Dharius Daniels - Don't Fumble Your Favor

We are just in a season where we are soaking up wisdom. We had something called an 818 conference yesterday based on Deuteronomy 8:18, and we received wisdom for the next level in the area of our finances. We are just excited about what God is doing! I want to read a scripture found in Proverbs 10:9. It says this: «Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.» I want to talk from this subject derived from this scripture; it’s very simple: Don’t fumble your favor. I need the 11:45 to clap better than that—don’t fumble your favor!

I want to start this sermon by communicating a quote attributed to Dr. Mark Batterson. He says this significant statement: «If we do little things like they are big things, God will do big things like they are little things.» Let me say it one more time: If we will do little things like they are big things, God will do big things like they are little things. In other words, there are times when we don’t experience the major because we are not doing the minor. Small tweaks lead to giant peaks; when we are unaware of this reality, we will end up minoring in what God thinks is major and majoring in what God thinks is minor. When we minimize what matters to God and maximize what matters to us, we end up working hard on the wrong thing. Hard work only pays off if you are working hard on the right thing.

I want to know, at 11:45 AM, am I talking to anyone in the room or anyone online who is in a season where not only do you refuse to waste time, but you also refuse to waste energy? I will say that one more time: am I talking to anyone in a season of life where not only do you refuse to waste time, but your testimony is that you refuse to waste energy? I don’t want to invest energy or effort into anything or anyone that is not producing the kind of return that is commensurate with my investment. If I am working hard, I need that hard work to work! Therefore, we need wisdom to discern what we need to work on. I need wisdom so that I am clear on the difference between what is major to me and what is major to God. This is where Proverbs becomes an amazing and essential asset because Proverbs is a book of wisdom. It is wisdom literature that exists to provide wisdom to the godly.

In the text here in Proverbs 10:9, the writer Solomon gives us some insight, some godly wisdom regarding an area many people minor in that God wants us to major in. Pastor, where is it? It’s right in the text; we read it together. Proverbs 10:9: listen to what Solomon says. I not only want you to read who says it—I want you to read what he says—but I also want to remind you of who he says it to. This is Solomon speaking from the posture and position of a father talking to the one he loves. So, this is not some vicious tyrant; this is a loving father speaking to those he loves. He says these words: «Whoever walks in integrity walks securely.» Whoa! There it is! That’s the asset right there. He articulates something that is easy to minor in, but God wants us to major in. What’s the operative word there? Whoever walks in integrity—that’s the operative word!

Come on now, that’s the operative word here because integrity is simply this: it is the ability to align your behavior with biblical values when everyone is watching or when no one is watching. Now, notice what he says here: «Whoever walks with integrity.» This clause is not communicating an expectation for perfection because to be perfect means without flaw or weakness, and no one is without flaw or weakness. This is why we all need something called grace. God only gives what He knows we need even when we don’t know we need it. We are all grace cases!

Am I making sense here? Yep! So, none of us are perfect or without flaw, but notice what the word says: «Whoever walks in integrity.» We all will make mistakes or missteps, but there is a difference between a step and a walk. A walk is a pattern; it implies consistency. What the writer is articulating here is the importance of a walk. We never arrive at a destination called perfection, but we should always be walking in a direction called integrity. I haven’t arrived at a destination, but I should have long obedience in the right direction. If I am making sense here, say yes! Yes! Yes!

And so, notice what it says here: If a person lives this way, this is what makes this wise. It’s not just right; it’s wise. It’s not a vicious tyrant pointing his finger at us, saying, «You better walk in integrity»; it’s a wise father saying, «Now listen, I am trying to show you how to win.» It’s a wise father saying, «I’m trying to help you avoid unnecessary pain.» It is a communicator whose heart is to be a covering. Yes sir! Some people are adverse to the word covering because what they’ve experienced is a lid. Wow, and a lid doesn’t move because a lid only…