“…when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;”
(1 Samuel 30: 1)
The Importance Of Empowering Your Subordinates
Whilst David and his men were away, the Amalekites invaded their city, and took the women and children. David and his men were fearless warriors, renowned for their prowess on the battlefield. If they were around, the Amalekites may not have succeeded. They were men of strength, but their absence led to the captivity of their wives and children.
Women like Deborah and Jael fought in the scriptures (see Judges 4). David was a fearless warrior since he was a boy. So fighting was not for men alone. David and his men didn’t teach their wives and children to fight, they failed to transfer strength, and it backfired in their absence.
Friend, it’s not enough to be a person of strength; God says, transfer your strength to those around you. Transfer the faith, knowledge, wisdom, abilities, skills, ministry, e.t.c that you have in you to people connected to you.
If your relationship with God is deep, if you’re strong in prayers and in the Word, teach those around you to follow suit. Teach subordinates how to get the job done; for every ability and strength, God planted in you, plant it in others also.
If those women and children were trained to fight, they would have defended themselves, and maybe there would be no need for David and his men to fight and rescue them.
Failure to transfer your strength may come back to haunt you someday. If you don’t transfer your strength, you will keep doing things you could have empowered others to do.
Prayers:
- Lord, give me wisdom and grace to transfer the strength I have in me, in Jesus’ name!
There Shall Be No Loss
‘The Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and had smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; 2. And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.”
(1 Samuel 30: 1-2)
David dwelt in Ziklag with his wives, children, his men and their wives and children; and while they were away on a mission, the Amalekites came and burned the city. The Amalekites attacked David’s city in his absence; they burnt and reduced David’s city to rubbles.
After burning Ziklag, they escaped with the women and children. The women and children weren’t killed. Despite the attack of the Amalekites, no life was lost. Despite the attacks, no destiny was truncated, and no life was short-circuited. Despite the attacks, the enemy could not inflict permanent damage.
Friend, God says, the attacks of the enemy will not consume your life or truncate your destiny; the enemy’s attacks will not cause you permanent damage; the enemy’s attacks will not bring any sorrow that heaven cannot heal or reverse; the attacks of the enemy cannot mess up your future and dreams. Whatever the enemy burns around you, he won’t get to you.
The enemy may burn your ‘Ziklag’, but everything will still be intact; the devil may fight you but nothing will be lost; he may shoot arrows but no one will be hurt; whatever the enemy does, there will be nothing missing and nothing broken. Whatever the enemy does against you will be inconsequential and insignificant. When he appears to succeed, his efforts will be a huge failure.
Though your ‘Ziklag’ be burnt, stay calm, and be sure that there will be nothing missing and nothing broken.
Prayer
- Father, though my ‘Ziklag’ be burnt, nothing shall be lost, in Jesus’ name!
Flee Spiritual Dryness
The Amalekites gained access into Ziklag and launched their attack through the south. According to bible history, the south of Ziklag was called the ‘Negev of Caleb’; it was a drought region; it was a region that had no rain. So, the Amalekites attacked David through the place of dryness.
Friend, every dryness in your life is a potential entry point for the enemy; every dry area of your life is an invitation for invasion. If your prayer life is dry, be careful, you are inviting the enemy to mess up your destiny.
If you manifest attitudes that smack of spiritual dryness, you are inviting the enemy for a satanic invasion; if you allow spiritual dryness to envelope your destiny, marriage, family, career, business, etc, you are making yourself vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks.
The Amalekites didn’t attack David the day he stayed close to the place of dryness; his connection to dryness made him vulnerable to attack much later. The enemy may not attack you immediately your life becomes dry and attractive to him; but when he strikes, you would hate the day you accepted dryness into your life.
Way Out Of Spiritual Dryness
Ask God for a fresh rain of His presence; deepen your walk with God; increase your time of prayer and fasting; make your life conducive for the rain of God’s presence; stay away from things that negate God commandments; make your life more attractive to the Holy Spirit by walking away from sin and unrighteousness. Discard anything that make you dry.
Conclusion
The only antidote to drought and dryness, is rain. Ask for God’s rain, and do your best in walking away from spiritual dryness.
Prayer:
Lord, I say no to spiritual dryness; let the rain of Your presence fall afresh on me, in Jesus’ name!
