Take the Detour | 1 Samuel 29–30

You're listening to the Bridgetown Church Podcast with

Pastor Casey Kendall, where our vision is Jesus, our mission is

people, and our cause is love. Thanks for tuning in.

Let's dive in. First Samuel chapter 30, verse

1 Samuel 30:6

6. We're just going to read this

verse and we're going to jump back into chapter 29.

And then David was greatly distressed, if he could say

greatly distressed this morning, for the people spoke of stoning

him literally by stones, rocks, because the soul of all the

people was grieved in every man for his sons and his daughters.

But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

Maybe in some of your versions that might read this, but David

encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

Lord, thank you for your word. And we pray that you would speak

that today. Our eyes would be awesome,

struck by the beauty of Jesus, that our heart would be aligned

with the will of Jesus, that our ears would be attentive to the

voice of Jesus. Speak today by the power of your

spirit Lord, I pray that I would preach is never sure to preach

again as a dying man to dying men and women.

We ask that you'd give us an urgency.

We pray that our hope would be in the gospel of Jesus Christ

that we would stand firm upon the cross and the power of the

resurrection and Lord that you would do your work not by our

might or by our power, by our schemes, by our strategies, but

by your spirit Lord, we pray this now in Jesus name and

everyone said Amen. We just look at your neighbor

and say neighbor, my neighbor, take the detour, take the

detour. I joined.

Yep, I actually joined. I joined 140 million active

users on an app called Waze. Waze is a community based

navigation app. Primarily this app is used for

drivers for turn by turn directions, live traffic

updates, real time alerts on road conditions, real time

alerts on accidents, real time alerts where the police are,

real time alerts on where the hazards in the roads are ways.

On many occasions has become my best friend.

On some occasions it has become my worst enemy.

Last year I've made a decision to take my wife away for her

birthday and while we were away and while we were making our way

home, we hopped on from Huntington Beach.

The four O 5 S from the four O 5.

I knew I knew how to get home. So on the 405, the Waze had

began to notify me that there was a detour, that it was time

for me to get off the freeway. But the freeway was moving, so

why would I ever get off the freeway when the freeway was

moving? The Waze couldn't be right in

this situation. And so I cleared the navigation

notification away. And again I kept driving.

And as I drove on again, Waze notified me again that it was

time to get off a different exit and get off the freeway.

But the the freeway was still moving.

So I thought to myself, I cannot get off yet.

So not only did I clear the notification, I actually stopped

the app turn my phone over after I cleared the app from from

driving in there. I had found myself driving still

a little bit further and then red lights flashed in front of

me as they flashed in front of me.

I knew that the four O 5 is going to turn into a parking lot

and we sat there on the four O 5.

One of the fastest freeways in California turned into the stop

sign of California for three hours.

I don't know if you've ever found yourself there, where you

had been tempted to follow your own ways.

I don't know if you've ever found yourself at a spot in your

life where you knew that God was prompting you, notifying you,

directing you. He was now telling you what to

do, but you kept on ignoring Him.

His ways seemed longer. Not that loving.

I want to encourage you to take the detour.

I don't know if you've ever found yourself there, where

you'd found that God's ways seemed like an interruption to

your life, really, not an intervention in your life.

I want to encourage you to take the detour.

I don't know if you've ever found yourself there in life

where God had actually promised you on how you can get there,

but His ways look different than your ways.

I just want to encourage you this morning to take the detour.

If there's anything I want you to go away with here, it's

actually to take the detour. Some of you haven't just gotten

it yet. So I just want to say it again.

If there's anything I can encourage you to do this morning

and that is that you would take the detour.

I want to encourage you this morning that you would take the

detours. Now, there's two different types

of detours in life. There's detours that distract

you #1 there's detours that distract you.

These are detours that that you have chosen an easy way out of a

situation you had found yourself getting off the freeway of life

and an exit that God never taught you.

I've seen this with young people.

