Real Life Radio

Jack Hibbs: God is always standing ready to lead. We are not always ready to ask. But every time we do ask of God, He will lead, He will guide, and He will provide.

David J: This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David J. Thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's word, the Bible.

Guest (Male): Hey everybody, on February 11th, that's a Wednesday night at 7:00 PM Pacific time, I'm going to invite you to sit down with me as I interview Hediyeh Mirahmadi. She was once a Muslim, born and raised in the Islamic world, and having heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, came to know the Lord. We're going to sit down and talk about the world around us, about faith, and about our country. So join us Wednesday, February 11th at 7:00 PM Pacific time on the Real Life Network. Go to RealLifeNetwork.com.

On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues with his series called First Samuel and a message titled, "When the Lord is in the Lead, Part 2." Samuel of the Old Testament was the last judge of Israel, and he was the first of her prophets. So here as we continue in chapter 23, we'll consider the common thread of two major events in the life of David.

You see, there was the rescue of the city of Keilah from the Philistines and David's narrow escape from Saul. Although they might seem unrelated at first—one, of course, a military rescue and one a flight from danger—both are in need of God's guidance and deliverance. So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that we need God's wisdom to know when to fight and when to walk away.

David was a fugitive with a bunch of enemies, but he fought when it was called for and he fled when it was time to escape King Saul. Now with his message called "When the Lord is in the Lead, Part 2," here's pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: Would you grab your Bibles and turn to 1 Samuel chapter 23 because we didn't finish the last time we were there. 1 Samuel chapter 23. And we are in a message that is entitled, "When the Lord is in the Lead," when the Lord's leading and guiding. And if you're a believer tonight, that's what you want to have happen in your life. You want the Lord to be leading in your life. That's a prayer of yours. "Oh God, lead me. God, guide me." You don't want to make decisions on your own. You want God to lead and to direct.

Have you ever been in that place when you're asking God to lead and, "Lord, should I take this job or not?" or "Should I do this or the other?" and it's silent. And you laugh because you've heard that silence before. Have you ever wondered, though, that when the deadline came or when the moment of decision arrived, you didn't exactly know which way to go on that one. "God, which is it?" Have you ever had God respond to you in this way? "Hey, Jack," or "Hey, Susie, whatever decision you make, I'm with you. Take the job or not."

You say, "What? Would God ever do that?" God does that. There are times when we're seeking Him that He says, "I am with you whithersoever thou goest." And if it's to the left, I'll be with you. If it's to the right, I will be with you. Now certainly there are times when God specifically, clearly speaks. And He spoke, as we saw last time, to David so clearly. "David, rise up, take your men, and go and fight the Philistines. I will give you victory," God said.

And He spoke that to David, and he announces it to his mighty men. Remember his great mighty men of valor, 400 guys? "Hey, we're going to go to war. God told us to go. It's a done deal. The Lord's going to take care of it." And all the men said, "We have a problem with that. We're scared. And if we're scared in our own house, what are we going to do when we get to battle?" So then David went back and talked to the Lord again and consulted the Lord one more time. And the Lord said, "David, it's okay. Get up and go and fight. I will deliver the enemy into your hands."

Ladies and gentlemen, do you believe that God speaks that clear still? I do. I know He does. In fact, I don't have to believe it anymore. I don't have to believe it, I know it to be a fact. God will speak that clear. Sometimes when the situation is so dark, so difficult, so seemingly impossible, God speaks all the more clearly. And blessed are those who are yearning and striving in the flesh with the spirit to hear God's voice so clearly.

God bless those who long and yearn and cry out sometimes. You awake in the night, "Oh God, lead us and guide us." Have you been there? Have you ever been that desperate? It's a great place to be. Maybe America is close to that moment. "Oh God, lead us and guide us." The cry of prayer unto God, God answers. When the Lord is in the lead, there's nothing like it. You don't have to apologize. You don't have to worry about it. You can rest, even in the midst of battle as David is warring against the Philistines as they come against this city under attack.

