purpose

Living in Danger

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You live in danger every single day whether you know it or not or sense it or not.  Some dangers are definitely greater than others, as are the threats and consequences.  When you get into your vehicle to drive to work or pick up the kids or drive to church on Sunday morning, there is a level of danger there with every vehicle you pass going the other direction.  Another level of danger is for those in professions that put them directly in harm’s way, such as first responders and our military and even health professionals.  But there is still another great danger for the child of God that is often overlooked.  David faced great danger when he went out to fight against Goliath, but he also faced great danger playing the harp for King Saul.

SCRIPTURE

“And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played [music] with his hand, as at other times; but [there was] a spear in Saul’s hand. 11 And Saul cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his presence twice.”  I Samuel 18:10-11

You’ve probably never had anyone throw a spear at you and neither have I, but we have still been in great danger.  What was the danger?  David faced great danger because he was doing God’s will.  It may sound strange, but doing God’s will can put you in great danger.  If you struggle with that truth, you might ask the apostle Paul about the dangers he faced in spreading the gospel or ask Daniel who was thrown into the lion’s den.  Jesus would really be the one to ask about the dangers of doing the will of the Father!

Our greatest danger is not the circumstances we face in life, but the greatest danger is that you don’t escape those circumstances and situations that stop you from doing God’s will.  God’s will was for David to get to the throne of Israel and to reign as King.  God has a will for your life and the enemy does everything possible to see to it that you doing something else.  The danger is in not escaping to keep doing God’s will.  God wants you to escape whatever it is that is hindering you from doing His will.

But how do you escape those dangers that kill your divine mission?

  1. Stay away from anyone who has a spear in their hand.  You really need to be aware and discerning of those around you who live on the edge of explosion, ready to verbally explode on you.  When Saul prophesied in his house, he wasn’t telling the future, but he was angry, demanding and loud.  And David was called in to help with playing music and minister.  David escaped because he knew that what was coming out of Saul’s mouth and what was in his hand were not a good combination.
  2. Believe that you may need to escape from the same person more than once.  David could have taken the spear and taken King Saul’s life in that moment, but he was innocent of King Saul’s life.  There are some Goliaths God wants you to take down, and there are some Sauls God wants you to remain innocent towards.
  3. You can escape by physically leaving.  That’s what David did.  He didn’t hang around to get an apology, nor did he act like nothing happened.  He physically left the house.  There may be times you need to leave the house to escape.  It’s good to leave at times so you don’t say or do something you’ll regret later on.
  4. You can escape when God is with you.  Two things God wants you to do in life is endure to the end and you will be saved, and escape to keep doing His will for your life. 1 Samuel 18:14 “And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the LORD [was] with him.”  The odds of you escaping all that life throws as you is so much higher when God Himself is right there with you.

God’s great mission for your life to be a light to the world and a proclaimer of His love and forgiveness all depends on you continually escaping every circumstance.  Stay close to Him, escape, and keep doing God’s will.

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Is There Not a Cause?

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Most people live with some kind of a cause.  It’s their passion and drive and what gets them up every morning to go do what they do.  But sadly, life can run over us and cause us to be so busy we completely forget our cause.  Sometimes it’s fear that causes us to forget or disregard our cause.  This is what happened to Israel’s army in their battle with the Philistines.  Goliath came out each day for forty days defying the army of the living God.  Goliath was the commander of the entire battlefield and he even set the rules in place.  The rules were as follows:

“Choose you a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.”  “If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants.
But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.”  I Samuel 17:8-9

The shear fear of Goliath caused all of Israel’s army to forget the cause for which the challenge had been made.  Fear has a way of blinding us from our purpose in life.  Coming upon the fortieth day, Israel’s army even forgot about the challenge, all they could see and hear was the giant spewing threats morning and evening.  But David showed up willing to fight against the oversized Goliath and asked, “Is there not a cause?”  David was saying, “There’s something worth fighting for here!”  Think about it, the cause was embedded in the challenge and it’s the same thing we must fight for today—freedom.  If Israel wanted to continue to live in freedom, they needed a freedom fighter to kill the giant.  David believed the freedom of his family was worth fighting for and the freedom of his countrymen was worth fighting for. 

On March 23, 1775 It was Patrick Henry who said, “Give me liberty, or give me death.”  Many churches and followers of Christ today have forgotten our cause.  Our cause as a church is not to build big fancy churches or to have thousands attending our services.  Our cause is not to dress up and line up every Sunday morning ready for battle but never do anything.  Our cause is not to impress those who are watching.  Our cause is great and was given to us by Christ Himself.  He sacrificed and died on the cross so that we might be set free.  Our cause is helping those who are in bondage to be set free by the power and grace of God.  Our cause is in declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ by which all people can be set free.  There are those today who need to be set free from the Goliath of their sin, the power of darkness and even dead religious rituals.  

As you go out into the world today, remember you have a cause.  Jesus came to set captives free and your cause as a follower of Christ is to show captives the way to that freedom. You can be free in Jesus’s name and if you are free, do what David did, help someone else get free.  

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