Of all the things in life, one that we can be sure we will face is problems. There's an old saying that talks about the only things in life that are sure are death and taxes. Probably, the only reason that they are sure is that most people view those two as being problems.

Problems come in all shapes and sizes; from the little cute ones, to the big overpowering ones. From problems that are politically correct, to ones that are biblically wrong. From ones that we know how to deal with, to those that leave us staggering.

Unfortunately, we don't get to shop for our problems. We can't pick out which ones we'll get and which ones will pass us by. In fact, the ones that give us the most trouble and take the most energy are the ones that we'd rather not see at all. Instead of us picking the problems, it's almost seems like the problems pick us.

The question isn't weather we will face problems, or even what type of problems we will face, but what we will do in the midst of those problems?

It is in the midst of our problems that we see the difference between a true man of God, and someone who is just a churchgoer. What comes out of you at that time will show you what you have inside.

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

Mt 12:34b

Let's take a moment to look at the life of King David, before he was the king. This event, which is in First Samuel, chapters 29 and 30, happened while Saul was king, and David was in hiding. Because king Saul wanted to kill David, he was living outside of Israel, amongst his enemies, the Philistines. Along with him, for one reason or another, were 600 other outcasts of Israel, and their families. Together they lived in a town called Ziclag.

In chapter 29 of First Samuel the Philistines were going to war against Israel. Since David and his men were living amongst them, they went off to join the Philistines, as part of their army. However, the princes of the Philistines weren't comfortable with this, thinking and saying that David could switch sided during the battle, and so win Saul's favor. Because of this, the king asked David and his men to return to their town.

This is where we pick the story up, in the beginning of chapter 30:

And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; ² And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. ³ So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.

1 Samuel 30:1-3

Now, I know that we all face problems. But I don't personally know anyone who has ever faced one quite as severe as David did here. His home burnt down, his wives and children taken as slaves, his livestock stolen, and all his wealth gone, all at the same time. It sounds a little like what Job went through.

So, just for a moment, put yourself in David's shoes. What are you going to do? I know, sitting there reading this, you're probably coming up with a great spiritual answer. But, when it's you it's happening to, it's not that easy. Sitting back and looking at someone else's situation, it's always easy to be spiritual, because we can take a detached, objective view of things. When it's your crisis however, it's a whole lot more emotional, and the spiritual answers don't come quite so easy.

The people we think are the greatest spiritual giants can be brought low in an instant by a crisis in their lives. In many cases, the last thing we want to hear when we're in crisis is a spiritual answer. We're hurting; all we want is something to take the hurt away. We feel like saying, "Give me something to take away the pain, we can talk about the spiritual stuff later."

David and his men reacted much as we would. The Bible says that "Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep" (1 Sam 30:4). That's a normal reaction, and I really can't say that I blame them in any way.

Let me give you a secret here that the Lord showed me. When a crisis situation, or problem comes along, the best thing to do is close your mouth! Why? Because the first things that usually come out of our mouths aren't the things we want to have come out. If you close your mouth, you can't say the wrong thing.

How long should you keep your mouth closed? Keep it shut until it is safe to open it. I don't know how long that will be; it may be two seconds, two minutes, or two days. But, however long it is, keep it shut! Don't open it until you are ready to say the right thing.

What's the right thing to say? The right thing is the words and prayers and declarations of faith that will enable God to move on your behalf. Many times, we don't receive an answer to our prayers because we defeat ourselves with our own words.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Prov 18:21

So many times, believers don't receive the answers to their prayers because of their words. They go in their prayer closet and pray great words of faith, make great declarations, and expect God to move.

But then, when they come out of their prayer closet, they start speaking the opposite of what they'd just prayed. They negate their own words of faith, with their words of unbelief.

In the tenth chapter of the book of Daniel we find Daniel seeking an answer from the Lord. It says that he fasted and prayed for 21 days seeking the answer (vs 2-3). Finally, at the end of this fast, an angel of the Lord came with his answer. It wasn't that God waited that long to send him the answer, but that it took that long for the answer to get to him.

Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. ¹³ But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.

Daniel 10:12-13 NIV

God sent Daniel's answer right away. But the angel had to battle against the prince over Persia, a demonic ruler. He continued to battle 21 days until one of the archangels, Michael, came to take up the battle for him.

What do you think would have happened if Daniel hadn't continued praying for that time? What would have happened if he had prayed a quick prayer in his prayer closet, then left, looked around, and said, "I guess God isn't going to answer me?" Do you think he would have received his answer?

I'm quite sure he wouldn't have received his answer. It was the continued prayer of Daniel that allowed, or empowered that angel to bring his answer.

The way I see it is this. When we pray, and ask God for something, He instantly dispatches an angel with our answer. As long as we continue expecting in faith, that angel does everything it can to bring that answer to us; battling through the demonic hordes in the second heaven. But, when we make a negative confession over that item, the angel has to turn around and go back to heaven.