I've seen this with older people.

I've seen this with singles. I've seen I've seen this with

married people. I've seen this with with

elementary students. I've seen this with middle

school students. I've seen this with high school

students and college students. I used to lead youth ministry

and people were taking detours all the time.

Some students would come in high as a kite, and I don't mean they

were floating, I mean they came in taking drugs before they came

into youth group. Kids would collapse on the

ground, not by the power of the spirit, but but because of the

power of the marijuana. I've seen high school students

taking the detours of their life by filling their water bottle

with something that wasn't water.

I've seen this not just in high school students.

I've seen this in in and people who are single where they strive

to find the next person in their life and within just two weeks

they're sure that they're going to marry them, but they don't

really know them yet. I've seen this with married

couples where marriage gets a little bit rocky and because

it's a little bit rocky, they make a choice now that they

would find their satisfaction, their validation outside of

their marriage, and they take a detour out of their marriage.

I've seen people do this out in the world where they steal to

get what they want. They take a position that's not

theirs and possessions that are not owned by them and they're

taking a detour. I've seen people do this in

church. They have their Bibles open, but

on their phone is a football game.

I've seen people now in life and in situations where thank you

Steve for that. I've seen people in their lives

where detours have become a distraction for them.

But there's something other than a distracted detour.

There is something called a divine detour.

A divine detour in your life is something that God is not just

ordering your steps, but he's ordering your stops.

I've seen divine detours in people's lives when God is the

author. The detour is not a defect, it's

actually direction. I've seen divine detours in

people's lives where the plot twist that you didn't plan are

the very chapters that he uses to reveal his purpose that you

couldn't see. Now, these detours that are

divine are not convenient or comfortable in your life.

The detours that are divine will feel like they're out of the

way, but they're still in God's will.

I've seen divine detours where you can find that in your life

that you think that God is punishing you, but he's actually

positioning you. Look at all of Scripture is

filled with God giving people divine detours in their life.

Abraham had a detour in his life.

We look at Job, he had a detour in his life.

Joseph, the man who wore the coat of many colors, had a

detour in his life. Esther had a detour.

Ruth had a That's what the world does.

It fulfills something that you think is going to last, but it

doesn't last in your life. The satisfaction doesn't last.

The pleasure doesn't last. It's there for a season, but

then there's another detour that you have to take and you're

taking yourself way out of the way.

But God often will give his greatest Saints a detour.

Job had a detour and Jonah had a detour.

Philip in the book of Acts had a detour.

We've seen the disciples walking on the Emmaus Rd.

They had a detour in their life. All throughout Scripture, God

gives people detours, and this detour that we see in David's

life led to great discouragement in his life.

And that's sometimes what a detour can do.

In your life, you just didn't expect this to happen.

And because you didn't expect it, you find that in your life

you've become bitter rather than better.

And now in your life, we see, as Tony Evans once preached, that

God is more interested in your development than your arrival.

He writes he cares more about your character than he does your

comfort. Tony Evans says your purity is

more important to God than your productivity.

Development takes time, he says test and it takes failure and

overcoming. So if there's anything that I

want to tell you today, it's take the detour that God has

called you to take DDC. Someone has once said that the

detour is something where we might delight in destinations,

but God places a high and holy delight on your development.

And David is about to go through another detour.

I mean, look at David's life. He's the man who is anointed by

God. He's called by his father, but

yet he's hated by his brothers. He beats Goliath.

He's the Conqueror, he's the warrior, he's the the soldier.

He plays worship and he knows how to fight.

David was the man, but yet David's life was full of detours

in his life. And here in David's life he

finds himself coming back to Ziklag and everything is gone.

And he, because everything is gone, he is so discouraged and

the people actually hated him. They had found that in his life

and in their life that because everything was gone, it was

David's fault. And now because it's David's

fault, let's stone him. Stoning during that time was not

smoking a joint. Stoning at this time is throwing

rocks to kill somebody. And in this moment, they want to

look at David and they actually want to get rid of him.

