identify him according to his potential, just his current position. You know, life will do this to you. Try to label you according to your educational background, according to your ethnicity, according to whether you're a man or a woman, or according to your... Life will try to label you this way. Well, there's the youngest. But he's tending the sheep. And Samuel said, Send for him. We won't sit down until he arrives. And the one that they didn't even think to bring in the room was the one that God had chosen from the foundation of the world. Now, I want to make an announcement. You can't disappoint what God has appointed.
You can't disappoint. When God calls your name, when God gets ready to use you, when God gets ready to do work in your life, when God gets ready to raise you up, when God gets ready to send you forth, when God gets ready to stir up your gift, When God gets ready to release your purpose, this new stage preach is pretty good. I feel good about it. Touch somebody next to you and tell them he's calling your name. And see, I love God because he knew how to find David even in the field. He didn't need David to be in the lineup. Do you know what? You don't have to position yourself in front of people to be used by God. You don't have to convince a committee that you're good enough for the grace of God.
How many are grateful that God chooses sovereignly whom he wills and uses sovereignly whom he wills? And when God gets ready to use you, there's no devil in hell that can stop it. Touch your neighbor. Say, don't miss it. Don't miss your turn. And see, if it had been up to people, David wouldn't have gotten his turn. But when God says, it's your time, he knows exactly where to find you. Don't stress out about it. Don't worry about whether or not people appreciate you. Don't even worry about whether they notice you. Don't even worry about whether they call you by your correct name. It doesn't matter. You cannot disappoint what God has appointed. But if David hadn't been in the field keeping sheep, he wouldn't have been prepared to lead people.
What he should have, could have, would have seen as being very insignificant was exactly the thing that he needed to prepare him for his assignment. It's a funny thing, though, because, you know, you would expect, and after this moment where David is anointed, appointed, and called to be a king, that the next scene we would see would be that of David and his driver, making a trip, perhaps to Neiman Marcus, come on, if God told you you would be the next king, wouldn't you want to go try on some robes and some crowns, size 42, short? Wouldn't you want to try on some Versace crowns, Armani robes, I need to get ready for this thing. And sometimes we expect that when God announces a change in our life, it's going to be activated immediately.
And we get confused when God says, it's your time, but he makes us wait our turn. Sometimes God is doing things. It was on that day that David was announced to be a king, but it would be many years later that he would wear the crown. You know, when you give your life to Christ, in a moment you're saved, in a moment you're forgiven, in a moment you're cleansed, in a moment you're redeemed, all of those things are true of you immediately. But all of the changes that those new realities are meant to produce in your life happen not immediately, but gradually. And you know what I see people do? I see people become very discouraged in the process of awaiting the change that God initiated because we're a little bit confused.
The Menial Assignment That Led to Destiny
I remember Elijah was so confused when we gave the money to build Elevation Ballantyne. We bought the land back in 2012, and Elijah was six years old at the time, and he gave an offering. Our whole Elijah gave 70 dollars of my money that we pretended was his. It's like all the money that he thinks he has. And after he gave the money, he said, So, Daddy, we're having church at Elevation Ballantyne next Sunday? Because in his mind, I gave the money. And so he… Now, it's four years later now, and here we are finally. We bought the land in one season. We built the building in the next. And sometimes you walk away from your initial investment because you don't see the immediate development. I'm trying to say sometimes you give up on your calling too easily and you miss your turn.
David didn't go on try on crowns and practice his king wave and practice signing kingly autographs. David went back to the sheep field to do what he was doing before until one day. Everybody say one day. One day he was given an assignment by his father. His father turns to him one day. And I don't know if a lot of people know this part of the story because everybody knows about the slingshot and everybody knows about Goliath and everybody knows about how Goliath fell. Now, I'll tell you what. If you ever want to be a preacher, you should preach about Goliath. People love to hear sermons about Goliath because everybody has something in their life that's bigger than them. Everybody has something in their life that's been intimidating them. Everybody has a fear and anxiety and addiction.
I could go around the room. I think I could probably point at people and look at them long enough. And guess That's what your Goliath is. Some of y'all spend too much. Some of y'all eat too much. Some of y'all talk too much. Some of y'all judge too much. Can I keep going? I won't do it, but I could. And everybody has a Goliath, right? And preach about Goliath, and it makes for good preaching, man. Goliath is going to fall down, and you could kill the giant. I believe that, man. But can I tell you something that is fascinating to me that the Lord spoke to me? The Lord spoke to me. I was studying this text, and the Lord said to me, most of the people you're talking to never even get to Goliath. You're trying to teach them how to kill an enemy that they're never even going to meet.
