Dharius Daniels - Why He Wants Delilah

I want to discuss a subject during our time together today: «Why He Wants Delilah.» God, yes, it’s 12:00, and I know I can press it a little bit here. Sisters, if you let me, I’ll see how politically correct I can be. If you’ve ever wondered what in the world he was thinking when he was with her, oh gosh, give me about another year, and we’ll be alright. You’re going to get free in here!

Why he wants Delilah. Family, I recently came across a quote that I’d like to lift up as we leap into this lesson today. The quote is simply this: «The devil is not only in the details; the devil is in denial.» In other words, the enemy uses the instrument of denial as a weapon of mass destruction to keep us stuck in a place called settling, imprisoned by the average, and to influence us to turn what should be a season into a cycle. Wow! You see, seasons are not necessarily cycles because seasons change with time, while cycles change with us. The enemy knows that a season can become a cycle, and we can stay in a cycle as long as we operate in denial because denial makes it impossible to change. Denial is dangerous; it is sight suppression. It is when a person chooses to live like they’re blind when they have the ability to see. It is the deliberate act of closing our eyes to glaring truths that may hurt our feelings now but will actually save our future later. It is an unwillingness to deal with something now that will ultimately deal with us later. It is a commitment to feeling good by doing nothing instead of becoming better by doing something. It is an act intended to foster protection but ultimately becomes a self-imposed prison. Many people are serving a life sentence of pain, problems, and plateauing because they are in an invisible prison called denial. If we ever needed deliverance from anything, we need deliverance from denial.

The enemy knows you cannot improve what you do not acknowledge. He knows you cannot improve what you do not admit. He knows you cannot fix what you are unable to face. So, the prince of darkness wants to keep us in darkness regarding areas of our lives that require some attention. We need to receive the revelation that God wants to give us a revolution—not in our ability to see what’s going on with everybody else, but in our ability to see what’s going on within ourselves. Do you have insight? Do you have the ability to engage in self-correction? Limits God’s correction. Paul says if we would judge ourselves, there would be no need to be judged. In other words, God is saying there are some things I wouldn’t have to correct if you took the initiative to fix them. It’s better for you to rectify it than for me to do it because when I fix it, I send a whale, and the whale has to swallow you for three days. I need you to fix it!

Am I talking to anybody in a season of your life where you’re ready to admit, «I’m tired of it requiring a crisis for me to change»? I’m tired of the bottom having to fall out in some area of my life in order for me to make an adjustment. God, if there are some things about me that I can’t see and that are hurting me, show me. Show me before I blow it! Show me before I lose it! Show me before I sabotage my future! It might hurt my feelings, but I need you to save my future.

Denial is dangerous; it spares your feelings but sabotages your future. It is an expression of someone worshiping at the altar of fragile self-esteem; they are worshiping comfort, and it is dangerous. It is dangerous in any area of our lives. It’s dangerous financially, professionally, and relationally. When I was reading this text in Judges, I noticed a specific area where denial is particularly dangerous, and I want to spend our time exploring it today. That area is this: it’s dangerous when we’re in denial about our duality.

This is how I shared it at 10:00: All of us have a twin. I’m not talking about a biological twin outside; I’m talking about another version of you inside. Come on, talk back to me! Duality is the state of having two different and opposite parts, and whether we know it or not, all of us deal with some reality of duality. We can be nice and mean, smart and silly, humble and arrogant; we can want to be around people and want people to leave us alone. We could be an introvert today and an extrovert tomorrow. We can be hood and holy—or both. We all have some duality on the inside of us.

I know some of us assume that our spiritual maturation leads to the elimination of our duality. I know you think the more spiritual you become, the less susceptible you are to that other version of yourself, but your spirituality does not eliminate your duality. I can say this with confidence because I read something written by a tent maker from Tarsus. He was trained under the rabbinical tutelage of Gamaliel, educated at the University of Tarsus, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, circumcised on the eighth day; he was a Roman citizen and is responsible for two-thirds of the New Testament.