God will speak and God does speak so clearly. I was reminded several years ago about how clearly God speaks. I was in Israel with a tour. And you know Israel, they grow rocks in Israel. It seems like when it does rain, rocks grow. Pretty amazing thing, but I found a pretty spectacular rock. And a friend of mine here kind of made it usable. But I want you to see this rock. This is from Israel.

And Moses, I'm convinced now, used this rock. It was actually Moses' cell stone because if you look at it, it looks just like a cell phone. And you wonder how clearly God spoke to Moses because you can tell how—can you see that? It looks like a cell phone. When I saw it, I said, "This is great. This must be Moses' cell stone." And talked to God directly. Moses had a direct line to God. God would speak to him. Moses and God would communicate back and forth.

It was so clear, by the way, that when God spoke to Moses, Moses understood what God was saying. The people of Israel didn't understand. All they heard was a great rumbling and a great shaking on the mountain, and it frightened them. God speaks to David. David hears clearly and David responds. But those that were not hearing were frightened. They were scared. They had to be comforted. Moses came down from the mountain and comforted the people. David comes from the presence of consulting God and comforts his men.

So people, by way of review and then we'll focus in on tonight and what we need to put into our hearts. We remember this and keep it in our minds that when God is leading, in context of 1 Samuel chapter 23, it's a very hostile environment. Saul is out to kill David. He's got the entire army of Israel trying to kill David. David's got a few men. Remember what kind of guys they were? They were absolutely broke, destitute, and disheartened completely. They had nothing in and of themselves to offer David but this one thing: their hearts could not be loyal to Saul.

For whatever reasons, they were not coming under nor did they heed the leadership of Saul, and they consulted David. They looked to David. And so we learned last time in verse three of this chapter, you can look at it there. Verse three, it says, "And David's men said to him, 'Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?'" We're petrified. What do we learn from this in our own personal application is that we learned that there will always be internal struggles.

Christian, you and I will always be tempted with this thing of fear. It will constantly battle our faith. But the more we feed upon the Bible, the more we'll have faith to put down that fear. These men were afraid. God placed David over them as their leader, and he was a great man of faith. Remember he was a great kid of faith. When he was a young man, he killed a lion, or a young boy I should say, he killed a lion with his own hands as that lion attacked his flock of sheep. And then a bear came and attacked, and David killed the bear.

What was God doing? Preparing David for a day that he would kill the biggest animal of all, Goliath. Building faith. That guy, ranting and raving and putting down Israel and mocking God. And David comes, remember he's so cute, little David, he comes from the shepherd's fields, he's got a picnic basket with cheese and figs and all kinds of stuff. His dad says, "Here, take this to your brothers who are at the battlefield." "Okay, Dad." And he goes out there, remember, and he shows up and he says to his brothers, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine yelling at us like this? Are you guys going to do anything about it? I mean, he's mocking our God and making fun of the army. What are you going to do?"

"Well, we're not going to do anything. That's Goliath. He'd knock our socks off if we had socks. He'd knock them off." And little David says, "You know what? I don't need this armor. And I'll take care of this. The Lord, He's going to do it." Faith. He ran, the Bible says, to Goliath. Why? Faith. Was Goliath so big that David could be quicker and move around, more finesse than power? No. David ran, I believe, toward Goliath because I think behind Goliath, David perhaps by faith could see that the God that David worshipped was way bigger than Goliath ever could have been.

There was no match. Faith will do that. We're threatened to be afraid all the time. Hey, the things that could come upon our own homeland. What will it do to your family? God forbid, but what if danger is near? Persecution arises. It's happened to every Christian culture in the world except ours. Did you know that? It's happened to every Christian culture in the world except ours so far. What if it does happen? Where will your faith be? In the God of the universe or in the belly of fear?

David's men said, "We're afraid." But God had prepared for them a leader, and it was David. I love that the scripture says, "And David became captain over them," in 1 Samuel chapter 22, verse two. When they came to him originally in chapter 22, it says that David became the captain over them. That's a beautiful thing to lead them, to guide them. And by the way, we looked also in verses two and four that we can look to God's faithfulness always. We can always look to God's faithfulness. That's why we can be faith-filled people. God will never let us down. He will never fail.

