Level Up

There Is More for You

We've been in a series about the life of David — and we even arranged for Amazon Prime to make a series to go along with it, called House of David. If you haven't seen it, I'd encourage you to watch it.

The reason we're looking at David isn't just because he's one of my favourite characters in the Bible. David is remarkable for a number of reasons. The one we spoke about initially is that he's called a man after God's own heart. Imagine if that was said about you — above all things, he is a man after God's heart. What an amazing tribute.

Yet we're also aware that he failed a lot, quite monumentally at times — and still he was the man after God's heart. He was the unexpected pick. When the king had to be anointed, David didn't even make the lineup. His own father overlooked him. But throughout all of that, the hallmark of his life was that he pursued God with everything within him.

The title of today's message is this: Level Up.

Today we're going to stand back and look at the arc of David's life — that whole journey — and see how he progressed through this thing called life. Because life sometimes feels a bit like a computer game.

Whether you play Sonic or Mario, the point is the same: you have to complete one level to get to the next. To win — to get the prize, the celebration — you have to progress through all the levels. You have to learn as you go, develop, and grow your skills and understanding in order to win. Which sounds a lot like life. We go through tests, challenges, and trials.

But here's where I want to start this morning: there is more. There is more for you today.

No matter how low or how high you feel right now — whether you're in the bullseye of God's will for your life, or you're not even on the game board yet — there is more for you in God.

If you feel the lowest of the low, and you're not even sure life is worth carrying on with, can I just say: there is more for your life. There is hope, there is peace, there is breakthrough, there is joy to be found — and it is all found in Christ. God has a plan and a purpose for your life whether you believe that or not. He made you specifically to fulfil that plan.

And maybe you're in here thinking, I'm crushing it. Listen — there is more. No matter what you've seen of God, there's always more. No matter how many miracles or breakthroughs you've seen, there is more in him. There is more for your family.

Looking at the overview of David's life, I see three tests. There are probably more, but for time's sake we'll look at three tests that I certainly resonate with — and I think you will too.

Test One: The Test of Faithfulness

The first point is this: in this game of life, there are no cheat codes.

In old computer games, if you pressed certain buttons in a certain configuration, you could skip a level or get a superpower — more than you should have. But in this game of life, there are no cheat codes. You have to progress through.

The world will promise you lots of shortcuts. Go on YouTube and you'll see endless get-rich-quick schemes. Guys, if it's too good to be true, it's probably not true — unless it's Jesus. You have to progress through the levels. The journey you are on right now is actually preparing you for what's ahead. That's why I call this first test the test of faithfulness.

David and the Sheep

Let me read from 1 Samuel 17, when David takes on Goliath. King Saul is looking for someone to stand against this giant, and this teenage boy David steps up and says, "I'll do it."

Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him. You are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth."

But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it, and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine."

Saul said to David, "Go, and the Lord be with you." (1 Samuel 17:33–37)

David's training was in the field. He'd looked after the sheep. He'd faced lions and bears, and it set him up for what was ahead.

I had a question when he says, "I went after the sheep." Why? It's one sheep. Just leave it. Why risk your life against a lion and a bear for one sheep? But David understood the test of faithfulness. He understood: I know it's just sheep right now, but one day it'll be a nation. And God is interested in how I'm looking after what is in my hands right now. Whatever he was doing, he was doing it before the Lord — as if it was God's sheep.

Faithful in the Everyday

Life might not look how you want it to look right now, but God is looking at how you are handling it. He's watching how you handle your work, your school, your business, that job you're not sure you even like.

This is the principle of stewardship we see throughout the Bible — being responsible with what he's given us. Think of the parable of the talents: the master gives his servants treasure to invest. The one who does nothing is rebuked, but to the one who puts it to work he says, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful with a little; I will give you more."

His eyes range throughout the earth, looking to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

God is looking for those who will take what he's given and be responsible with it, so he can give them more.

Life trains us to view only the highlights — the mountaintop moments. But most of life is not made of mountaintop moments; it's a long walk through the valley between the mountains. We get distracted looking at other people's social media, thinking, "Look at the life they're living." I guarantee — they still have to mow the lawn and do the washing up.

There is power in the mundane. There is power in the process. God is involved in your 9-to-5 life. Eugene Peterson calls discipleship "a long obedience in the same direction." Faithful, faithful, faithful.

