DAILY VIDEO DEVOTIONAL
Victory seems to smell best after a humiliating defeat. Disappointment doesn’t have to be our enemy. It can be our friend — if we determine we will learn from it. Everyone experiences defeat, but not everyone becomes a better person after the loss. Defeat can make you a better person — or a bitter person.
For two years after I became a Christian, I experienced victory. My heart was aflame with the love of God. I wanted everyone to know His love. It was a thrilling time. But after two years, I began to make compromises. It began with small things and eventually led to bigger concessions. I found myself whipped by the power of sin. I was so defeated, I thought I would never again be able to preach or be used of God. Then God brought me to a crisis. I had to make a decision. I could try to live the Christian life in my own power. Or I could trust in Him — and find peace and revival. I chose the latter course and discovered how great is the love and mercy of God. He restored me to victory far beyond anything I could have imagined.
David also became a better person after having experienced defeat. Because of his fear of Saul, he experienced depression and eventually made some bad decisions. Those decisions led to the abduction of his family and the destruction of his home town by the Amalakites. David faced a critical moment. What would he do? How would he react? Such moments come to all of us. We face tragedy, discouragement, and defeat. How we respond in those moments is vitally important.
When David returned to Ziklag, he discovered that his and his men’s wives and children had been taken captive by the Amalakites, and their city had been burned. David and his men were crushed. They wept until they had no more power to weep. The hurt in their hearts was overwhelming.
The Bible says, “ David inquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?’ ‘Pursue them,’ he answered. ‘You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue’” (1 Samuel 30:8). When David came to this critical crossroads, he did the right thing. He “inquired of the Lord.” Earlier he had failed to do this, and it had gotten him into a mess. Now David knew he must depend on the Lord. He did just that.
The results were phenomenal. “David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back” (vv. 18,19). It was a great lesson for David and a great lesson for us.
For the believer, failure isn’t the end of the world. It can become a professor in the school of victory. God will bring us to a critical point in our lives, and we will have to make a fundamental decision. Will we attempt to direct our lives with our own wisdom and power — or will we inquire of God for His direction? When we inquire of Him, we find restoration, renewal, and revival. He will restore the years we have lost, the opportunities we have missed, and the joy we had forfeited. Grace, grace, amazing grace: The grace of God is endless. By His grace we can once again walk in victory.
I watched God apply His grace to my life. He gives back more than we could ever expect. But we must depend on Him. His grace cannot be applied to independent hearts, only to humble hearts: hearts that depend on God.
1 Samuel : Chapter 30
7) Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, “Bring me the ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him, 8) and David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.” 9) David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Valley, where some stayed behind. 10) Two hundred of them were too exhausted to cross the valley, but David and the other four hundred continued the pursuit. 11) They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat— 12) part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights. 13) David asked him, “Who do you belong to? Where do you come from?” He said, “I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago. 14) We raided the Negev of the Kerethites, some territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag.” 15) David asked him, “Can you lead me down to this raiding party?” He answered, “Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them.” 16) He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah. 17) David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. 18) David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. 19) Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.
Book of the Month
Sammy Tippit told his fiancée, “I can’t promise we’ll be rich, but life won’t be boring.”
Sammy had no idea what an understatement that would become. Beginning in the bars of Baton Rouge and the nightclubs of Chicago, Tippit has shared the news of life-changing faith in Christ all over the world – including in the middle of a revolution in Romania, the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda, and war in Burundi and the Congo.
Sammy’s lifelong adventure has come at a great price. He’s been cursed, threatened, arrested, deported, and blacklisted. He’s also been personally broken, ravaged with illness, and devastated by grief.
Yet he continues to preach to in stadiums, in open fields, and via satellite technology to hundreds of thousands around the globe. For all other books…
About Sammy Tippit Ministries
STM has been providing inspiration and help around the world for nearly 50 years. Sammy Tippit, founder and president, is a world renowned counselor, teacher and evangelist with experience serving and helping people in over 80 countries. Sammy provides materials that help people tackle a broad array of social, societal, psychological and spiritual issues. He is particularly passionate about making materials accessible to other countries around the world. Sammy is married to Debara “Tex” Tippit, and they have two children and five grandchildren.
Sammy Tippit Ministries is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization.
Contact: info@sammytippit.org
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