Every single one of you, without exception, has a specific call, job, or duty that the Holy Spirit is calling you to do.
There is not one person reading this, and I'm looking at the younger people especially, who doesn't have one. If you're a new Christian, it may take a little time to find this thing as you work it out. But if you have a job to do, you let the Holy Spirit tell you what it is.
Then He blesses it, and that makes an enormous difference. I'll tell you this from personal experience. Don't have your own plan and then expect the Holy Spirit to bless it.
It doesn't work in that direction. You let the Holy Spirit tell you what it is, and then you go. If you don't know what that plan is yet, then just plug in and do something in the church.
What qualifies you for your calling isn't your ability, your looks, or your past. It's the blood of Jesus over you.
It has nothing to do with how equipped you are in your own mind. It has nothing to do with how pretty you are. It doesn't even matter what your past is.
I don't know how many people have made more mistakes than I have, but there aren't very many. I might have gone down the list and made some major, major mistakes. But that has nothing to do with anything.
That isn't what qualifies me. What qualifies me is the blood of Jesus over me, from when I accepted Him as my payment and submitted to Him.
Think about that. What did He do for you? I feel like that guy who got millions and millions of dollars forgiven. That's what I feel like.
David was a man after God's own heart who made some real mistakes, but when God told him something, he took it to heart and did not budge.
Anytime you're talking about callings, jobs to do, and mistakes along the way, who's our guy? David, right? He's a man after God's own heart, but the dude made some mistakes.
At the same time, he showed tremendous patience and dedication. When God told him something, he took it to heart. He might boo-boo, but when it came down to it, he did not budge.
In the psalms, David will get in there and say, "My heart melts like wax, and my bones within me." He's saying, "I've got enemies to my left, enemies to my right. I'm nothing."
But how does he always finish it? It's all about how we finish things.
Zechariah 4 tells us not to despise small beginnings, because the important part is that you're starting, and God's hands will finish what He starts.
I'm going to start briefly without David, in Zechariah 4:9-10. That's a strange place to start, right? When have you ever had me start in Zechariah?
Anyone who knows me knows my wife and I both work out of the old standard Amplified. That's generally how we do it, so that's what I'm reading from here.
The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this house; his hands shall also finish it. Then you shall know (recognize and understand) that the Lord of hosts has sent me [His messenger] to you. For who [with reason] despises the day of small things? For these seven shall rejoice when they see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. [These seven] are the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro throughout the whole earth. (Zechariah 4:9-10, AMPC)
Honestly, that didn't make much sense to me until I studied it a little bit. What I want to point out here is who despises the small things, the small beginnings.
Here's what had happened. They'd come out of exile, they'd come back, and they'd started to rebuild the temple. The prophet was going, "Hallelujah, we're rebuilding the temple!"
But you've got to remember, the original temple that got destroyed was just phenomenal. It was perfect. It was huge, it was wonderful.
These people are looking at the small foundation they have and going, "That doesn't look good at all." But the prophet of God comes up and says, "Don't you despise the small things. You're starting."
That is the important part. The eyes of the Lord go to and fro looking for someone who's starting.
Don't despise where you're starting, because you'll finish it, but it can't be finished until you start.
So maybe you feel like you have nothing, and the Holy Spirit is saying, "Start right here." It could be cleaning the toilets here at the church. It could be stacking the chairs, doing the quick cleanup, or helping the ladies set up for the luncheon on Saturday.
I don't know what it is. Despise not the small things. You're starting, amen. That's what Zechariah is talking about here. At the beginning of verse 9 it says, "His hands shall also finish it" (Zechariah 4:9). But it can't be finished until you start.
David was a sheepherder, and that was a pretty lowly job in those days. The shepherds were pretty much the dudes they sent out there because they didn't need them anywhere else. "Yeah, he can sit on his can and watch the sheep, right?" That's where he started.
My wife Darla was 38, with no degree, when a fall off a RipStick turned into the Holy Spirit putting a physical therapy clinic in her heart.
I'm going to brag on my wife a little bit here, because I like to, she's pretty awesome, and that's my privilege. Years ago, she got on one of those RipSticks. How many 38-year-olds would be well advised to jump onto a RipStick?
