"A Woman to Die For"                          Subtitle:  "Taking It All Back"

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"More Than Conquerors” Episode 4: “A Woman to Die For” Subtitle: “Taking It All Back”

Kidnapped! She was taken from her home along with other women and children at the hands of the enemy. Her husband and his men returned to find not only their families and all their possessions gone, but their home burned to the ground. Today, we find out whether or not David, the future king of Israel, would go after his wife, Abigail. Was she a woman to die for? And would he take it all back, all his possessions, from his enemy? We will answer these questions in today’s episode and share another contemporary testimonial from someone who kept the enemy from taking his possessions by overcoming a fearmonger. My name is Stephanie Wright and this is Episode 4, of our series, “More Than Conquerors” Let’s get started. 

Hello and welcome to our series, “More Than Conquerors.” This series is about overcoming and conquering fear. Today’s episode is entitled, “A Woman to Die For” Subtitle: “Taking It All Back.” We encourage you to listen to previous episodes to help you have a better of understanding of the series. In previous episodes, we outlined steps for overcoming and conquering fear which included a live interview with a contemporary war hero. Last week, we saw how a woman named Abigail overcame and conquered fear by marching into battle to save her family. Her weapons of warfare were not conventional, as we learned. She was armed with wisdom, humility, courage, and food. She completely disarmed David, the future king of Israel, and his 600 men. After Abigail’s husband died, David took her as his wife. 

Although these events took place around 1000 years before Christ, we find the same attitudes pervasive in today’s society. We find David running for his life because Saul, the king of Israel,  is jealous, envious, and afraid of David taking his throne. David seeks refuge from, of all places, the people of Gath (one of the five Philistine city‑states). Yes, Gath was the home of Goliath, the giant slain by David. But, as the saying goes, “all is fair in love and war” and David makes peace and becomes an ally with the Philistine king, Achish of Gath, who gave David the city of Ziklag. (1 Samuel 27:3). David went on numerous raiding parties of other nations on the behalf of King Achish. He was supposed to participate with the Philistines in an attack against Israel but, against King Achish’s wishes, David was rejected by the other Philistine princes who sent David packing back to Ziklag. This is where we begin Episode 4, with David returning to Ziklag to find it has burned, presumably burned down, by the Amalekites who have kidnapped the wives, sons, and daughters of David and his men. I Samuel 30:1‑3. It is the mercy of God that intervened because none of the wives and children were killed. This was in direct contrast to what David had done when he raided the Amalekite nation. He “left neither man nor woman alive . . . and returned, and came to Achish.” I Samuel 28:9. 

David had a mutiny on his hands because his men were in so much anguish, they wanted to stone David. I Samuel 30:4‑6. Although David should have been very afraid at the prospect of being stoned, he was not. Instead of embracing fear, verse 6, tells us, “David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” What else did he do? He prayed and asked God what he should do? And God answered him and told him to “[p]ursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.”

David did what God told him to do, “And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives (Ahinoam was David’s other wife). And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all. And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.” I Samuel 30:18‑20 

So, David was obedient to what God told him to do. Like Abigail, in last week’s presentation, he did not wallow in self‑pity or fear but acted quickly after he consulted with God. He also was unlike, Barak, Israel’s general in Episode 2 of our series, who did not obey God right away, but eventually did and prevailed against the Canaanites with help from Judge Deborah.  Please listen to Episode 2 of this series to learn about Barak and Judge Deborah. 

Our lesson in overcoming and conquering fear in this episode is: 1. When the enemy wants you to listen and hear words of discouragement and destruction, don’t listen, instead, encourage yourself in the Lord. David encouraged himself rather than focus on what he saw (families gone, possessions gone, home burned down) and what he heard (words of stoning him) and what he felt (feelings of rejection from his own followers); 2. the Lord heard David and He will hear you (don’t doubt that God hears you when you pray, we don’t question that God sees us, so why do we question that he hears us when we pray); 3. When the Lord answers, be obedient to what he says and do not hesitate or doubt. David moved quickly and believed what the Lord told him and he recovered all. 

Let’s close out this first half of today’s episode with a reminder that Jesus died and rose from the dead to give us victory over any enemy who tries to take our “stuff” and stuff covers a lot. We are not only talking about the everyday things we need or want. We are talking about life and death. Jesus came to give us a more abundant life. John 10:10b. The best way to avoid having to get your “stuff” back (physical, mental, spiritual, or whatever) is to not allow the enemy to take it in the first place. Jesus gave you the power to speak over all your “stuff” and yourself to defeat the works of the enemy. “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:19.

Now, we are going to go to our testimonial from someone who did not allow the enemy to intimidate and threaten his livelihood. He stopped the enemy in his tracks by overcoming and conquering fearmongers who tried to frighten him into believing they had the power to take his stuff.  Let’s listen.

[TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW NOT INCLUDED HERE]

Thank you for joining us today in Episode 4, of “More Than Conquerors”: “A Woman to Die For” Subtitle: “Taking It All Back”. This series is about overcoming and conquering fear. If you have a testimony you would like to share about conquering fear, please email us at: cgmpresents@gmail.com We would love to share your story. Until next time, may God’s love, peace and protection be with  you.