Taffi Dollar - How to Have Hope When It's Hard - Part 2
How many of you know, sometimes in life people will try to talk you into doing what is in their heart? And Saul was trying to talk David into wearing his armor. Obviously it wasn’t working for Saul 'cause Saul wasn’t out there fighting the enemy but yet he wanted David to put it on. And what sense does that make if it’s not working for you, what makes you think it’s going to work for me? If it hasn’t given you victory, I don’t want it. I need something that’s going to work, something that’s been tried, something that is true, something that has a promise.
And so there was no victory in their lives. And that’s why you can’t take advice from everybody. Trying to live off of somebody else’s revelation, someone else’s fear, 'cause you know what? We can pass down our fears. So you gotta ask yourself this morning, what am I passing down? When all is said and done, when the book is closed? What am I imparting? What am I going to create as a legacy, as a lineage? Because if we’re not like David, they were those who were passing off intimidated and as a result, they lived their lives in fear. Lived their lives in inferiority, they felt inferior to the giant, they felt inferior to the hard time, they felt like they couldn’t measure up, that they were falling short, they felt inadequate.
And so his older brother said, «David, what are you doing here, you don’t belong here you’re just a boy». But he was more than that. He was one who had the covenant on his mind, and he wanted to begin to see the reward. He probably had that daughter, that young girl on his mind too. She probably was pretty. And say, «Oh, okay, I get her all right, let’s see how we can figure this thing out, okay». And so he was motivated, he was ready. And sometimes people can mean well by, you know, telling you and informing you of what hasn’t happened. And, you know, in a war, you should wear this kind of artillery, this protects this, and this protects that so, you know, arm yourself in this kind of way.
So they could’ve had good intentions by telling him and Saul giving him all those things, but David knew that that wasn’t for him, that wasn’t what he needed. He knew what he needed in the midst of the hard time. He knew what was necessary in order to win. And so we have to become secure in the Lord. And we have to hear from him in the midst of hard times. You’ve gotta hear from God. I remember when I went to Johannesburg about ten years ago and I was wrestling with whether I should go or whether I should stay. I was talking to Carla, my assistant at the time. I said, «Carla, I really think that I am supposed to go, I think I’m supposed to be at this meeting. I really think that I’m supposed to be there». And she say, «You should go».
And I was wrestling because there were those voices that said, «Don’t go, you got enough, too expensive, too far. Get the tape, get the DVD. Just don’t make it such a big deal». But in my knower I felt like I needed to go. And so many times in your life, you’ve got to be secure in what God is speaking. You’ve gotta spend time with him so you know what to do in the hard time. You’ve gotta know his voice. He wants you as his child to hear his voice, to know it’s him. Of course, I hear from right in here, my mid area, and it was just all over my being and I just couldn’t shake it off. The next day I said, «Well, let me just go to bed I’ll sleep on it». Woke up the next day I kept feeling that same impression. God doesn’t speak to me in necessarily an audible voice per se, but it’s right here in my innermost being that I hear God in my spirit, I guess.
And so, you know, my life as a result was turned upside down, my life was changed. I was in a hard place, difficult place, crossroad, but I knew what God said to do. And so you have to know and to become secure in the Lord and hear from him and not let other people talk you out. Say, «Amen,» somebody. Follow God and do what he said because you know what? That’s where your strength lies. David’s strength wasn’t in the armor or the sword, it was in trusting God. When Goliath saw David walk around him with just a slingshot, he laughed at him, but David knew something. Look at what it says here. David says, «I cannot go in these». He protested. He said, «No, I’m not used to them».
So he took them off again. You know what David did? «He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them in his shepherd’s bag». Five smooth stones. Some say the number five means grace. That grace if that was, I’m telling you how many of you know, grace got on those stones. Now, when I looked into this, technically, you know, you can use a sling by harming someone. It is a weapon in many instances because I thought it was just, you know, like the little play thing. But no, this has the potential to do damage. And so it says, «He picked up».
Now, I don’t know if it was the, you know, the fact that God just got on David or God got on the smooth stones, I don’t know what happened, all I know is that the giant went down, okay. I don’t know how God does what he does, he is God. He does what he wants to do, he just needs someone to trust him and to be led by him and to do what he says to do, and to move forward, not to be stuck and intimidated by the hard times and by the giants in our life. He says, «This sickness is not unto death».
How many of you know you gonna live and not die? If he says you’re not gonna be broke another day in your life, how many of you know you ready to prosper? You’re going in. We’re not living pay check to pay check anymore. We’re not doing that anymore. And so it was those five smooth stones, glory be to God. Not rough stones, but smooth stones from a stream. Maybe the anointing got on the stream and then as a result, when David pulled him out, I don’t know, he put 'em in his shepherd’s bag and, «Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff». That’s all he had. «And sling, he started across to fight Goliath». Woo, my goodness, my goodness. How many of you know it’s on right now? Let me give you some keys to defeat the giants in your life.
Number one, show up for the battle ready to fight. That’s what David did, he showed up. He didn’t stay home in the bed and say, «Well, you know, I’m tired today children. I’m not going, you know, y’all figure it out». He showed up. For some of us, part of the victory is just showing up. When I lost my mom, I had to make up in my mind, «I’m getting out of this bed I gotta show up. I gotta do something different. I gotta fight this grief, I gotta fight this sorrow. I gotta fight this depression. I gotta resist. I gotta change my postures, change my position. Nothing is going to change, Taffi, if you stay in this bed, you gotta show up». I had to turn off the sad songs.