Listen, people. Are you listening? Is everybody listening? Did Israel ever lose battles? Yes, they lost battles. Did it mean that God stopped loving them? No. Did it mean that God was no longer faithful? No. Every time Israel lost a battle, it was explained to them why they lost the battle. Did you know that? Every time in scripture. Every time Israel lost, then they talked to God, by the way. They would go fight the battle and then get whipped and then talk to God and say, "How come we got whipped?" And God would say, "Because you didn't talk to me before you went to battle. That's why. You should have talked to me."

"I would have told you to go or not to go or I would have told you how to go." If things seem to fail around us, if our military power seems to fail, if our government seems to fail, if our security seems to fail, it doesn't mean that God does not love you anymore. It doesn't mean that somehow Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and Osama bin Laden or who knows what is bigger than God. No. God will use the evil of men's hearts even at times to get the attention of His own children.

When God is leading, that's a beautiful thing because you know what? It means that there's been some pleading going on. God is always standing ready to lead. We are not always ready to ask. But every time we do ask of God, He will lead, He will guide, and He will provide. We must keep that in mind. His faithfulness will never fail. In verses two and four, listen: "Therefore David inquired of the Lord." What a great thing. David talked to God. By the way, you talk to God too, okay? Talk to Him direct. Speak to Him all the time direct.

"Lord," he says, "shall I go and attack these Philistines?" And the Lord said to David, "Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah. Go, David, I'm with you on this." These people mean harm. They're evil. They're dangerous. You know about the Philistines. They're a very brutal group of people. And God says they've got to be dealt with. And so God speaks. Victory. We'll see and we will conclude this chapter tonight that God will grant them victory. He leads them into victory.

Couple things I want you to jot down about victory. You guys, over and over again, the Bible tells us that we are walking in victory, that God has established the victory for us. And listen, when I say that, even when I just even now come out of my mouth, the Bible tells us the battle's been won, God's provided the victory, we hear about it, we go, "Uh-huh, yeah." We might even write it down. But I wonder how many times when a real attack hits do we really see the fact that we are involved in that attack or involved in that war spiritually?

I'm speaking or physical for that matter, in light of the fact that the victory's already been had by God. It's already been established. We'll nod and we'll jot down a note or two. But do we really, really believe it? David believed it so much that God was in the victory that he stood defiant against a huge military force, the Philistines. They were brutal, brutal people, bloodthirsty. David had to do this. Question: Is God speaking to you about something?

I had someone ask me this yesterday. "Pastor, we're talking on the phone. I don't know about this. I don't know what—" and I said, "Hey, listen. You know what? If you're not sure, let me ask you a question. With what you think God's calling you to do, but you're not sure, can you put it down and walk away from it and leave it completely alone and never embark upon it, never try, never test it and see?" "Oh no, I could never walk away from it."

Listen, isn't this great? Watch how simple it becomes. "I'm not sure if God wants me to just do this. I'm not sure." That was that person's struggle. "I'm not sure if I should do that thing." So I said, "Hey, you know what?" And how I knew to do this, someone had done it to me one time. His name was Pastor Romaine. He's in heaven now, but he laid this one on me years ago at Calvary Costa Mesa. "If you don't think God's calling you to do it, walk away from it. Put it down and leave it."

So I said, "Hey, listen. If you don't think God's in it, put it down, walk away, leave it." "I can't. I couldn't. I can't." "Are you satisfied if you walk away and never tried that door? Can you live the rest of your life knowing that I walked away? I walked right up to the door in faith. I walked right up to the door in faith. I got right to the knob, and I went, 'No, not going to do it,' and walked away." "Can you live the rest of your life like that?" "No way," that person said. "I could never." Why? "I'll always wonder what would have happened if I would have opened the door, knocked on it, or turned the knob."