There are probably a lot of frustrated angels out there. Angels that have been dispatched to bring us answers, or blessings, or healings. But, by our words, we keep sending them back to heaven. Then, when we pray again, they start out afresh on the journey to bring us our answer. Of course, that only lasts as long as it takes us to make another negative confession. Some of those frustrated angels have probably started on the same journey dozens, or even hundreds of times.

In a crisis situation, watch out for your words.

Let's go back to David's situation now. In my minds eye, I can see David sitting in the midst of the rubble of his house. Everything he's ever worked for has been destroyed. His place with the king is lost, his home is destroyed, his family is gone, whatever livestock and riches he had accumulated are taken as well. Maybe he digs through the rubble a little, looking to see if the Amalekites had missed anything. But, mostly he just sits there and weeps.

All around him, the other outcasts of Israel are sitting in the rubble of their homes as well. Each is faced with exactly the same situation as David… everything gone; everything destroyed. All of them are weeping with the anguish of the situation.

Then, on top of all the other problems, when it looks like things nothing else can go wrong, things get a little worse for David.

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

1 Sam 30:6

The second thing most of us do in a crisis situation is look for someone else to blame. It doesn't matter what the problem is; it can't be our fault. Somebody else has to take the blame for us.

We learned this trick from Adam. Remember in Genesis chapter three, when he fell into sin? God came walking in the garden in the cool of the day to talk to Adam (Gen 3:8). Since Adam had sinned, he hid from God. God, who of course knew what Adam had done, asked him about it.

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. ⁹ And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? ¹⁰ And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. ¹¹ And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

Gen 3:8-11

Let me give you my rather liberal, paraphrased translation of what Adam responded in verse twelve. I prefer to put his response in a slightly more modern English.

"You see God, it's not my fault! Yeah, I ate of the fruit, but it was only because the woman gave it to me! It's her fault. If she hadn't given me the fruit, I wouldn't have eaten it. And, in fact, it's really your fault God! If you hadn't given me that woman, I never would have had this problem. So, God, you really can't blame me.

Gen 3:12 (author's liberal translation)

As humans, we have a problem taking responsibility for our actions. We always look for someone to blame. Especially in a situation like David was facing. Somehow or other we seem to think that blaming someone else will make us feel a little bit better.

So, here's David, sitting in the rubble of his house, crying like the rest of them, and along comes a friend to tell him what the other men are saying about him. After all, he was their leader. Who better to blame than the leader? If it's anyone's fault, it must be his!

That's just like how people blame their pastor for every problem today. They don't tithe, then blame the pastor for their financial problems. They don't train their children to be godly, then blame the pastor because their children are involved in drugs, or alcohol, or sex. "After all," they say to themselves, "if the pastor had taught our children well, they wouldn't be doing these things." Amazing how we forget about the fact that the pastor only has one hour a week to teach out children, while we, as parents, have the whole week.

I love the last phrase in that sixth verse though. It's here that we see the difference between an overcomer of God and person who just goes to church.

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

1 Sam 30:6

Everyone else around him is crying, and "David encourages himself in the Lord his God." That right there is a great secret of the Christian life. When we, like David, learn to encourage ourselves in the Lord, nothing will be able to hold us down.

Now, the question is, how did David encourage himself in the Lord?

The Bible doesn't directly answer that question; at least not right here it doesn't. But, the Bible does tell us a lot about his life. So, if we look at David's life, we should be able to find out how he encouraged himself in the Lord.

More than anything, the Bible tells us that David was a worshipper. Over a third of the Psalms (the Bible's book of worship) is attributed to David. The first thing the Bible says about David, after he was anointed by Samuel, was that he was called into King Saul's court to sing when Saul was harassed by an evil spirit (1 Sam 16:18-19). At that time, he already had a reputation as a worshipper.

In my minds eye, I can see David as he sat there in his destroyed house. Yes, he cried for a while, but I don't think it was for very long. Then, he lifted his eyes towards heaven, and started to sing. I don't know exactly what he sang, maybe Psalm 23, or maybe a little bit of Psalm 91, or maybe he made something up just for the occasion. But I know he sang.

How do I know he sang? Because worshipping was a strong part of who David was. In that emergency situation, his inner character came out, and expressed itself in song to the Lord.

Herein lies the difference between David and all the others. While they were crying and looking for someone to blame, he was looking for God. While they were having a pity party, he was having a worship service. While they were falling farther and farther into depression, David encouraged himself in the Lord.

As long as we are depressed and crying, Satan has the victory over us. But, when we are praising and rejoicing, we have the victory over him. Once David encouraged himself, the devil lost his hold, and David could see about getting the victory.

And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. ⁸ And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

1 Sam 30:7-8

David knew where his help and direction came from, and once he had finished seeking God for himself he sought God for his situation. He wasted no time in asking for help and direction from the Lord, and was given a very clear answer.