You know, I’m climbing up the rough side of the mountain trying to make heaven my home. I had to turn all that off. «Nobody’s coming to your pity party. Taffi, no one is accepting your invitation, you gonna have to figure this out». Had to talk to myself. You gotta talk to yourself so that you can do what needs to be done to show up. God, what do I need to do? You have a plethora of answers. There are a myriad of solutions in your presence. There are answers that are waiting in the presence of the Lord. And for David, it was to show up, to be there. When his father said, «David, take this down to your brothers. Go check on them, bring me back a report». David could’ve said, «No, I’m not going. You don’t tell me what to do». But you know what, he went. He showed up for the battle ready to fight.
So this is the first point that I want us to make note of as we bring this to a close. Show up for the battle, ready to fight. You don’t always get to pick the place or the time. You say, «Lord, I didn’t bring on this. This ain’t even my situation. I ain’t even have anything to do with this. This just came into my life. What meaneth this? What is this about»? God says, «This is about me. I’m going to give you the victory. This battle belongs to me not you». But we have to be ready and be willing and to take heed to what God is leading us to do.
And so we have to take the fight to the enemy. Look at that. Take the fight to the enemy. Talking to a friend of mine the other day, we were at an event and she unfortunately as a result of some things that she’s been working on, her spouse decided that he didn’t wanna be married anymore and wanted to leave the marriage. So I was talking with her and prayed and just broke my heart to hear the news. And I said, you know, you’ve got to immerse yourself in the Word of God. You’ve got to make a decision on what you’re going to do. You’ve gotta decide that this is a fight and you gotta decide how you’re gonna show up in this fight. David made up in his mind that he didn’t just defeat the lion and the bear, he made up in his mind that he was going to go after them and not only did he fight them, but he stole, took back what they were trying to steal.
And so many times in our life it’s the enemy’s plan to try to take back what God has already given us. You have to make up in your mind, «How am I going to respond»? The audacity of this devil, the nerve, the unmitigated gall of this demon to show up in my life. Generations have prayed, the cloud of witnesses have prayed, the armies of heaven, how am I gonna respond? What will I do? So we have to make up in our mind that we have to take back what the enemy has tried to steal from us.
Look at what it says in Proverbs chapter 6, verse 31. Let’s put that one up there. Proverbs 6, verse 31 says, «But if he is caught,» he’s talking about the enemy. If he is caught, 'cause he’s a sneaky little thing, he’ll make you think you’re fighting somebody and oh, it’s them and, you know, fighting against flesh and blood and it’s this person, this person and it is not our fight to get in strife and contention with people and to, you know, focus in on people, it’s that spirit behind that the enemy uses to cause friction and havoc in life. But he says, but if, if, if, if, he is caught, you gotta shine the light on the devil because he wants to hide behind, you know, generations.
«Well, it’s always been this way, you know, this just runs in your family. So just get with it». No, I got promise. And that curse is broken because of the blood of Jesus. Christ has redeemed me from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. I catch you. Not going out like that. He says, «But if he’s caught, he must pay. He must pay back seven times what he stole». And that was David’s mindset. He said, «Oh, no. You know, even when the lions come out here and the bears come out here and they try to steal my stuff when I’m out here in the field, oh no, I take back what belongs to me. I’m not just sitting back and saying, 'Well, you know, I hope I’ll get another one, or maybe, you know, that was God’s…'» no. «That was God’s will». No, that wasn’t God’s will. He says, «Even if he has to sell everything in his house,» think of that. «But if he be found,» one translation says, «He shall restore sevenfold and he shall give all the substance of his house».
And I’m telling you, the enemy will try to do everything that he can just like he tried to talk me outta going to be where I knew I needed to be, to get the revelation that I needed to have in my life, to break chains, to get rid of generational curses and all these things, you’ve got to shine the light and then as a result you’ll begin to walk in the blessing and you’ll receive payback, you’ll receive restitution, restoration, you’ll receive wholeness, you’ll receive deliverance, you’ll receive healing, you’ll receive everything, everything. That God said was yours.
So in closing, I’m gonna close with this point right here and make a note, «You’ll never win a battle that you don’t show up for». Amen, somebody. Sometimes, like I said, it’s just making a decision. Oh, devil. No, you didn’t, we are going to resist. We’re not going to accept this because this is not what God’s Word says, this is not what his plan says for my life. So we have to make up in our mind that we’re going to show up.
So Lord, we just thank you, thank you so much for our time together. Thank you that your people have heard your Word. I pray that it has fallen upon good ground. I pray that it will cause a conception that there will be that which you will cause to multiply and to bring forth a harvest in the lives of these, your precious people. So Lord, help us to be mindful of what to do in hard times and to find strength, to find hope, to find joy, to find confidence, to find encouragement, to find what we need is necessary so that we can experience victory. And say to 'em we remind you any giants that are in our life, any diagnoses, any bad reports, we cancel it and render it void and ineffective right now in the name of Jesus. You have no authority in our bodies, in our homes, in our finances, in our relationships. We send the alert right now, you are defeated and under our feet. We arrest you, we resist your authority, we renounce it right now because we have faith in what the blood has accomplished. So we thank you that grace has made, and we take it by faith right now.