Of course, what do you expect happens? She falls and gets a spiral fracture of her elbow. Everybody's going, "That's not good, right?" So she gets treatment and goes to a physical therapist. While she's there, she's thinking, "This physical therapy thing is kind of cool. What would it look like if I was a physical therapist?"
That's where it began. That's where it started. Who would have thought? She had no degree. She had actually left college to marry me when she was 20. So here we are 18 years later, she falls off a RipStick, and the Holy Spirit gets inside of her and says, "You need to open a physical therapy clinic where you do things the way I tell you to do them."
At this point, she has something like 30 credit hours from TTC, and it wasn't anything near this. It was all pre-law stuff. She's 38, she has no degree, and it made no sense.
Prep is everything. Before David ever killed a giant, he was out in the field with the sheep, learning to trust God against a lion and a bear.
I don't normally do bullet points, but the next bullet point here is this: prep is everything. Anybody who knows anything about paint and auto body knows prep is everything.
Before David was ever killing giants, he was sitting out in the field playing his harp. He got so good at it that he ended up playing for Saul. Why? Because he was sitting out in the field with nothing else to do. And out there he ended up killing, as you all well know, a bear and a lion by hand.
Traditionally, these shepherds were hired help. What's the hired help going to do if a lion shows up for one of the lambs? "Here, pick one," and hit the road. But that's not how David operated. That's not how the Holy Spirit worked in him. He went hand to hand with it and beat it.
So what's the point of him learning this stuff out in the field? Well, when Goliath shows up, look what David says. Most of you have heard this a hundred times, but this is one of my favorite all-time scriptures, and again, I'm reading it from the Amplified.
And David said to Saul, Your servant kept his father's sheep. And when there came a lion or a bear and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and smote it and delivered the lamb out of its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard and smote it and killed it. Your servant killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God! (1 Samuel 17:34-36, AMPC)
He smote it. I've got to get a T-shirt that says that.
Think about that. He actually chased that thing down, pulled the jaws apart, and took the lamb out. That's bold. And here's the part I love.
"Uncircumcised" means Goliath has no covenant with God. David's saying, "I've got a covenant with God. What is this guy? He's no different from an animal in the field."
You can tell he's ticked. There's even an exclamation point right there. He's going, "Dude, what in the world are we standing here for?"
David was fearless because he had already done the prep work, praising God in the field and doing what his father told him even when it wasn't glamorous.
What taught him this? He'd been out there praising God in the field, hanging with the sheep, doing what his father told him. Half of his brothers were off at war, the rest were probably doing all the hard lifting and laboring, and here's David, the younger brother, out in the field.
He was literally the red-headed little brother sitting in a field. "Let's just keep him out of the way." Now, here's a guy who's going to be king. Samuel actually came to him and told him he was going to be king. So what's he doing sitting out in the field?
He's doing his prep work. Did he get an attitude and say, "Dad, what am I doing out in the field? I should be ruling instead of you"? No, that's not what he's about.
So here's what David actually said to the Philistine. In our case, this is us. We came out of the field, we've been doing our prep work, God has given us something to do, and He's put a Goliath in front of us.
This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will smite you and cut off your head. And I will give the corpses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. (1 Samuel 17:46, AMPC)
Woo! He's going in hot. He's going in with attitude. Why? He's been percolating out in the field. He's been spending time with God, saying, "I'll do what You need me to do."
Goliath wasn't the main thing in David's life. He was just another step, no bigger a deal than the bear or the lion.
Goliath turned out to be just another step in his life. It wasn't the main thing. It was just a step. Actually, if you look back at everything David did, Goliath wasn't even one of the big deals. He was just like a bear or a lion, right? It wasn't a big deal.
Your prep might look like working at the church, helping your parents, volunteering, washing somebody's car, or carrying someone's groceries, so don't think it's too small or ineffective.
Working at the church or helping your parents out with something might be the equivalent of shepherding for you. Maybe it's volunteering somewhere the Holy Spirit leads you. Maybe it's washing somebody's car or helping somebody carry their groceries.
There are a million different things that could be your prep. It could be your shepherding. Don't think that it's too small, and don't think that it's ineffective.
When Ethan was first born, Darla didn't want to put him in daycare. Neither of us did. So she made her own housekeeping business so she could take Ethan with her when he was a toddler. He would play in his playpen, and she would do her thing. Sometimes he would help. You know how that is with toddlers.