I'm sure you can write the rest of the story yourself. David and his men pursued the Amalekites, found them "eating, drinking and dancing because of the great spoil that they had taken" (1 Sam 30:16) and attacked them. The Bible says that David and his 400 men attacked and killed the enemy army for a period of 24 hours! I don't know how many he killed, but only 400 got away! (1 Sam 30:17)

What do you think would have happened if David hadn't had his private little worship service? I don't exactly know, but I do know this, he wouldn't have gotten the victory in his situation. He would not have recovered his family, and neither would the men who were with him.

A leader must be different than other people. One of the things that makes a leader a leader is their ability to encourage themselves in the Lord. Other people need to be told that God's in control. A leader has an intimate relationship with the God that is in control. Other people need to be told what to do; a leader finds out what God's plan is. Other people need to be encouraged; a leader knows how to encourage himself in the Lord.

Mediocre Christians don't win battles. The victory goes to those who, like David, know how to encourage themselves, seek God's plan, and attack the stronghold of the enemy. God is seeking those types of believers.

What was the difference in David that gave him the ability to encourage himself in the Lord? He was a worshipper. I don't care what type of problem you are facing. I don't care how dark it seems. I don't care how many people are telling you that you are going to fail. Turn your back on all that, seek the Lord, and lift up your voice in worship to Him. Don't live "under the circumstances; get on top of them. Don't expect God to come down to where you are; go up to where He is.

Praise is one of the greatest weapons that a believer has. There are two great truths about praise that make it a great weapon.

1. "God inhabits the praises of His people." (Psalm 22:3) - When we lift up our voice in praise to the Lord, He is there with us. You know something? Where God is, the devil cannot operate. When you praise the Lord, you literally tie the enemies hands, thwart his attacks, and destroy his plans against you. 2. "At the name of Jesus, every knee must bow" (Phil 2:10) - Just picture this in your mind. A demon is sneaking up behind you to strike the fatal blow. You start to sing praises to the Lord. The demon must stop and bow down at the name of Jesus. He can't attack you while his knee is bowed!

When you praise the Lord, you can't stay depressed. Just the very act of singing praises will lift your spirit. But, on top of that, the praise enables God to start working on your behalf.

When we praise God, we stop being problem focused, and start being God focused. If we are problem focused, the problem has power and dominion over us. That means that we are "under" the power of the problem! But, when we praise God, we are under His power and dominion. His power and dominion will empower us to overcome the problem!

Recently, I had the opportunity to put this principle into practice. We were taking the summer off from our work in Mexico to travel through the United States, ministering. As we entered into Houston, Texas, on our way to minister at a church our engine exploded. Since we were only 49 miles from the church we were going to, we had a tow truck take us the rest of the way. Of course, that used up whatever money we had in the bank.

That was on Thursday; on Saturday, a couple of mechanics from the church helped me pull the engine out of the motorhome. We took off the oil pan and found some rod caps, pieces of pistons, and a few push rods laying in it. The mechanics told me I'd need a new engine (not that I couldn't figure that out myself) and after making a phone call, told me it would cost $1,653.00.

At that time, I had less than $100.00 in my pocket. I told the mechanics that I didn't have the money for the engine, and silently started asking the Lord, "what are we going to do?"

The Lord wasted no time in replying to me. He started testifying to my spirit, reminding me of the times we'd had similar problems in the past, and how He had supplied our needs. In about 90 seconds I went from telling the mechanics "I didn't have the money" to saying, "God will provide.

Testimonies are so important to our faith. It is through hearing what God has done, and what he promises to do that our faith is lifted up, and we are able to go on. It is by testimonies that we not only learn of God's ability, but realize His willingness to help us out.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Rev 12:11

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Rom 10:17

As God testified to me, my faith was raised up, and I was able to make a declaration of the goodness of God. I was able to stand my ground and look to Him in faith.

That was Saturday afternoon. On Monday morning, I went to the bank and deposited almost $2,000.00! How's that for a quick answer? Not even 48 hours, and God provided all we needed.

Unfortunately, the story doesn't end there. Two weeks later, we'd fixed the engine, and were ready to leave town. We said our goodbyes, started off, and went a whole eight miles. That's all the longer the engine lasted before we had to be towed back to the church.

The first time the engine broke was hard on me. This second time was devastating. I don't remember any time that I was as emotionally low as I was waiting for that tow truck to come and take us back to the church. I'm not sure, but I probably felt about as good as David did when they told him the people were thinking of stoning him.

We managed to get the motorhome back to the church and pulled the engine out again. I remained in my emotionally low state that whole time. But, once we had the engine at the machine shop, I had a couple of days to wait. I took that time to hide in the church with my Bible, and my God.

I won't try and say I came out of that church feeling like a dragon slayer, but I didn't come out of it like I went in either! I prayed, studied the Word, worshipped, and prayed some more. The depression broke off of me, and I was able to do what I needed to do. God got us another engine, and we were able to get back on the road again.

I don't care what problem you are facing; our God is greater. No matter what you do, don't forget that. Not only is He greater, but He is concerned about your every need.

Do whatever you have to do. Take whatever time you have to take. But, get alone with God, worship Him, and let Him lift up your spirits. David encouraged himself in the Lord, and I know you can too!