Goliath moments are important, but they're not the normal. As heavyweight boxer Joe Frazier said:

"Champions are not made in the ring. They are merely recognised there."

The champion is made in the training — the early starts, the weight training, the practice, the nutrition. So tomorrow, when you go to work, uni, or college, God is with you. He is watching, and he is working for your good. Will you surrender it to him?

Anointed — Yet Still with the Sheep

Earlier in David's life, King Saul needed a musician. Listen to 1 Samuel 16:

One of the servants answered, "I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him."

Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me your son David, who is with the sheep." (1 Samuel 16:18–19)

Look at this list of attributes. He's already been anointed king of the nation. He's brave, a warrior, well-spoken, fine-looking, and the Lord is with him. Yet where is he? With the sheep — doing the last thing God called him to do.

Some of you have a huge calling on your life, a dream so massive in your heart, yet you're working in a carpet factory or stuck in a situation. God is watching, and he wants you to be faithful with what you have. He's going to use you in that place. It's a test of faithfulness — and it's a test of trusting God's timing.

A Word to the Under-30s

I feel strongly to speak to the under-30s in the room: Do not microwave your destiny. It will be a poor imitation of his perfect plan.

When we get frustrated with the things of God, it's so easy to take things into our own hands. The worst place to do this is marriage — "I just need a man!" — and you pick an absolute… well. In the words of Steve Gamble: wait for your steak. Don't microwave your destiny.

We live in an instant society. Need information? Google it. Need something from Amazon? It's at your door in two hours. And we put our destiny through the same filter — "I want it now." But there's a test of faithfulness, and God is watching how you respond.

Enjoy the journey. Enjoy meeting God in the everyday. Even if life doesn't look how you think it should, meet God on the journey.

Test Two: The Teachable Test

My second point: learn the level.

When you play a game, you don't usually complete a level on the first try. You have a go, you fail, you lose a life — but now you know what to do next time. "I shouldn't go high there; I should go low. I need to do this instead of that." You learn as you go, adapting and developing, making mistakes along the way. This is the teachable test.

David failed many times. When he was moving the ark of the covenant back into the city, he did it the wrong way and someone died. Later, he committed adultery and had a man murdered to cover it up. You'd think he had derailed his destiny. But every time he made a mistake, what did he do? He brought himself back before God. He accepted it and allowed God's grace and forgiveness in.

Let's be clear: we all make mistakes. Nobody in this room is perfect. But I'd suggest you won't progress until you make mistakes — because it's the mistakes that give you the opportunity to learn and grow. The test is to be teachable.

Don't Give Up — and Don't Camp Out

Under-30s, you're getting it again today. When we fail or make a mistake, the idea is not to give up. Increasingly I see this in the younger generation — I'm not having a go, just saying what I see — when things get tough, the thought is, "It's hard, so I should stop." No. It's a test of how teachable we are. Will we learn? Will we grow?

Remember: the presence of the giants proves it's the promised land. Some of you walk into the promise and think, "This can't be right, there are giants here." But God says, "No — if it's worth doing, it may well be difficult, because I'm doing something on the inside of you." So don't give up when you hit a challenge.

But also — don't camp out on your failures and disappointments. By the grace of God, we keep going. We allow that forgiveness in.

The enemy — the accuser — would love to remind you of everything you've done wrong, why you're not worthy, why this word isn't for you. "They don't know what you did last Friday night." And we hold ourselves under sin, guilt, and shame.

But Jesus came to get rid of all of that. You are a new creation. The old is gone; the new has come. Your old life was buried with Christ in the grave, and he rose on the third day in victory, now seated at the right hand of God in a place of all power and authority. That's the victorious life we have.

The enemy wants to send us postcards from our past — "Remember when you did that?" But his grace is sufficient — today, yesterday, and the next day.

Some of you have camped out on a mistake, on where you failed. But the idea is not that you go down with it — it's that you pick yourself up under the grace of God and let him move you to the next level, in Jesus' name.

This might sound harsh, but it's actually a sin to put ourselves back under condemnation, because Jesus has already done it — his grace is sufficient to cover everything. When we feel that condemnation, what we're really saying to God is, "I don't believe your grace is enough for me."