So when he said that to me, you know, not out loud, just kind of this impression I got, I was like, what do you mean? And I went back to the text, and I remembered this. I saw this back in college. In fact, I used to share about it in college because I thought it was important to talk about faithfulness in the small things, and it was one day. Everybody say one day. Say it louder. Say one day. Touch your neighbor. Say, this could be your day for a turnaround. Now, Jesse, this is 1 Samuel 17, 17. It says that this giant from Gath named Goliath was confronting and defying the people of God for 40 days. And every day he would taunt them. But Jesse said to his son, David, huh? Verse 17 is kind of confusing because Jesse must have forgotten that he was talking to a future king.
because what he asked him to do was so menial. He said, take this ephah of roasted grain and these 10 loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. And David could have said, who do you think you're talking to? Didn't you hear what Samuel said about me? I am a man of potential and purpose. I don't have time to run your little errands. I'm not trying to take bread and cheese to the same brothers who didn't even bring me into the room when Samuel came to choose a king. But this is the test, see, to see if David will do the basic things. Sometimes we want God to use us to do a big thing and we won't even do the basics. Talk to me, somebody. How in the world can God use us to do something big and we won't even do something basic?
I love David's heart because the story could have stopped right here if he had said, I'm not doing that. I'm a king. I'm not doing that. I'm not. I'm not. I'm you're demeaning to me. I'm not doing that. You know, all the ways that we disobey God, these little things that he asked us to do, call your sister and tell her you're sorry. Reach out to somebody who looks different than you and listen to them about their struggle. It's funny to me. Some of us want to kill Goliath, but we don't want to tend sheep and we don't want to make deliveries. We want to see big victories. But how in the world can God use us to kill giants if we can't even follow simple instructions? The Bible says that David, and I think this is why God used him, you know, every time we see David in the scripture, he's moving.
Now it says at first though, that he was, he ran to Goliath, but you got to understand before he ran to Goliath, look at verse 20. It says early in the morning, David left the flock in the care of a shepherd and loaded up and set out. Now here's what David didn't know at the time because we know it and it's much easier to interpret what God is going to do when you know the ending. But can I tell you something? David did not know that this was 1 Samuel 17 from his perspective. This was just another day. Sometimes God wraps destiny in what we perceive as just another day. The same day that he was told to take bread to the battle lines was the same day he stood over Goliath, but he didn't know that. And he would have missed his turn if he did not obey.
And so for me, I'm asking God to use me in big ways, but will I obey him in the small ways? And you know, I bet if you will pray, God, show me a small way. Cause we all right now are concerned about things in our nation. Josh Van Allman was telling me he's an officer. He serves. How long have you been Charlotte police? How long have you been on the force? He'd been 12 years. He's also been serving in the church for all 10 and a half years. Josh drives me to church every week so I can look at my notes in the car. And, uh, so I thought that's a safer way than me driving and looking at my notes. And so I can get ready on the way. And he was telling me just this week about people, black people, white people coming up to him and buying lunch for him.
I thought that was amazing. I thought that just, he said it was a small thing. He said, but to me, that just went a long way. I know his wife appreciates it. He also told me how somebody spat on him this week while he was walking down the street with his little girl. And so here's the thing. We can get up in our churches and preach really big stuff, you know, deep stuff, reconciliation, high sounding stuff, unity. But I think probably our small acts of actual love go a lot farther than our loud screaming preaching like I'm doing right now. And God wants to know, will you do the small things? Sometimes the blessing of God is in doing the thing that seems beneath you. We always want to look beyond. God says sometimes it's in doing the thing that seems beneath you that releases the blessing.
A Cupcake and a Convocation: Small Obedience, Big Impact
We were on vacation this past month and we rode our bikes over to the farmer's market because we're such a charming family. We rode our bike over to the farmer's market there in the little town where we were staying and Holly's idea. And when we walked in and just tell you the story, kind of how it happened. What's up here? Love you, man. While we walked in, this girl who was behind a booth, she was selling cupcakes and candy and other sugar confection items. Her name was Addie Mae. Addie Mae. And I'm going to tell you how I know her name in a minute, but she started screaming behind her and she said, oh my God. I said, I'm so sorry to bother you, but I'm like a total fan girl. I love your podcast. I love your church. Can I have a selfie? I was like, yes, of course. Let's take a selfie.
And she was super nice. So we stood there for a minute, talked to her, found out, you know, that where I was from, she also had some family from there. All this stuff, we just talked for a minute. And she goes, boy, my pastor is going to be so excited, so jealous when I tell him I met you. I was like, really? And I said, cool. Who's your pastor? She said his name. I never heard his name. And I said, that's great. And she said, and my church, she said, we're having holy convocation this week. You should come. And I'm thinking in the back of my mind, girl, I am on vacation. I am not coming to your convocation. Not this week. I love the Lord. I love his church, but I am chilling. So I'm just thinking that, right? And I'm like, oh, yeah, that's great. I come to convocation. Sounds great.