Later, once Ethan was in middle school, she started another business she could do during the day. She took some certification classes and became a personal trainer. Think about this: the Holy Spirit was just leading her.
In her housekeeping business, she learned how to run a business. She understood how to market, and she figured some of these things out as she went. Then as a personal trainer, she had to know the parts of the body, the muscles, how to develop them, and how to have correct form.
She had to be faithful in these small steps as she went further.
Darla went back to school at 40 for a degree that took years of grinding, with no guarantee she'd even get into physical therapy school, and she did not quit.
She went on to RSU. Someone had told her the physical therapy doctorate required a medical molecular biology degree as a prerequisite. So she's like, "Okay, Father. I was going to be a legal assistant, and now You want me to get a medical molecular biology bachelor's degree at 40?"
And of course I said, "Well, let's do it." I had no idea this process was going to take approximately six years of her pounding and striving and studying and grinding. There was no guarantee she could even get into physical therapy school, because it's very selective.
I think the only B she ever got was in Physics 1 and 2. Physics was not her thing, but she did get a B, even though she put everything she had into it. She graduated with her bachelor's with something like a 3.89, having come out of nothing but those TTC credits. Who would have thought? She didn't even think she could do that.
Darla found out later she didn't need that degree to get in, but it prepared her for the real grind of physical therapy school.
So what's the problem now? The next giant is getting into physical therapy school. We wanted the one here in Tulsa, and if I remember right, they only took 30 students or so. What she didn't know was that she didn't have to take that molecular biology degree. Turns out you could get in with exercise science.
So you're looking at the Holy Spirit going, "Dude, what in the world? Why'd You make me grind for three-plus years when I didn't even need it?"
Well, as we all know, she got accepted into physical therapy school here in Tulsa at Schusterman. And that degree prepared her for the real grind, which was physical therapy school. It's a medical degree, and she's a doctor because of it. It wasn't easy. But it was easier because she did her prep in her undergrad. Ain't that great? She did not quit.
Even after killing Goliath, David spent years running from Saul, living in caves and fields, and that season was where he learned how to lead and how to be king.
We've got to remember David was anointed to be king, and he had to go back into the fields for the sheep. After he killed Goliath, a whole series of events took place where Saul was out to kill him. Saul wanted to be king, he knew David was supposed to be, and so he was trying to kill him.
David had a few followers who went with him, and for the next 13 years, these followers hung with him. They lived in caves. They lived in fields, running for their lives.
Eventually, we get to this:
David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines; then Saul will despair of seeking me any more within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand. So David arose and went over with the 600 men who were with him to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath. And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's widow. When it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he sought him no more. (1 Samuel 27:1-4, AMPC)
That first line clearly isn't very scriptural. It's not what God told him.
So David hung out with the Philistines. These are the very ones Goliath came from. Ain't that crazy? He and his men would go out on raiding parties and grab spoils and bring them back. God was with him everywhere he went, and he was so dominant that he would always win. He'd always bring back what you'd call, if you're a pirate, booty.
The problem came when the Philistines geared up to go to war. David and his men showed up, but the Philistines didn't trust him. After all, he did kill Goliath, and everything he touched his hands to, he dominated. So they said, "David, you can't be with us. Go on back home." And so he did.
But he was learning his lessons. He was learning how God delivers him, how to lead men, and how to dominate in battle. He was learning how to be a good leader and how to be king.
When David came home to find Ziklag burned and every family taken captive, his own men talked about stoning him, and he encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
Remember, David is supposed to be king. He's been running for 13 years, but he's learning his lessons. How many of us would be going, "God, what are You even doing?"
Now when David and his men came home to Ziklag on the third day, they found that the Amalekites had made a raid on the South (the Negeb) and on Ziklag and had struck Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken the women and all who were there, both small and great, captive. They killed no one, but carried them off and went on their way. So David and his men came to the town, and behold, it was burned, and their wives and sons and daughters were taken captive. Then David and the men with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. (1 Samuel 30:1-4, AMPC)
Those doggone Amalekites. This is where all his people lived. They'd just been kicked out of the big battle, and they came home to this. Now I'm going to skip down to verse 6, and here's the part I want you to hear.
David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of them all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. (1 Samuel 30:6, AMPC)
These guys had hung with him and lived in caves with him. They fought with him and moved in with the Philistines with him. They'd followed him for 13 years. And they had hit such a low right here that they were willing to stone him, even though they knew he was the next king.