Your Future Is Intact
And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.” (1 Samuel 30: 2)
When the Amalekites attacked Ziklag, they robbed David and his men of their wives and children. Children are the successors of a man; children are the future. If they only took the children, the men could easily come back and have more children with their wives; these Amalekites took away the future of David and his men.
Until today, the enemy wants to truncate our future. The enemy is scared of what you and I will become in future; he is scared of God’s plans for us; he is scared of the deadly blows we will give him if we become strong in Christ; he is scared of the increase that will come to us if we wake up to a new day; he is scared of our future.
Notice that though the women and children were taken away, they were recovered. The future was not lost forever; the future was neither truncated nor buried; the enemies made brutal attempts to truncate the future, but in the end, the future remained intact.
Friend, God says, whatever happens, your future is intact. Nothing can truncate your future; nothing can cut short God’s plans for you; no conspiracy can bury your future; no plan from the pit of hell can destroy your future; no wicked gossip against you can stop what God wants to make happen in your future.
When men work against your future, God will not let them succeed; when they try to pull down your future, they will fail again and again.
Commit your future into the hands of God through prayers and through sacrificial seeds; if your future is in God’s hands, the enemy can’t gain access to it. If Jehovah is involved in your future, then your future is intact.
Prayer
- Lord, I believe Your word; my future is intact, in Jesus’ name!
Be An Accessible Leader
when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;” (1 Samuel 30: 1)
When the Amalekites attacked Ziklag and took away the women and children, David and his men were absent. The men of strength were absent from the city, and their city suffered harm. The men of strength were absent, and things went wrong; the men of strength left their homes vulnerable, and enemies attacked.
Friend, if you abandon your zone, the enemy might launch attacks that may haunt you later. If you are a spouse/parent and you are unavailable to provide leadership in your home, the enemy might step in and wreck havoc on your spouse and children. If you are competent but unavailable at your duty post, things might go wrong in your absence. If a system depends on your strength and you abandon it, you are making it vulnerable to collapse.
Today, God says, don’t abandon your home; don’t abandon your spouse, children, siblings, colleagues, etc when they need you; don’t walk away and watch a system that is dependent on you to collapse; don’t allow what God has put in your hands to be vulnerable; don’t abandon your ‘Ziklag’ for enemies to attack and burn.
The Amalekites attacked Ziklag and took the women and children away, and it became the problem of the men who left their homes unattended. If you have abandoned your home or anything that is under your care, don’t be surprised when you come back to see that the enemy has plundered your habitation and possessions.
Come home to your ‘Ziklag’; come home to the places you abandoned and left vulnerable; come back; don’t stay away.
Prayer
- Lord, give me grace and wisdom to go back to the places I have abandoned, in Jesus’ name!
Flee From Sin: Stop The Destroyer!
“…the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;” (1 Samuel 30: 1)
Our Focal Scripture outlines the sequence of the Amalekites’ attacks against David and his men. They invaded Ziklag, then they smote the city and finally they burnt the city.
Their invasion culminated in destruction; they may not have started destruction immediately after they got to Ziklag, they just came and beat the city, but their ultimate aim was to burn Ziklag.
Friend, hear God’s warning: when the enemy invades your life, his ultimate aim is to destroy you. When the enemy invades your life through the door of sin, he will beat you until he burns everything you have in you. If you allow the enemy to strike your health with sicknesses of known and unknown etiology, look beyond the immediate pains; there is a bigger plan to burn your life.
When the enemy beats your family or marriage with ceaseless squabbles, infidelity, bitterness, etc, be careful, he has a bigger plan to reduce everything you have built in years, to nothing. When the enemy beats your finances with repeated and stubborn challenges that deplete your finances, be careful, you just might be on the highway to lack and poverty.
Every beating of the enemy on your focus, consecration, dedication, relationship with God, prayer life, word study, career, business, relationships, etc will end in destruction. Every attack of the enemy against you, no matter how mild, will end up in reduction, destruction, and extinction.
Whatever happens, never let the enemy have an upper hand in your destiny; repel his attacks with prayers and spiritual warfare. Don’t allow the enemy to beat you or prevail over any part of your life; don’t allow the enemy to beat your territory.
Prayer
- Lord, I resist every beating from the enemy, in Jesus’ name