And the Bible says, but David encouraged himself and the Lord

his God. The greatest thing you could do

in your detour is to encourage yourself.

Not wait for Pastor Casey to encourage you, not wait for the

worship team to encourage you, not wait for your local, your

highlighted preacher on Instagram or YouTube to

encourage you. The Bible says that you can

encourage yourself in the Lord. The responsibility of my own

encouragement falls not on somebody that might attend a

church. It falls on me, who is the

church, to go to God and find my encouragement in Him.

How did David get to this spot? How did he find himself in this

place? Well, let's back all the way up

to chapter 29. Because the Bible says that we

can trust in the Lord with all of our heart.

When we lean on on our own understanding in all of our

ways, we can acknowledge Him and He will direct our path.

How did David find himself in this spot?

How can you encourage yourself, yourself when you find yourself

in a place and in a space that just is not what you expected?

Can you write this down please? Number one, number one, number

one, number one, he's open for review.

He's open for review. Notice verse 1 of chapter 29.

Then the Philistines. We know that the Philistines are

the enemy of Israel. They gathered together all their

armies at AFEC and the Israelites encamped by a

fountain which is in Jezreel. And the Lords of the Philistines

passed in review. Can you just circle that word in

your Bible in review by hundreds and by thousands.

But David and his men passed in review at the rear with Achish.

Then the Princess of the Philistine said, What are these

Hebrews doing here? And Achish said to the Prince of

the Philistines, Is this not David the servant of Saul, king

of Israel, who has been with me these days or these years and to

this day I have found no fault in him, since he defected to me.

But the Princess of the Philistines were angry with him.

So the Princess of the Philistines said to him, if you

would just give me your attention at this point in time,

David finds himself living in the land of the enemy.

He's living in a city called Zic Lag.

Can you just say that with me? Zic Lag?

He finds himself there because he's tired of running from Saul.

And he knows if he just goes into the land of the Philistines

that Saul will no longer seek his life.

And that's exactly what happens. But here's the dilemma.

The Philistines are a about to fight against the Israelites and

the Israelites king who is called the lead shepherd and

fight for the Israelite people now would be fighting against

the same people he's called to rule.

Now David finds himself in this spot.

The Philistines are at a spot called AFAC.

Afac is meaning strong. It was a fortified city and an

enclosed city. The Israelites the Bible say

they were encamped by a fountain which is in Jezreel.

The word Jezreel means that God sews in.

God scatters from AFAC to Jezreel.

There is a A-40 mile difference. Now the number 40 might spark

something in your mind. The number 40 throughout

Scripture means that they find themselves in a place of

testing, trial and preparation, and ultimately transformation.

They're 40 miles away from each other.

So on one side it's the Philistines, and David is on the

side of the Philistines. On the other side is the side of

the Israelites and Saul. King Saul is now leading the

Israelites. Now at this point in time, David

finds himself in a place where the Bible says that they lined

up in position. Now understand during that time

they're being looked over by the Lords of the Philistines and the

Bible says twice something in verse 2 is used that I want you

to highlight and pay attention to.

If you see the same word used in a verse verse pay attention to

it. The Bible says that they pass by

in review of hundreds and thousands.

Then the Bible says also at the end of verse 2 that they found

themselves in review at the rear with a cash.

Now I want you to pay attention to that because this is so

important for every single one of of our lives is that we are

constantly in review. We're in review in the front,

we're in review of the rear. Now the Lords of the Philistines

look over at David's life and they review where he's at.

The word review there means to assess, to examine, and it means

to institute change if necessary.

Now here is David, and he's on the other side of the line, and

him being on the other side of the line raises more questions

for him to the Philistines than it does in answers.

Question number one, What are the Hebrews doing here?