And so she goes, yeah, it's a convocation. And she listed off the people who were preaching and the dates and all that. And one of the guys she mentioned is a preacher that I greatly respect, and I actually have been wanting to meet him. And so I was like, well, that's cool. And, you know, something told me, just write it down. Just write it down. You know how sometimes you just get this little thing, and you're not even sure if it's God. You're not ready to say, and the Lord spoke to me. Just write it down. Just a little thought. Just write this down. Just a little thing. Everybody say little things. We're talking about the little things. So I just write it down, and I wrote it down, the dates and everything like that. And I walked away. And she came back over to our table. She was so nice. And she brought all these cupcakes and candies and sugar confection items over to us.
And she was like, I just brought something for your kids. And I was like, thanks. And you can come watch them. And she said, I just brought you something. It was so sweet, right? And she was like, and I just called my pastor. And he told me that we had actually invited you to come speak at our convocation. But your office told us that you were on vacation this week. And so I said, well, obviously, you can see that I am. And we said, we really are on vacation. So anyway, I texted Jess and said, hey, Jess, just. .. I said, reach out to this pastor, the one that was coming to town on this certain date. I said, and see if he wants to meet up for lunch. We've been trying to meet each other before, and we didn't get to. I said, just tell him I'm close by to the church he's going to be preaching at.
And I'm not going to the church service, but just tell him if he wants to eat after or before church, I would love to have a meal with him. And just let me know. It doesn't matter. Just let me know. Just let me know. And so, you know, some time passes and everything. Jess says, I'll let you know. And I forget all about it. I forget all about the whole holy convocation. I'm on the beach. Then one day, it's about three o'clock in the afternoon. Jess texts me and says, hey, the pastor was going to come and meet with you, but he actually, his back went out in the airport and they had to take him in for emergency surgery. And he's not even going to be able to make the trip. So he's not going to be able to have dinner with you tonight. And I'm like, that's cool.
The moment I get the text from Jess, I'm reading all this. I'm thinking, that's cool. The moment I put my phone away, something spoke to me. Again, I'm not sure it's God at this point, and I don't even really want to hear from God at this point. But something spoke to me and said, remember they had wanted you to come preach at the convocation? call the church. And to which I said, Lord, I don't even know the phone number. To which the Lord said, Google it. So, I'm like, what am I going to do? I'm going to call the church and say, hey. I never invite myself to go preach somewhere. That's kind of creepy. Hey, want to come preach in your church? I don't do that. I don't do that. But the Lord was like, you do what I tell you to do. So, by this time it's 3.30, and I'm thinking, man, they've already got a speaker.
The thing is, tonight, but I'll call. This is stupid. I'll call the church. I'll call the church. Looked up the number, and it rings and rings and rings and rings. It rings like five times. I'm like, phew. The Lord didn't tell me to leave a voicemail. So, I promise you, on the sixth ring, God picks up, says the name of the church, and how can I help you? And I'm like, crap. And I said, hey, man, my name is Stephen Furtick. I'm over in Charlotte. And I was just calling to talk to the bishop. I know he's not available. I'm sure he's not available. But you don't have to give him a message or anything. He goes, no, no, no, I'll give him a message. What's the message? I said, well, you just tell him, here's my phone number. I'm calling about the revival. If he wants to call me back, he doesn't have to call me back. He probably don't have time to call me back or anything like that. He's calling about the revival.
A few minutes later, the pastor calls me, and he goes, are you serious? Are you serious that you're calling me right now? I said, yeah. I said, I met Addie Mae over at the farmer's market. And I told her that I was here on vacation, and she told me that you would invite me. I know you probably don't want to do this, and I know you've got it covered, but I heard that your speaker's back went out and all this. I'm sure you've got it covered by now, but I just felt prompted to tell you that if I'm… You want me to come preach? I'll preach. I'm on vacation and everything like that, but you want me to come preach? He said, we were praying this morning. He said, I've had the most crazy week you can imagine. I've done three funerals this week.
I called five of my friends and asked them, could they come preach tonight? None of them could come. You are the only speaker that we invited to the convocation that couldn't come. He said, would you come tonight and preach for us? He said, because I was so stressed out when I was praying. And I got up from prayer, and one of my staff members looked at me and said, don't worry about it, Pastor. God has a ram in the bush. And I said, well, I'm your ram, baby. What time do I show up at the church? Where is the church? I don't even know where the church is. He said, don't worry about it. I'll send you a car. I'll pick you up. And man, I'm going to tell you, they picked me up and I went to church. I told him, I said, I don't have any church clothes now because this is holy convocation. People got church hats and church dresses.