What keeps us from turning the knob or knocking on that door? Fear. Fear of failure, certainly. Insecurity, absolutely. But you go up there and you turn the door and you hear "click-click" and it opens up. And then you walk through that door and then you'll think thoughts, "I wonder what my life would have been like if I wouldn't have done this thing. Thank you, God, that I knocked on that door that day." And maybe that's something going on in your life. Fear is holding you back.

Listen, like those men, "We're afraid in Judah. We're going to be petrified if we go to battle." And maybe in your own heart and in your own mind, man, I'm afraid of even the thought. "If I sign up, then what?" See if God's in it. Will you trust Him? Listen, this is a serious thing because it will manifest itself in our life when the rubber meets the road. If we can't trust Him in such little things, how can we trust Him in bigger things? What are we going to do?

We need to be wise and perhaps listen to those that God has placed over us in authority. That doesn't mean you don't trust God. There's a place where faith and practicality come together. It's called application. It's life. What does that relate to the message? David was told by God the victory's done, man. I'm going to deliver the enemy into your hands. But they had to get up and they had to go to war. They could have said, "Oh really? That's cool, David. Well then, you know, we don't want to walk that far. It's a hot day. Have the enemy come here then. Why not?"

No, God says, "You know, get up and go." There's a practicality to faith as well. They had to act. They had to move. In verses nine to 23, we saw also, and we left off actually in this area, when the Lord leads, we ask of God, "Lord, grant us wisdom." There's the consultation in God's word. Verses nine through 13 we learned this. It says, "When David knew that Saul had plotted evil against him—" Now this is amazing to me. God sends David to go to war. Watch. It's not like he's got enough in his administration to deal with here.

King David, he doesn't even have a throne yet. He's living in a cave because Saul's trying to kill him. So while Saul is trying to kill him, God says, "Oh David, by the way, I want you to go to war." "Gee, Lord, could you throw more on my plate too?" Oh, that's coming. When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod here." This is the ephod that as we talked about, the breastplate of what the priest would consult God. It's a very beautiful thing.

And if I had a picture of it, I'd show you. It's got 12 various stones of color. It's beautiful. And it was used by the high priest to consult with God under the priestly order. And you can read about that in the book of Exodus. Very powerful. God would speak, as we touched on last time, with this. And so David is consulting. He again, he seeks God, asking Him. Verse 10 says, "Then David said, 'O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand?'"

Now David's going to go to the city to deliver it. So what do you think the answer—you think they would say, "Oh, David, we're so thankful that you're going to be doing this for us." "Will Saul come down, as your servant's servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell your servant." And the Lord said, "He will come down." In other words, it's all against you, David. Hey, Christian, wait a minute. You've been tithing, you've been serving, you've been attending, you're loving God, you're doing the best you can, and apparently everything's against you. Someone's out to kill you. Why does this happen? I don't know why it happens. I don't know the answer to that. I know that it causes me though to ask God, to consult God more.

Guest (Male): Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio and his message called "When the Lord is in the Lead, Part 2." Thanks for being with us today. We appreciate you so much. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called First Samuel. It's a series that highlights the prophet Samuel who was called by God during one of Israel's darkest times to bring the people back to a heart of true worship. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.

David J: Fear does not have to control your life. Not when Christ is at the center of it. This month, we're featuring a powerful and deeply personal book, "Living Fearless in Christ" by Hediyeh Mirahmadi. Once a devout follower of Islam and a high-level attorney in Washington, Hediyeh had everything except peace until she encountered the living Jesus. Choosing to follow Him cost her everything: her career, her status, and her place in the world she once knew. But what she gained was far greater: freedom, identity, and a fearless faith that cannot be shaken.

Her story will challenge you, encourage you, and remind you of the power of the gospel to transform lives. "Living Fearless in Christ" is more than a testimony; it's a call to bold surrender. Available for the month of February for a gift of any amount at JackHibbs.com. That's JackHibbs.com where real stories point you to real truth and real life in Christ.

This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at JackHibbs.com, that's JackHibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His word. We'll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.