If you follow the Holy Spirit's plan for your life, I can almost guarantee you will get to a point where only the Holy Spirit supports you.
Maybe you're out and about doing your thing, and you've been doing it for a really long time. God told you something, you've held it in your heart, and you've worked it the best you knew how. And you've come to the point where even the people who hung with you, who believed in you, who supported you, no longer do.
In David's case, they were literally going to kill him. You'll get to a point where no one believes you can do what you're doing. In fact, if I remember right, Darla's parents said, "Isn't that going to be more expensive than the amount of money she can recoup?"
That's when even your parents think it might not be a good idea. Now, of course, I was always there. But I have to admit, as it dragged on into the sixth year, she was doing great, but it was getting hard.
So we're back in verse 6. David was greatly distressed, and he has a choice right here, just like you do. He can go on and follow what God tells him, or he can quit right here, and it'd be super easy.
In fact, it would probably save his life if he quit. Maybe not. I don't know. The men are bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. Understandable. I get it. But what's the next line? This is what David decided to do.
But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God. (1 Samuel 30:6, AMPC)
Woo! Hallelujah! Man, that brought the anointing down if you hadn't had it yet. That was his choice. He's like, "I don't care if anybody else follows me or not. I'm going to do my job." "He's given me a promise. He's given me a covenant. He's the Lord my God, and He will do what He says He's going to do."
Right away, start praying in tongues, praise God, thank Him, and declare that He is the Lord your God who will finish what He started.
So what does it look like to strengthen yourself, really quickly and easily, right off the bat when something like this hits? I would recommend you just start praying in tongues right away. Seriously. Start praising God and thank Him.
Say, "You are the Lord my God. You are the covenant in which I stand. You've given me this job to do."
Back in Zechariah, He said He'll finish what He starts. What did Jesus tell the disciples in the boat when the storm came along? "We're going to the other side." The storm came along, He just rebuked it, and what happened? They went to the other side. The storm makes no difference.
Goliath makes no difference. Saul makes no difference. Thirteen years makes no difference, hallelujah.
After strengthening himself, David's very next step was to ask God what to do, and God told him to pursue, overtake, and without fail recover all.
David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God. What was his first response? To jump in with what the Holy Spirit told him. He builds himself up, and what's his next step? He goes, "All right, Father, what do I need to do?" Because it couldn't be any worse than what he was already dealing with, right?
If you've ever hit that wall, you know you're almost there. Seriously.
And David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? He answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all. (1 Samuel 30:8, AMPC)
Amen, amen, amen! Now, after 13 years of this business, you have to admit that even when the Father tells you these things, doubt can kind of try to creep up on you. But it didn't. He's like, "God told me this is going to happen. I'll surely recover all. I'm going to do it." So that's what he does.
Thirteen years of waiting in exile, and he still turns directly to God as soon as the pressure is on. He did get everyone and everything back. And he captured all the flocks of the enemy as well.
Just hours after that battle, David got news that Saul had been killed and was crowned king, which means he was on the one-yard line and didn't even know it.
Now here's the part I really want you to see. Are you ready for the kicker? Just hours after this battle, David received news that Saul had been killed in battle, and David was crowned king the next day.
Look at this. Thirteen years of prep, 13 years of seemingly not getting anywhere, 13 years of being chased and accosted and run down and living in caves, to the point where no one supported him at all. He had the choice to quit on the one-yard line. But did he know it was the one-yard line? No. As far as he knew, he was going another 13 years.
But he was dedicated. His heart was after God. He decided that what God told him was true, and he wasn't going to back off of that no matter what happened, even if his own men wanted to stone him.
So not only did he make the right decision and go get all the daughters and sons and wives back, he came back with more than he left with. And then he was soon after installed into the promise God gave him at the very beginning.
Don't look at how God works with anyone else and expect it to work that way with you, because the Holy Spirit has a plan that is specific to you.
Now I want you to apply this to you and me. It really depends on where you are in this whole journey. But one of the major things I want you to make sure of is that you don't look at how God works with anyone else and expect it to work that way with you.
You have your own thing. The Holy Spirit loves us all, and loves us all corporately, of course. But you're extraordinarily important, and He spends time specifically for you, with you, and to you, with a plan that is specific to you.