I said, man, all I have is T-shirts and skinny jeans and Yeezys. And he said, it's all right. I'll wear my jeans and my Jeezys too. He called them Jeezys. I said, all right. I said, I'll be there. And man, it was amazing. And he got up and he told his church, he said, our speaker is not here. And they all moaned and groaned because they all love that preacher. Couldn't make it. And they all moaned and groaned. And he said, and that's y'all's problem. Some of y'all come for the personality more than you come for the principles of the presence of God and the power of the… Man, he laid them out. And then he told the story. I don't even know how well I preached that night or anything like that. I mean, I gave it everything I had, the best I could on short notice in my Yeezys and my T-shirt at the holy convocation. But God showed up in an amazing way.
And you know that pastor said to me, he said, in 27 years of ministry, I've never been more convinced of God's favor on my life than to know that he heard my prayer. But I told you that story, not because I'm so obedient. I didn't even want to do it. It turned out to be a blessing. I would have missed it. I would have missed the blessing if I would have ignored the impression. But really, I would have missed the blessing if Addie Mae hadn't brought over a cupcake. When Addie Mae showed up to work that day, she had no idea that she was the answer to her church's prayers. Do you see what I'm trying to say to you? I'm trying to say that God wants to use you right right where you are with what you have.
David said, I don't have much. All I got is a sling and a stone. But in the name of the Lord, Goliath, when I do what I do with what I have, you've got to come down. And I declare that when the people of God do what we can, and the power we have, Goliath must fall. Somebody shout about it. Touch your neighbor and say, Don't miss your turn. Don't miss your turn. If David had not been willing to do the simple thing, he never would have seen the supernatural thing.
Don't Fight Eliab, Fight Goliath
And I guess why the Lord put this message on my heart, everyone standing, is because in our nation right now, there's a lot of supernatural breakthroughs that we need. Systemic racism is a real issue. There are epidemics in our land and we're praying to God about stuff. I want to get beyond that even. I want to get beyond that. See, I was getting this message ready. while I was still in Australia. I got on the plane. I had my little message ready. When I landed, while I was in the air, a young man gets shot in Baton Rouge. A young man gets shot in Minnesota. And I looked at that and I was like, okay, I was thinking I need to change my message. Now, I had prepared a message on David and Goliath. before I left Australia. I came back to America and I realized everything that's going on.
And I thought, well, this isn't an appropriate message anymore. And the Lord said, yeah, it is. You're just looking at Goliath on the wrong level. See, when we preach about Goliath, we make it a personal issue. Your addiction, your struggle, your debt, your depression. But when I was reading it this time, the Lord showed me Goliath wasn't a personal issue for David. It was a national issue that was keeping the whole nation deadlocked in the stranglehold of fear. Something interesting happened just before David went to fight Goliath. The Bible says that when David showed up that day, you know, he's got his cheese and his bread. He's just doing a simple thing. Don't think that because you can't affect something at the highest level of power, that God can't use you in a great way. David wasn't even in the army and he won the war.
I said he wasn't even in a uniform. He didn't even have a weapon that was fit for combat. And he's the one who brought down the giant. So David hears this giant taunting the armies of God and he says, What's up with this? This isn't right. He can't talk that way about my God. He can't talk that way about my people. He can't talk that way. This isn't right. And his brother overheard him. Eliab, the tall one, and he comes up to David and, you know, he actually accuses David. When Eliab, verse 28, David's older brother, the one that they thought was fit to be a king, the one that you would have thought won the battle. When Eliab heard David's conversation, he burned with anger at him and asked, Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness?
Do you know what? And this really spoke to me. And I didn't say this in my message last night, but I wanted to say it today. If David would have listened to Eliab, he never would have even seen Goliath. If David would have fought with his brother, he never would have killed his enemy. Do you know what I think the devil tries to do to keep us from being victorious as a church, as a people, as a nation, as the body of Christ? He wants to keep us so divided, fighting each other, that we never even engage our real enemy. We're not fighting each other. We're not against each other. You're my brother. You're my sister. We're in this together. If we're going to fight darkness, we're going to stand together. David has his eyes on something bigger.
And the Bible says in verse 29, I close with this. Now what have I done? Can't I even speak? And then he did something. Watch. He then turned away to someone else. He then turned away. Touch your neighbor one more time. This will be the last time. And tell him, don't miss your turn. See, because if you get distracted by Eliab, if you get distracted by what the media presents to us, that's not reality. That's an image that is projected to sell us on fear. If you fight Eliab, you'll miss Goliath. But I feel a turn coming in the body of Christ. And we will stand together. And we will turn together. I hear 2 Chronicles say, If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn... and turn and turn. I want to plead with the body of Christ. Don't miss your turn. You are the light of the world. And you are the salt of the earth. And Goliath must fall in the name of the Lord. Injustice must fall in the name of the Lord. Prejudice must fall in the name of the Lord. Come on, help me, church. Poverty must fall in the name of the Lord. And his name is Jesus. Give him a praise.