Keith Battle - Understanding Life's Battles

I want to use as a subject this weekend understanding life’s battles. Yes, understanding life’s battles. The reality is we’re all fighting something; we’re all in a battle, we’re all in a conflict. It is not always a conflict that is visible because the Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against spiritual wickedness in high places. We are in a fight, and what I want to do in this passage is tell us what to do for the battle and what to be mindful of in the battle. Let me start right there. For background, we have to understand many of you know I picked this story up kind of already in progress. David has already had an epic victory. This is a very familiar story because the battle between Israel and the Philistines was at a standstill. That battle evolved into a fight between David and Goliath. David, against all human possibility, overcame this giant named Goliath and won a victory for Israel and Judah. We pick the story up in verse 50, where I started reading, with the aftermath of what David did next. The first thing I want to point out is in verse 50. If you have a Bible or device, please open it up because I want you to see this. It says that David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword. That’s good right there! I want you to type this in the chat: use what you’ve got. Yes, use what you’ve got. I know that’s bad English, but it’s good preaching. Use what you’ve got; what you have is enough. What you have for your battle is enough; use what you’ve got. David didn’t have a sword. He didn’t have a spear. He didn’t have a javelin. He didn’t have a bow and arrow; he just had a sling and a stone. Use what you’ve got. What you have is enough for the fight. You know why? Sometimes we wish we had more, but I’m going to tell you why you don’t have more. The reason we don’t have more is that if we had more, we might depend less on God. God will give you just enough to go into a fight knowing you need Him. And what you’ve got, use what you’ve got. Then in verse 51, after it says what he did, it says he then took Goliath’s sword out of its sheath, which was what held the sword, and then cut off Goliath’s head to kill him. Oh, that’s good right there! You have to understand it doesn’t say; I know that sounds violent, but what is good about it is that the stone only knocked Goliath down. The stone caused him to tumble, but when he cut off his head, he finished the job. That’s the second thing I want to say: always finish the job. You’ve got to finish the job! Type that in the chat: finish the job. Some of you don’t finish the job; you have half jobs done. You’ve got half a renovation going in your house; you’ve halfway finished your book you’ve been writing; you’ve halfway finished your certification; halfway finished your real estate license. You just half-do everything. Finish something in your life! Finish the job! It reminds me, see, if David hadn’t chopped off Goliath’s head, that big fellow might have just had a concussion and been back in like two weeks to fight him again. When you don’t finish something—and by the way, it’s not finished till you kill it—when you don’t finish stuff, you might have to fight it again. Do you all remember there was a scene in Exodus chapter 14? It’s a powerful scene in Exodus chapter 14 where the children of Israel are trying to leave bondage and walk into freedom. They’re headed out of Egyptian slavery, running for freedom. Then they ran as far as they could and ran into an obstacle called the Red Sea, a standstill at the Red Sea. Pharaoh’s army was coming to chase them down to take them back into what God was trying to get them out of, and it looks like there’s no way out. God tells Moses, «I want you to raise your hand and put it out over the sea, ” and when he did, the sea opened up. The children of Israel walked through the sea on dry ground. God made water walls on both sides, and they walked all the way through to safety. Then in verse 26, watch this: in verse 26, God says to Moses, „Now that I’ve miraculously made a way out of no way for you, I want you to put your hand back over the sea.“ So did the waters close back up. Somebody say, „Finish the job!“ Yeah, go back and close it up again! Because if you don’t close it up again, the same people I’m protecting you from will get through the same passageway I made for you. You’ve got to finish it because when you don’t finish stuff, you’re going to be fighting people again.