For instance, my dad used to give the interpretation of tongues frequently back in the day. He's gone on home now. I asked him one day, "How does that work?"
He said, "At first, the way the Holy Spirit used to do it for me was like those stock ticker light boards that run left to right." The Holy Spirit would simply write the message on that, and he would just read it, and that would be the interpretation. Eventually he got to where he didn't need that anymore.
So guess what I expected to happen? And don't you all expect that? "This is the way my grandma did it, so that must be the way it works for me." No, that is not how it works for you. Each and every one of us has to actually step out the specific plan God has for us. You can look at other kings in the Old Testament, and they didn't have to do 13 years of being chased and kill Goliath and all that jazz.
That was just how it was for David.
God called David a man after His own heart because when David messed up, he repented 100 percent, and he repented immediately.
I want to point out one more thing, and then I'll close with this. David was not perfect. That boy made some major boo-boos.
How many people would have somebody killed so they could marry his wife because she was pregnant? That's pretty rough. But God still called him a man after His own heart. Why? What was God seeing? When David messed up, he repented 100 percent, and he repented immediately.
So if you make a mistake on your way, God does not pull that anointing off of you. God does not change His plan for you. When He makes a plan, He sees it through.
We saw it right here: He finishes what He starts. So what do you do if you make a boo-boo, however large or small? You repent immediately and wholeheartedly, turn the other way 180 degrees, and get back on track, unapologetically.
Thank You, Lord. I hope that was for somebody specific, because I felt the unction on that. And that's for me, too. What did Paul say? He was the chief of all sinners, and he just went on to write the New Testament. So that doesn't reflect on us.
Come to the Father in Jesus' name, admit you've fallen short, thank Him for His specific plan, and plead the blood of Jesus that doesn't just cover sin but obliterates it.
We just go and say it like this:
Father, we come to You in Jesus' name. We've fallen short of the glory of God, and we know that. And we praise You and thank You that You have a plan specific to us.
And we know as we follow it through that You will finish it, Father. We just plead the blood of Jesus over us, that cleansing blood that doesn't just cover sin, it obliterates it. It eliminates it.
And that's what we receive, Father, as we go forward. Holy Spirit, we just ask that You continue to lead us on the next step so we can accomplish everything, everything, everything You have for us to do. In Jesus' name, amen.
Does every Christian have a specific calling from God? Yes. Every believer, without exception, has a specific call, job, or duty the Holy Spirit is calling them to do. If you don't know what it is yet, plug in and do something in the church.
Will God bless a plan I came up with on my own? No. Don't have your own plan and then expect the Holy Spirit to bless it, because it doesn't work in that direction. Let the Holy Spirit tell you what it is first, then go, and He blesses it.
What does "who despises the day of small things" mean in Zechariah? The people rebuilding the temple after exile looked at their small foundation and thought it didn't look good compared to the original temple (Zechariah 4:10). The prophet told them not to despise small beginnings, because the important part is that they were starting. God's hands finish what He starts, but it can't be finished until you start.
Why did David have to wait so long to become king after he was anointed? David spent 13 years running from Saul, living in caves and fields, with men who followed him. During that time he was learning how God delivers him, how to lead men, how to dominate in battle, and how to be king.
What does it mean that David "encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord"? At Ziklag, when his own men spoke of stoning him, David chose not to quit and instead held on to the promise and covenant God gave him (1 Samuel 30:6). The way to do this when something hits is to start praying in tongues right away, praise God, thank Him, and declare, "You are the Lord my God."
What should I do when nobody supports my calling anymore? If you follow the Holy Spirit's plan for your life, you will almost certainly get to a point where only the Holy Spirit supports you. Strengthen yourself in the Lord, then ask Him what to do next, like David did. If you've hit that wall, you're almost there.
Do my mistakes cancel God's plan for my life? No. God does not pull His anointing off of you or change His plan when you make a mistake, because He finishes what He starts. What made David a man after God's own heart was that he repented 100 percent and immediately, so repent wholeheartedly, turn 180 degrees, and get back on track.
Should I expect God to lead me the same way He led someone else? No. Don't look at how God works with anyone else and expect it to work that way with you. The Holy Spirit has a plan specific to you, and each of us has to step out that plan ourselves.
