The Loss at Ziklag
When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned. Their wives, sons, and daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the men who were with him wept loudly until they could weep no more. David’s two wives had been taken captive – Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal’s widow. Then David said to the priest Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Should I pursue this raiding band? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue, for you will certainly overtake them and carry out a rescue!” [1 Samuel 30:3-8].
God’s Desire for Restoration
God wants to do a lot for us. But we must desire everything that He has for us. Have the attitude that says, “God, if You give this thing to me, I’ll take it. God, I would really want You to do this in my life.”
It is God’s will that you recover everything that has been lost. You may have lost your peace, joy, grace, your unction – all the good things you used to operate in, in the past. David lost things too; he and his people lost their wives and children. But he went after them and recovered them all.
The Mindset of Recovery
Spiritually, the reason we seem not to have as much as we should is that we are content with having little. God wants us to have the mindset that we can recover everything that has been lost. Many times, Christians do not think this way. The Bible says, “You do not have, because you do not ask.” (James 4:2). The typical attitude many people have is the one that says, “Let me take this one. At least, I’ve gotten something. Let’s be thankful to God that at least we’ve gotten something”.
But God has a different plan. He says, “No, don’t thank Me that you’ve gotten something, I want to give it all back to you.”
A Question of Desire
The question for you is this: “Do you want to be given back everything you’ve lost? Or are you contented with as little as possible [instead of asking for more] just so that you can have a right to complain about the state of things?” Sometimes it seems like people want to have a right to complain. They like to have something to complain about.
How to Recover All
The Bible tells us what David did in the midst of this situation: He encouraged himself in the Lord His God. When you encourage yourself in the Lord, that’s you saying, “Lord, no matter what happens, I will give You praise. I lift You up, Lord, I trust You.” It is in encouraging himself in the Lord that the Lord instructed him to pursue, overtake, and recover all. That’s how they went after the enemy. Instead of lazily staying behind to say, “Well, there’s nothing I can do [about the situation]; I’m so tired and depressed,” they pursued the enemy all night long and got to them.
Total Recovery and Overflowing Gain
David struck them down from twilight until the following evening. None of them escaped, with the exception of four hundred young men who got away on camels. David retrieved everything the Amalekites had taken. He also rescued his two wives. There was nothing missing, whether small or great. He retrieved sons and daughters, the plunder, and everything else they had taken. David brought everything back. David took all the flocks and herds and drove them in front of the rest of the animals. People were saying, “This is David’s plunder!” (1 Samuel 30:17-20).
Not only did they recover all, they came back with spoils. In the same way, spiritually, pursuing and recovering all will get you far more than what was lost. You come back with more things at the end of the day.
Title: How To Get Back Everything You’ve Lost
Date: 24th August 2022
Author: Ita Udoh
Source: https://g-lh.org/blog/how-to-get-back-everything-youve-lost/
