“RECOVER ALL”

Monday Morning Manna

^“And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.”                                       1 Samuel 30:16-17, KJV

It was honestly the most amazing football game that I’ve ever witnessed! The game was held on November 5, 1994, during my first year in college.  The Alcorn State University Braves who at that point had only lost two games were playing the Mississippi Valley State University Delta Devils who were 4-6.  Though their record didn’t show it, the Delta Devils were a good ball club and rival games tend to always bring out the best in a team especially when they have home field advantage.  On the first few plays of the game the Delta Devils had hit superstar quarterback the late Steve “Air II” McNair causing him to be sidelined the entire first three quarters due to a hamstring injury.  Without Steve, the Delta Devils were able to initiate a strong offensive plan that had them leading the contest 24-0 for the first three quarters.  The players who were a bit overly confident that they would win began to celebrate on their sidelines so much so, that it got in the feelings of Mr. McNair.  Steve limped over to then Coach Cardell  Jones and whispered in his ear, “Coach, tape me up and put me in.” It’s tragic that champions like him are not around anymore. With no thought of the fact that he had at least five more games to play, that this was the year that he was being considered as a strong Heisman Trophy candidate and that his NFL career could be jeopardized, for the good of the team Steve was taped up and put in the game.  The rest was absolutely amazing! Attendees at that game saw him limp the entire fourth quarter avoiding defender after defender and throwing touchdown after touchdown.  Steve and his Braves went on to win that game 49-24 having scored all of their T.D’s in the final quarter of the game-it was amazing!  That year Steve threw for over 6,000 yards and made the cover of Sports Illustrated.  The takeaway from that amazing game is that the human spirit is incredible and once it is enlivened by the Spirit of God it can do amazing things. 

In the same way the text above chronicles another superstar in his own right.  At the time of the text David has not yet been crowned the King of Israel.  In fact, his arch rival King Saul who is the seated King has been trying to kill David for over ten years.  Saul’s attacks have become so successful that for David to obtain safety he had to go live in the land of his enemies the Phillistines.  While in Phillistine country David and his 600 men lived in a town called Ziglag near the southern part of Philistia.  One day, David and his men went out to work and the town of Ziglag was raided by a group called the Amalekites.  The Amalekites burned Ziglag to the ground and took all of the women and children captive.  Upon their return to the torched town David’s men blamed him for the atrocity and attempted to take his life.  Embittered by the fact that he’d lost his home, his family and the trust of his men David became distressed but according to verse six of this chapter he encouraged himself in the Lord.  After encouraging himself David prayed and heard God tell him to pursue to enemies in order to find his family.  Somehow, David motivated his men to follow him once more and in so doing they came to the village of the Amalekites where they witnessed the scene taking place in verses 16-17. 

Just like, the MVSU Delta Devils who thought they had clinched a win after having left the Alcorn Braves scoreless for three quarters, the Amalekites also began to celebrate.  According to the text they were drinking and dancing over the fact that they had pillaged Ziglag and had to their credit taken numerous slaves.  It’s never wise to celebrate too early! Let me suggest to you that our adversary the devil has been celebrating lately as if he has clinched another victory.  What he sees is an entire world terrified and frantic due to the present COVID-19 pandemic that has the entire populace sheltered inside their homes and even the entire populous of prisons sheltered in their cells.  If that were not enough no end seems to be in sight, the numbers of COVD related deaths continue to rise daily and now worldwide protest has ensued due to the recent murder of the now infamous George Floyd who was killed just weeks ago in a heinous act of police brutality.  Can’t you imagine what the devil must be thinking?           I would bet that he’s drinking, dancing and excited about all of the turmoil that he has been complicit in causing but what he hasn’t figured is that there’s an injured but encouraged champion just over the hill ready to get in the game. 

The story goes that early that morning when the Amalekites were hung over from their night of carousing in comes David and his men who utterly destroy all of them and end up recovering everything and everyone that had been stolen from Ziglag. Brothers and Sisters my appeal to you is that God wants you to recover everything that the devil has stolen from you over the years.  The enemy of our souls has burned many of our hopes to the ground, he has stolen our joy, arrested our faith and holds our families captive while he and his demons dance and drink in victory but the good news is that the game is not yet over.  God is coaching a team full of Christians who simply need to whisper into his ear that they are ready to be taped up and put into the game.  To be taped up by God in the spiritual sense is to have Him apply the living Blood of His Son Jesus to us thereby, making us able to get moving again.  We are experiencing unprecedented challenges in the world today but if you’re ready to get in the game, God is ready to use you today so that you can recover all.  My appeal today is that you began to see yourself getting back in the game and giving it all you’ve got.  If you’ve never been saved before you can get back in the game by simply accepting Jesus as your Savior.  If you’ve backslidden you can slide back by rededicating your life to Christ today and if you by chance may be a distressed Christian try encouraging yourself and getting back in the game.  God loves you so much that He has sent His Son Jesus to die for your sins.  Accept that finished work of Jesus and take your place on the field.  All of the help of Heaven is waiting on you to shut the devil up, stop his celebration and recover your stuff!

Sincerely,

ADB