Look at that notice also. Question #2 For with what could

he reconcile himself to his master, except with the heads of

these men? Question #3 in the Scripture, is

this not David, of whom they sang to one another and dances,

saying that Saul has slain to thousands, but David his 10s of

thousands? Their questions of David's life

led to the examination of David's life.

Now notice this examination of David led to an exit in the army

that David didn't expect. So much so the Bible says that

David says to the king, Well, have I not been pure before your

eyes? But when they examined and when

they reviewed, this led to an exit that David was not really

ready for. I want you to see this.

I want you to see what's happening.

The Lords of the Philistines, God used these people who didn't

know him to bring David to a different place.

The notification was given through the statements by all of

these questions, and God used what the Philistine saw to keep

David safe. It's important principle because

there's many times in life that I'm set in my own ways, that I

am no longer open to His word. This is often times what happens

in my life. Don't mess up my routine.

Don't invade my rhythm. You better have a good reason,

but this review can cause you to have a better view of your

future. Am I alone up here?

You have a certain time that you wake up.

You have a certain time that a rhythm of how you prepare your

coffee. You have a certain routine in

the morning that you read your Bible at a certain time in a

certain chair in a certain place.

You have a certain routine on how you get to work.

How do you prepare for work? You, you, you have a certain

routine in your life. I was, I was telling one of the

brothers here at church, let me go grab you a coffee.

He's on. Nope.

You're going to mess up my routine.

You're going to mess up my routine.

I, I, I, I think we all have routines and in our lives God

allows the examination of our hearts in review towards Him to

be those that would cause our view to be better for what the

future has in store. Listen to this.

David's in a place he shouldn't be.

He's surrounded by people that he fought against and not fought

for with a posture that he shouldn't have.

And this is what happens. We refuse God's course

correction because we want to be in control.

Can I just say that again? We refuse God's course

correction because we want to be in control.

I learned this early in my marriage how much I loved

control. I would say some of Lisa and our

greatest arguments happened in the car.

They happened in the car. My driving was impeccable.

My driving was filled with law abiding principles and every

time my wife took the passenger seat and I took the will, it

seemed like we ended up in a little bit of an argument.

These were issues that I didn't see about myself.

My wife told me that as I was driving that I drove too close

to people's bumpers. I told her I wanted to read

their bumper stickers. She then told me again that your

depth perception is off. You stop way too late at the

stop sign. Then she told me these words.

You don't give yourself enough time to get off the exit.

At first I was angry in the car. Years down the road, I was not

only angry, I was actually sad that I was angry because my

wife, a lot like the Holy Spirit, is always right.

Detours can come through the discernment of a situation in

your life as other people that you trust have the liberty to

speak into your life. And those detours sometimes come

as a declaration. There are times where people's

review of my life has led to repentance, has led to renewal,

has led to restoration, has led to removal and redemption in my

life. And that's what happens when

people speak into your life. We can't see everything all the

time about our own lives. And thus people that you trust

and love speak into your life something because they care

about you and they care about me.

So what do you do when someone gives a review on your life?

We live in a very opinionated culture.

I mean, you're on Instagram and everyone thinks they can comment

about everything. You don't even know a person and

you comment. We have opinions about what

happens on Facebook. We we have all these sorts of

words that fly out in all these different areas of our lives.

We live in a very opinionated culture.

Here's what we have to realize. You cannot give the greatest

weight to those in your life who've bought your cheapest

seats. Can I say that again, you cannot

give the greatest weight in your life to people who've bought the

cheapest seats to your life. That's we often give those

people who have bought the cheapest seats to are involve

themselves in our lives the greatest weight with their

words. And So what they say begins to

direct every portion of our life and they're just watching on the

sidelines while people are trying to actively engage with

you on the field. But I want to encourage you to

do this if you would if someone gives you a review, let let

there be some mindful listening. Mindful listening James chapter

one. Let every man be quick to hear

and slow to speak. Mindful listening is asking

yourself this question when people you bring yourself in

review of the army and that is this is what they're saying

true? Is what they're saying helpful?

