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by Scott Johnson

            Imagine coming home from a business trip to find your house burned to the ground, your wife and kids missing, and a note nailed to a tree in your front yard that reads, “I’ve got your wife and kids. You’ll never see them again. Now, we’re even!”

            What kind of payback is this?! You have no real enemies—you’re known as everyone’s friend. You can’t imagine who would do this. You don’t know where to start. Suddenly, you’re overwhelmed with feelings of anger, hurt, panic and fear. The emotional pain is intense. You break down and cry—cry until you have no more tears. When the weeping stops, the craving to blame rises up strong in you. The unquenchable drive of human nature runs through your bones.

            While this seems like a surreal story in your life, it was a very real one in David’s life:

“Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded…and attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep…Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” (1 Samuel 30:1-6).

This is so like life! You’re advancing, your retirement account is increasing, your children are healthy and on the right track, your business is thriving, your marriage is harmonious…and then the devil attacks. A curve ball is thrown at you!

It happens to all of us—and it happened to David and his closest friends. So what do you do on the worst day of your life? You do what David did.

David strengthened himself in the Lord…and went to church…and inquired of the Lord what to do next. God told him to “pursue” (1 Samuel 30:7-8).

One word can change your life forever. One word can set the course for your success. In that word “pursue” was the assurance that David would have everything he needed to overtake the enemy and recover all!

I declare today to you, “Pursue!” And you’ll have everything you need to overtake your enemy and recover all.

When God gives you a word, when He gives you direction, and you follow through with it, He gives you assistance in the midst of it for your success.

            Your best revenge—when the devil steals from you—is success.

When David and his troops pursued, they went on a forced march. It required discipline—meaning you’ll also have to do something you might not have ever done before to recover all!

“And when he had brought him down, there they were, spread out over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. 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” (1 Samuel 30:16-18).

What I love about David and all he went through was this:

·        He didn’t blame God for the tragedy. He didn’t say, “God, I don’t know why you allowed this to happen to me. God, I just don’t understand.” That kind of talk is blaming God.

·        David even refused to blame those closest to him—which, for us, is the next best thing to blaming God.

·        David put the blame where the blame was due. He gave the devil all the credit! He blamed his real adversary.

When the devil wants you to remember your failure and keep you down, your best revenge is to be successful. So on your quest for success and recovery, remember these steps:

1.      You encourage yourself in the Lord—rather than waiting on someone else to come along and do it for you. David strengthened himself and went to church.

2.      Get direction—from God directly and from God through others. David inquired of the Lord.

3.      Pursue restoration. Overtake your enemies and recover all!

4.      Introduce new disciplines into your life. Discipline is doing things you don’t want to do when you don’t want to do them. Build daily disciplines into your life. Do what you don’t want to do to expand your intellect, health, education and spiritual growth. Create resistance in your life, like a weight lifter does, to build your mental and spiritual muscle!

5.      Be aware of additional assistance God sends to you in the form of others. God will give you people to help you on your journey. Receive from them. Submit to them.

There is GREATNESS stamped all over every day of 2010! There is success written on your days! So whatever you’re facing, stand in faith for this word and know it is the truth. It is the year for “twice as much as we need,” so stand on that in faith as well.

            As a nation, we are in transition—from where this nation used to be and to where we’re going. We’ve been through 13 recessions, including the one we’re in. It’s what we do with this recession that will make a difference for our future. We’re in the middle—in twilight—where it is no longer daytime, but it’s not quite nighttime.

            David was once there…and it’s where his assault began that led to his success.

Don’t wait for sunrise or sunset to start yours. Begin now! Begin today recovering all! God has prosperity, abundance, plenteousness, blessing, wholeness, completion and health written on your days for 2010. And if you can believe it, you can have it!

Releasing the power of possibility!