1 Samuel 30:8-10 (NKJV) 8 So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.” 9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor.
This week we have been looking at the role faith in God plays in walking in the supernatural. Faith is the force that bridges the gap between the world of Spirit and the natural world where we live. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that faith is necessary if we are going to please God and Hebrews 11:1 tells us the kind of faith that pleases God. It is faith that gives substance to hope and becomes evidence that what God has promises he will do. Faith comes through the Word of God so the Word becomes the focal point of the substance and evidence of faith.
We have been specifically looking at this in the context of an incidence in the life of David. He was in exile because King Saul was so jealous of his popularity that he threatened to kill him. The Philistines who were sheltering David declared war on Israel. David had to choose what to do. He did not want to fight against Israel but he could not appear disloyal to his hosts. In the end, God moved so that the Philistines sent him home so he did not fight against his people yet still appeared loyal to the Philistine king.
Upon his return to the city where he and his might men were living, they found it had been sacked and their families taken. After his initial dismay, David chose to encourage himself in the Lord by praising God and remember what God had done in his life. This released hope, the possibility that the Lord could do something to help them. He then enquired of the Lord, received a promise from God and faith arose in his heart. The hope that God could do something was given substance by the promise that if he pursued the enemy he would recover all that was lost. That promise became his evidence that God not only could help him but that God indeed had helped him and he would see the manifestation in the natural.
Of course, there was something else he had to do to cause what was true in the spirit to manifest in the natural. He had to obey the promise. He had to pursue the enemy. In our walk of supernatural faith, we must do the same. Sometimes what we must do is clear.
The bible says give and it shall be given unto you. (Luke 6:38) If we give, the promise is evidence that we shall receive. It is already done. However, we must give. If we do not give, the promise is not active. We have hope that God will give back to us, but if we believe that is the evidence of his provision, we must give. There are many times when it is not quite so clear. We may need to ask the Lord what to do. I believe it is important to consult with those who are over us in the Lord. We want to act on the promise in an appropriate way. We do not want to think we are acting on the evidence of the Word and find we are mistaken.
When David chose to act on the evidence of the promise, a number of things happened. First, his faith was tested. He got to the brook called Besor and 1/3 of his force simply could not continue. Remember, they had ridden home from the battle and found there city had been attacked. They had not had any rest. David must decide if he can continue with only 400 men instead of 600 men.
If we receive the promise as the evidence that God is moving for us, the number of men we have does not matter. We are in a supernatural place as opposed to a natural one. God in moving so David is depending on that not on the strength of his army. If no one went but David himself, I believe the result would have been the same.
We must understand that walking in faith is walking in the supernatural. The devil will always try to get us to focus on what we can or cannot do. If we were operating on our own strength this would usually be evidence that we will fail. However, when faith is our evidence it is not the evidence of our ability to cause the promise to happen. It is the evidence that God will do it. Our ability becomes irrelevant. What are relevant are our faith and our obedience
We all know the story of Peter walking on water. He stepped out of the boat on the evidence of the Word of Jesus when he said, “Come to me.” All of the natural evidence said that he could not do what Jesus asked. However, he had other evidence. He had the supernatural evidence of the promise of God. He walked until he let the natural evidence override the supernatural. Then Jesus rescued him and said, “Why did you doubt?” We need to focus on the supernatural evidence not the natural evidence. If we weaken, he is there to help us through.
David decided to go on in spite of the evidence of losing 1/3 of his force. He did not know the strength of the enemy. If 200 of his men were too tired to go on, how many more would be too weak to fight once they overtook the enemy. That did not matter. David had supernatural evidence that if he pursued the enemy, he would overtake them and recover everything.
The next thing that happens in this story is that God provides some supernatural help. They just happened to find an Egyptian in a field who was the servant of the same Amalekites who had attacked Ziklag. He had gotten sick and his master had left him behind. He agreed to take David to the Amalekites as long as David swore not to kill him or turn him over to his former master.
What are the odds of this Egyptian getting sick and being left behind? What are the odds that David would find him in the field? God was already moving at the moment he gave the promise to David. As David acted on the Supernatural evidence, supernatural provision was on the way.
What was the result of David’s action on the faith evidence of the promise?
1 Samuel 30:18-20 (NKJV) 8 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. 19 And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all. 20 Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”
Earlier it says that David attacked the enemy from twilight to the evening of the next day and killed all but 400 young men. I do not know how many men the enemy had, but the number that escaped was the same as the number David had with him. Obviously, he had been greatly outnumber but God gave him victory. We read about that he did indeed recover everything that had been taken from them. In addition, he took all the flocks and herds as spoil.
When we choose the supernatural evidence over the natural evidence, God does exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think. (Eph. 3:20) Is there some evidence that is telling you that you cannot succeed? Is there some evidence that would convince you that God would not move for you this time?
Enquire of the Lord. Let hope rise in your heart. Find a promise and meditate on that promise until you know that it is the Word of the Lord for you. Obey what the Lord reveals to you to do about that promise. The enemy will try the promise. Do not give in. Keep believing the supernatural evidence. Jesus will always be there to make sure you make it through. In the end, you will see the supernatural power of God bring about his will in your life.
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