And if you think, "I know you're right, but I still feel that way" — ask the Holy Spirit. Say, "Give me the gift of understanding this grace. Give me the gift of faith to believe." That's for somebody today.

Test Three: The Test of Courage

Point three: the end-of-level boss.

Sometimes in games you reach a level with a big baddy at the end — someone bigger and stronger than everything before. This isn't the normal of the game; it's occasional, but it happens. It's the stuff that can really take us out.

I know some of you may feel like you're facing an end-of-level boss right now. I don't want to trivialise that — some of you are going through horrendous, really tough stuff. But I want to encourage you: this is a test of courage. And notice — it's not a test of strength.

When David went up against Goliath, he didn't win because of strength. There's no way he could have overpowered a giant. He won because of his faith and his reliance on God.

He'd Seen God Before

Why did David have faith? Because of what he'd seen before. "I've been delivered from the lion and the bear. This Philistine will be no different. I've seen God do it before, and I know he'll do it again."

When you come up against the big stuff, remember: if he healed me of this, he can heal me of that. If he got me through that financial trouble, he can get me through this. If he healed my heart before, he can do it again. If he's done it before, he is faithful — he will do it again.

We sang it this morning — he's the same God, yesterday, today, and forever. He's been faithful before, and he'll be faithful to the end. He will never fail you.

He Didn't Need Someone Else's Armour

When David was about to fight the giant, Saul tried to hand him his armour. David — a young boy — said, "I can't. I'm not putting that on."

Here's what I want you to see: in his faith, David already had everything he needed to fight that battle. He didn't need what other people would put on him. He didn't need other people's expectations. He just needed to trust in his God.

This is not a test of skill or strength. It's a test of your courage. God has given you everything you need. David chose to stand on God's promise. When we face a giant, we go back and stand on his word — that God is who he says he is.

The Battle Is the Lord's

Listen to what happens when David meets Goliath:

The Philistine looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals."

But David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head… and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands." (1 Samuel 17:42–47)

It's not by sword. It's not by spear. For the battle is the Lord's. Another way to say it:

"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord."

And we know the story — spoiler alert — he kills the giant.

I don't know what's standing in front of you today, what thing is setting itself up against you. But take courage today, for he is with you.

The Foundation: Intimacy with God

One final thought. At the start I said David was a man after God's own heart, who pursued God. I want to suggest that the strength for each of these tests — faithfulness, teachability, courage — comes back to God's presence.

The foundation of how we get through these tests is intimacy and closeness with him.

• How did David have the peace and patience to wait for God's timing? Through intimacy.
• Where did the power and belief for his faithfulness come from? Through intimacy.
• How did he know that when he made a mistake, he could rely on God's grace and find forgiveness and freedom? Through intimacy.
• How did a young boy stand in the face of absolute fear, make that speech, and take a giant's head off? Because he knew his God. He was close. He was intimate.

We're all involved in these three tests — the test of faithfulness, the test of teachability, the test of bravery. But as we commit to pursue him, he will give us what we need. That's our one action for today: keep pursuing him.

Prayer

Let's stand and pray. If you feel there's something here for you and God this morning, put your hands out in front of you as a signal that says, "God, I'm handing things over to you, and I'm receiving what you have for me."

For the test of faithfulness: God, for those who aren't where they want to be, where it feels ordinary and run-of-the-mill — help us see you in the process. Help us see that we bring glory to you as we live our lives for you. Give us eyes to see you in the school, the warehouse, the shop, the office. Give us strength to keep being faithful, and hope that as we seek you first, all other things will be added.

For the test of being teachable: When life batters us down and we feel we've failed again, we thank you for your grace. There is always another chance in you, no matter how we mess up. Your grace is sufficient. If anyone is under condemnation today, I pray it would lift off in the name of Jesus. Let us walk out of here free in your grace.

For the test of courage: Where anyone is facing a giant that looks so big, I pray this gift of courage. Strengthen us for the fight — not in our own strength, but in yours. By your supernatural power, help us know we don't need anything other than you.

The battle is the Lord's. Whatever you're facing, hear it one more time: the battle is the Lord's. So, as Ephesians 6 says, after you've done everything else, stand — and know that the battle is the Lord's, in Jesus' name. Amen.