Is what they're saying inspired by the Holy Spirit?

Is it necessary that they said this and is it kind and line up

with the word of God? You want to give some mindful

listening. The second thing I want to

encourage you to do is use discernment and reflection.

Use discernment and reflection. Not everything people say to you

is the right thing about you. And so I want to use discernment

and I want to use reflection. Matthew chapter 4, Jesus said

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that

proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Hebrews 4 says that the word of God is living and it's active

and it's sharper than any 2 edged sword.

When anyone leaves your comment line and they want to say

something to you, match it with discernment on the divine

authority of God's word. Can I encourage you to do this

#3 on these detours of review, There are unexpected encounters.

There are divine moments that God leads you to.

In John chapter 4, we see this lived out with the Samaritan

John 4 · chapter mention

woman. This was a divine encounter.

Jesus said if you drink of that water, you will thirst again.

And, and he said, go, go call your husband.

Oh, in fact, you don't have us. You have, you've had five

husbands. There's this divine encounter.

We were just a working out last week and we got to pray with

this Indian brother who works at Azusa as a chef.

And as we're praying for him, he says, well, can I pray for you?

And he says begins to pray like Papa and with his his Sri Lankan

accent and he begins to pray things in our lives that we

never told him. It's this divine encounter at

the gym. Do you see?

They're going to be unexpected encounters like that that God

brings. I want to encourage you be open

to community. Be open to community that that

is, we're going to know loyally, not ourselves together.

And then #5 be open to change and trust the Lord.

I, I, I want it. One pastor put it this way.

He said hear his voice, have his ear and belong to his body.

Hear his voice, have his ear, belong to his body.

It's interesting that God would use those who didn't know him to

speak to the one who was called by him, anointed by him, used by

him. The writer of Psalms and the

defeater of the giants didn't understand where he was, and God

uses the words of these Philistines to bring him to a

place that he needed to be. And that was a detour.

Leave yourself open to review with the right people in your

life. Second thing, be willing to

return. Be willing to return.

If you're in a detour, be willing to return.

Notice this, the Bible says in verse 4, they said to the king,

Make this fellow return, that he may go back to the place which

you have appointed for him, and do not let him go down with us

to battle, lest in the battle he become our adversary.

For with what could he reconcile himself to his master, if not

with the heads of these men? Is this not David of whom they

sang to one another and the dances, saying, Saul has slain

his thousands and David is 10 thousands?

Then Akesh called David and said to him, Surely as the Lord

lives, you've been upright, and you're going out, and you're

coming in with me, and the army is good and my sight.

For to this day I have not found evil in you since the day of

your coming to me. Nevertheless, the Lords do not

favor you. Therefore return now and go in

peace, that you may not displease the Lords of the

Philistines. Then David said to A Cash, But

what have I done? And to this day what have you

found in your servant, as long as I've been with you, that I

may not go and fight against the enemies of my Lord the king.

But A Cash answered and said to David, I know that you are as

good in my sight as an Angel of God.

Nevertheless, the Princess of the Philistines have said, he

shall not go up with us to the battle.

Now, therefore, rise early in the morning with your master

servant who have come with you, as soon as you are up early in

the morning and have light depart.

So David and his men rose early to depart in the morning to

return to the land of the Philistines.

And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

Be willing to return. There was a very, very popular

word during 2020. It was called pivot.

We were made to pivot. We didn't like it.

We hated it. Messed up my routine.

Couldn't have church. What's that all about?

But you could eat at the French Laundry restaurant.

Listen there, there's times where we're made to pivot.

There's times where we have to return.

Look at David. He they, they say make this

fellow return, go back to the place that is appointed.

Verse 7, the king says to him, return now.

Verse 10, the king said, I want you to depart.

