Dharius Daniels - Rejection Recovery

First Samuel, everybody, chapter 30, verse 3 says: «When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire, and their wives, sons, and daughters taken captive.» So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David’s two wives had been captured. Let me stop and explain that there are some things in the Bible that are prescriptive: love your enemies, pray for those who use you, show love, and be kindly affectioned to one another. That’s prescriptive; it prescribes actions. Then there are other things in the Bible that are descriptive: they describe what happened, even if God did not approve. So when the Bible says that Cain killed Abel, that doesn’t mean we should kill people out of jealousy. Does that make sense? Yeah. So the Bible is describing what happened, not prescribing what everyone should do. Make sense?

Okay, so anyway, because I know some of the brothers are like, «Wait, I knew I came to church for a reason today.» This verse 6 says that David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him. Each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters, but David found strength in the Lord his God. I want to talk from the subject of «Family Rejection: Recovery.» I want to inform some and remind others that our God is the God of recovery. I’m simply suggesting, and attempting to articulate, that God is vested in, committed to, and capable of aiding and assisting us in living with buoyancy. If you’re not familiar with it, let’s learn a new word today: everybody say «buoyancy.» Buoyancy, family, is the ability to bounce back. Buoyancy is a spiritual snapback. Buoyancy, ladies and gentlemen, is a refusal to allow our condition to determine our position. It is a refusal to allow what knocked me down to keep me down; it is an unwillingness to allow where I am to determine where I can go. Buoyancy is recovery, and our God is the God of recovery.

I feel like this statement is significant because the God we see is the God we get. Our perception determines our reception. How we see a thing determines how we use that thing; we can’t use it right if we see it wrong. I want to suggest that there are times when there is nothing wrong with our eternal God; there’s something wrong with our eyes. Seeing God as the God of recovery is not a luxury; it is a necessity because all of us will find ourselves in circumstances and situations that set us back. I’m going to say that again: seeing God as the God of recovery is a necessity, not a luxury, because all of us will find ourselves in circumstances and situations that set us back.

We will all experience setbacks because, number one, we are imperfect people, and as imperfect people, we make imperfect decisions. Some of our decisions are not in our best interest; they do not advance our welfare and well-being. But not only do we need the art of recovery because we are imperfect people, we also live in an imperfect place. Sometimes we happen upon setbacks; other times, life happens. There are times we find ourselves set back because of precipitating factors we did not contribute to and cannot control. Am I making sense?

So then, if we will all ultimately and inevitably experience setbacks, then buoyancy becomes a necessary life skill. If setbacks in some way are woven into the fabric of the story of all our lives, we must learn the art, the skill, and the discipline of buoyancy. It begins with seeing our God as the God of recovery because when God is not seen as the God of recovery, our setbacks become sovereign; they have the last say. This is why we don’t want cultural recovery, because there are people who are not people of faith who recover. We don’t want cultural recovery; we want Kingdom recovery, because Kingdom recovery is different and distinct from cultural recovery. When I say Kingdom recovery, I’m referencing the King. When I say Kingdom, it means the King’s way. So we want recovery the King’s way, God’s way, not just culture’s way.

You don’t want culture’s peace; we don’t want culture’s happiness; we want Kingdom happiness. Because culture’s happiness is predicated on what’s happening, Kingdom happiness is predicated on who He is. So follow me, family: we need Kingdom recovery because Kingdom recovery is not relegated to reason. It doesn’t matter how irrational it is; recovery is possible. We want Kingdom recovery because Kingdom recovery is not trapped by time. It doesn’t matter how long I’ve been set back; God is able to use my setback as a setup for a comeback! Hallelujah! The woman with the issue of blood had been set back for twelve years, but she had to come up. Blind Bartimaeus had been blind his whole life, but he had to come up. The woman with the bent-over back had an issue with her spine for eighteen years, but she had to come up. The man at the Pool of Bethesda had been stuck for thirty-eight years, but he had to come up because Kingdom recovery is not trapped by time.

When God speaks to the whale, Jonah, the whale has to spit him out. I want Kingdom recovery! It’s not relegated by reason; it’s not trapped by time. It is not bound by bigness; it doesn’t matter how big the obstacle is. It doesn’t matter how great the giant is; greater! I’m not going to bother this, but the earth makes all the difference: greater! It doesn’t matter how great it is; greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world!