The Philistines tell the king, the king tells David and David

tells his men and they all return back to a city called

Ziklag. The word ziklag means to be

pressed down. Go back to the city where you're

pressed down. David's open for review, but

he's also made to return. This is not about what David

wanted to hear in this moment. It's about what David needed to

do in this moment. God is divinely directing David

through people who are not living according to God's plan.

They thought. And not because God was mad at

him, but because God loved him. He moved him.

Listen, God's not mad at you when He calls you to action.

He's doing this because He loves you.

God is not like that pregnant wife who told her husband to

order the pizza and do it right. Do you ever read that?

She said you need to go get me one.

Large hand toss pizza, triple pepperoni, extra cheese, banana

Peppers, light jalapenos, half chicken, half mushrooms, half

caramelized onions, half olives, light sauce.

So was the customer's request. This is what the customer wrote.

Bro yes I know this looks insane and you're probably like who is

this dude? I am the dude who has a very

pregnant wife. I'm done questioning what she

wants. I'm scared of her and honestly,

you should be too. I promise this is the order.

Thank you and Godspeed. Often times we we, we don't

fully understand what God is doing and it actually looks that

God is angry at us, or he's mad at us, or he is punishing us

because of what he's actually calling us to do.

But God is not mad at you. Well, let's say he's madly in

love with you, and because God is madly in love with you, you

don't have to understand, nor do you have to be afraid of your

next step. Can I encourage you to do some

things when you're at this spot where you're returning?

It's not about need. Excuse me?

It's about need, not desire. Can you write that down?

It's about need, not desire. God's message is often what you

need to understand rather than what you desire to hear.

It's like a doctor giving you a difficult diagnosis.

It's necessary for your well-being.

Can I encourage you to do this? If you're returning and God says

I want you to pivot, prioritize the truth.

The message prioritizes truth over comfort, providing a path

to change and healing rather than simply being distressing.

And then this is what I want you to do.

I want you to align this with wisdom.

God has purposes and plans that are often unseen, and what you

don't want to hear is guided by His greater wisdom and control

over your life. So what are you called to do in

this moment? I want to encourage you to trust

and surrender. Trust in God's wisdom even when

you don't understand David. Surrender your feelings to his

design and direction and trust that he knows what is best for

you. Obey God.

The response is not to negotiate or ignore, as the Holy Spirit

will not change his mind once a message has been given.

Instead, listen to the message, meditate on it, and be ready to

act upon it. Can I encourage you to do this?

Remember the source when you're called to return.

Recognize that a clear, consistent message is likely

from the Holy Spirit and aligns with God's will and God's Word,

and never with accusation towards your life.

So how do you handle all of your feelings?

Can you imagine what David is feeling in this moment of

pivoting and returning? How do you handle your feelings

in this moment of pivoting? Feelings are valid, but they're

not the final authority. Your feelings are valid, but

they're not the final authority. It's natural for you to feel

scared, uncomfortable, or even resistant, but these feelings

should not be, or, excuse me, should be, surrendered to God's

will. The last thing I want to

encourage you to do, Avoid bargaining with God.

When you are called to pivot, avoid bargaining with God.

You cannot bargain or negotiate with the Holy Spirit.

Acknowledge your feelings, but focus on obedience rather than

trying to change the message that you've been given.

Review return. Notice what this leads to.

It leads to a refuge. Notice the story if you would

and we'll get into chapter 30 now.

It happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third

day that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag had

attacked Ziklag. Excuse me?

The South and Ziklag, they attacked Ziklag and burned it

with fire. The same people that King Saul

was called to wipe out now robs David's families and had taken

captive the women and those who were there from small to grade.

And they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went

their way. So when 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. Notice this.

Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their

voices and wept until they had no more power to weep.

Your emotion is OK God can handle your emotion.

But I'm a Christian now. I shouldn't cry.

That's that's false. They wept, but God is suffering

over this season. They wept.

You can weep and still follow after God.

And so he gets up, and David, his two wives, I know him, the

Jezreelite, and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite,

had been taken captive. And then 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. That one sentence is a sermon,

but we're going to pass over it just for this time being.

Then David said to Abbie Athar, the priest, Ahemelec's son,

please bring the ephod here to me.

And Abby Athar brought the ephod to David.

So David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue this

troop? Shall I overtake them?

And he answered them, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake

them, and without fail recover all of them.

So David went he and the 600 men who were with him, and came to

the Brook Bazoar, where they stayed who were left behind.

But David pursued he and 400 men, for 200 stayed behind, who

were so weary that they could not cross the brook of Bazor.

Then they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to

David, and they gave him bread, and he ate, and they let him

drink water, and they gave him a piece of cake of figs and two

clusters of raisins. So when he had eaten, his

strength came back to him, for he had eaten no bread nor drunk

any water for three days and three nights.

Then David said to him, To whom do you belong, and where are you

from? And he said, I'm a young man

from Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite, and my master left me

behind because three days ago I fell sick.

We made an invasion of the southern area, the cherished

sites in the territory which belongs to Judah, and of the

southern area of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag with fire.

And David said to him, can you take me down to this troop?

And he answered, Swear to me by God that you will neither kill

me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take

you down to this troop. So when he had brought.

Put 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. And David attacked them in at

twilight until the evening. The next day, not a man of them

escaped, except 400 young men who rode on camels and fled.

And so David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away.

David had recovered all that the Amalekites had taken away.

David had recovered all that the Amalekites had taken away.

Could it be that the detour is actually going to be a refuge

for you to recover all that the enemy has taken away?

OK, let's keep going because you're still tired.

Not a man of them escaped except 400 young men who rode on

camels. 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. Spoiler or anything they had

taken from them. David recovered.

Oh, come on. David recovered all of it.

He recovered all of it. Then David took all the flocks

and the herds which they had driven before those other

livestock and said, this is David Spoil.

He recovered all of it. The detour was a review that led

to a return that led to a refuge that led to a recovery.

There is someone greater than David.

There is someone greater than David who left his home, who

acted on my behalf and he recovered all of it.

There is someone greater than David that didn't fight Goliath

but fought death in one, not only beat death, but hell and

the grave. There is someone greater than

David that recovers all of it. But could it be that the detour

from the review led to the return, and the return led to a

refuge, and the refuge led to recovery in your life?

But I couldn't see it just yet. You don't have to see it to know

it. That He can save it.

You don't have to be in a spot in your life to see everything

that's happening around you, but to trust that the detour is what

God is leading you into. David recovered all of it.

Oh, that God would in my life not bring clarity, but trust.

Some of us want clarity on all these issues, but what God is

asking is your trust. I want to read you something

that really ministered to me, this devotion from the Gospel

Coalition, he wrote. I once told a friend I'd give

you my whole bank account for clarity on a relational issue.

He said no, you wouldn't. I said yes, I would.

He said, You really want clarity, huh?

OK, I'll pray for that for you. The next morning, less than 12

hours later, I woke up and read this line from Amy Joseph's

demystifying decision making. She wrote these words.

We are too far. We are far too easily demand

clarity from our Creator when instead of clarity, He would

rather cultivate faith in US. I suppose God answered my prayer

for clarity quicker than expected.

Instead of giving me clarity of direction, He gave me clarity of

priority, reminding me that increased trust is infinitely

more valuable than a divine blueprint for what to do next.

The author goes on to write Consider three ways trust in God

is more valuable than clarity. You might want to write these

down for future use. Clarity might help you now, but

trust will help you for a lifetime.

Clarity might help you now, but trust will help you for a

lifetime. The difference between clarity

and trust is similar to the difference between a painkiller

and true healing. We often long for the narcotic

of clarity because we want a quick fix.

Clarity takes us out of the uncomfortable, out of a place of

dependence, and makes us feel back in control.

But is that what we need most? If God gave us clarity that may

or may not help us with a particular decision, but it

would never help us again, Trust would help us for a lifetime.

Those who trust the Lord's the Lord don't thrive because they

always have clarity, but because they deemed the one who holds

the future future worthy of their souls deepest rest.

The security we longed for doesn't come from knowing the

future, but from knowing and trusting God.

And I read that line. This is important.

The security we long for doesn't come from knowing the future,

but from knowing and trusting in God.

Don't misunderstand me, the author writes.

Clarity isn't a bad thing. It's often the fruit of faith

and action. But don't rush past the seasons

of life that feel unclear. Don't live in the future and

miss the preciousness of what God is trying to teach you right

now. If you learn to trust God even

in unclear seasons, your efforts will bear sweet fruit for the

rest of your life and for all of eternity #2 clarity allows you

to move on. Trust allows God to move in.

One of the hardest parts of unclear seasons is feeling

stuck. Can I get an Amen?

Like we can't move forward in any areas of life until we

resolve the unclear area. But remember 2 truths, he writes

first. If you do nothing in this

present season except deepen your trust in God, it will be

one of the most productive seasons of your life.

The product of clarity is a decision.

The product of trust is a relationship.

Which is more productive in the long run?

I appreciate Anne Voskamp's observation.

Listen to this too often. We want clarity, and God wants

us to come closer. Is it possible that God is

allowing the season of waiting to deepen your communion with

Him? And second, God may be slowing

you down in some areas of your life, but He doesn't want you to

stop moving. Don't sit on the sideline while

you wait for clarity in one area.

God usually gives us clarity not while we're sitting in our hands

fixating on a decision, but while we are actively focusing

on this mission #3 and we'll close with this.

Clarity gives you something to run to.

Trust gives you someone to run to.

One of the most precious gems is this story the author writes,

and we'll close with this as the worship team comes forward.

My 9 year old son stood with his bicycle at the top of the steep

hill in front of our house. His gaggle of neighborhood

friends stood at the base of the hill where my husband and I were

doing some gardening. Sounds like where we live.

Suddenly my son cried out from the top of the hill.

Hey guys, watch this. My husband and I immediately

looked up an alarm, as those are dangerous words coming from a

young boy at the top of the hill.

Much to our surprise, our son's next move was not to ride down

the hill on the bike, but to send the bike down the hill

without a rider. Our eyes move back and forth

between the bike, which was picking up speed, and the new to

us car toward which it was headed.

Sure enough, the bike slammed into the side of the car.

As we watched in shock and horror, my son, recognizing what

he had done and not even understanding himself why he had

done it, began running down the hill.

I fully expected him to run to his room in embarrassment, but

he did something we did not expect.

He ran directly into my husband's arms, paying my

husband one of the greatest compliments of his life.

In a moment when fear of shame and consequences might have made

him run from his father, he chose to run to the arms of his

father. He knew his father well enough

to know that there would surely be consequences, but he also

knew that his father loved him far more than he was

disappointed with him. The story helps us see the all

surpassing value of trust. Trust not only helps us make

decisions without being paralyzed by fear, but trust

also gives us someone to run to even when we make poor

decisions. Take the detour, Take the

detour. The review of it all, the return

of it all led to the refuge that David would create for his

family and the recovery of it all for his family.

Isn't it interesting that the detour that David was taking was

away from notoriety in the front lines?

The detour that David was called to take was to go back to his

family. How unpopular is that?

Come on, we're in ministry. We got to be on Instagram and we

got to get our sermons high and we got to no, no, no, listen,

the detour for David wasn't to battle that, but it was to go

save his family. Notice where God put the

priority of David's life was back on his family, and as he

got that in order, God would send him back in an order to

fight. We hope you enjoyed this message

and we'd love for you to join us in person every Sunday at 10:30

AM. For more information and

updates, visit wearebridgetown.com.

Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next week.