God's Plan vs. Your Process - Summer Movie Series "David"

Freedom And The Long Process

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Yo, yo, yo, what's up, everybody? And welcome once again to the Unlearned Podcast. I'm your host with Abigail, aka R A.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

What's up, friends? It's your girl, Jaquita.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Hey, this is the podcast that is helping you gain the courage to change your mind so that you can experience just a little bit more freedom. Freedom.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Listen, in this land of the free, uh, you know, we are uh in South Carolina currently. We are in voting season. Yes, yes. Get to the polls. Um, I'm going to the polls tomorrow morning. I'm very excited. Um, and you know, I think ideas around freedom for everyone, I think that that's something that everyone's thinking a little bit more about today, these days, you know, like what that means. And I think it's also interesting that freedom has always been something uh within different communities that had to be fought for. Like it was not inherently given. And so when we talk about like gaining just a little bit more freedom, like there are some areas of our life that we're not even cognizant that we're not free in.

SPEAKER_03 1:25

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Um, but it it really is, it really is holding you back or putting you at a disadvantage. Um, and so freedom, when you recognize it and when you pursue it, it gives you back your advantages so that you can experience the fullness of God in every every area of your life.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

That was beautiful. That was a beautiful description. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

I think that's important. Let's remind people, let's remind the folks what freedom really is. And you know, and I'll and it must be fought for. Um because oftentimes we we don't we don't intend to land into bondage, but we all do. And we have to break out of that, and that is not an easy uh it's not an easy process. And so this this podcast really is designed to help you work through the process of getting out of your own way, yes, um, getting out of bondage back to the place where you are designed to be, which is to be free. Give us us free.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Free, yes, give us us free. Absolutely, but you know, as a middle adult, I think I remember when I was young, like in my mid-20s, like the word process used to make me feel icky on the inside. Like anytime somebody was like, it's a process, you gotta go through a process. I was like, who wants to go through a process? I don't wanna, I don't wanna go through a process. I don't, I don't wanna go the long way, you know. Microwave me, Lord. Throw me in the microwave real quick. All right, hit that 60 seconds and let's roll. Why am I in the slow cooker?

unknown 3:13

Hilarious.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Who put me in the slow cooker? I did not ask to be in the crock pot, you know. Um, but I think as you get into your middle adult years and you look back, like I'm more, I'm much more grateful for the times that God took his time. Um, because you really you you have now lived through some crock pot years and some some microwave years. And those microwave years ain't nothing to play with. Everything happening fast all at once, you'd be like, oh, never mind. My bad. This is a lot to get accustomed to, you know? And so I think I think as we think through words now like process and you know uh a growth, development, healing, um, uh finding identity, finding purpose, like all of these words that in our 20s seemed mysterious, I think we're now much more accustomed to what it looks like to pursue things.

Why King David Still Resonates

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Um, and so you you know how to prepare yourself. You know, like, okay, God is shifting me into a new season. I know how to prepare myself for that. I know how to orient myself in that. And you know who was a biblical character, right? Who I think out of all the biblical characters that we follow, I don't know that there's anybody that who went through as many transitions as this young man. Okay. Yeah. And yeah, we're here to talk about him today because he has he had a movie just come out. We talk, we're talking about it like he was in it. He got a movie, he in a new movie, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 4:57

Up an award, you know.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Up an award, okay. We're talking about King David people and the movie David that was just released from Angel Studios, but it was in them theaters. It was okay, and now is on Netflix. And so, because of that, we are able to bring you a review. Absolutely, we're able to bring you a review today, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

Boy, and this this dude, man, talk about process. Man, this man, he was process. Um, I think I think I think uh another biblical character that may rival him is Joseph.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Um yeah, but Joseph's process seemed a little quicker. It's easier to tell, right? Like Joseph, he like went from the pit to the to Potiphar's house, from the prison to the palace. You know, like it's it's cleaner. It's cleaner.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

Oh, I don't think it's cleaner.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

I think the telling of it is cleaner. When you tell David's story, you'd be like, yeah, and he was out there, and King Saul liked them at first, but then, you know, King Saul was a little off. So he was chasing at them, killing them. Then he was in a cave, right? And then after he left the cave, you know, you know, uh Joseph and them P words, you know, the pit to the palace.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

I think we've made it cleaner in the way we talk about it. But I don't know if it was cleaner. But but nevertheless.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

But I will I will give you that. I will give you that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

We ain't here to talk about Joseph. We talk about David. So um, so the movie David, if you're not familiar with David, it's a biblical story.

The Anointing And Being Left Out

SPEAKER_01 6:33

His story can be found starting in uh 1 Samuel 16. And in the movie, it starts off um with uh Samuel, who's a prophet, coming to anoint the next king of Israel. Now we have a king of Israel, his name is Saul. We'll be talking about him as well. But Saul is kind of he he he he's he's he's not doing so well as king. And uh and the Lord said, I think you're done. And so Samuel was sent by God to go see, hey, this is gonna be your next king. So, really, the one of the first scenes in the movie is Samuel going to David's house. His father's name is Jesse, and going through all his sons. He has a ton of sons, and he goes through them all, and it's like one of y'all gonna be the king. They get all you know ready and you know, they stood up straight, and you know, all this stuff. So he goes through all the sons that are in line that his father brings out. And Samuel says, Ain't none of these finna be king. Ain't none of y'all like he like but the Lord called me the time here I'm at the right house. Who else who what who am I missing? Then they cut to David out here, little boy, no more than maybe 14. You know what I'm saying? And okay, pause, just so you know. I'm sorry, I'm having some renovations in my house. If y'all hear a little something in the background, forgive me. Uh but bananas anyway, so you might hear a little something. It's okay, no big deal. It's not your computer, it's me.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

So it's not you, it's me.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

It's not you, it's me. So David Um comes out because he's he's in the he's he's keep sheep in the back. Don't nobody know he, and he he he's not, he's not he's the youngest and he's not out here with the rest of the family. Um there's some con there's some you know different reasons as to why people think that's the case. But he is uh he's out there tending sheep, and his father was like, Oh, oh yeah, oh yeah, I do have another son. It was almost like oh man, you you want us to go get data. You sure you want this one? What which let's just pause right there. How I mean that's crazy. Like bring all your sons, and you just instinctively don't bring one.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

Like bananas.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

That's bananas, and then so now you gotta go into a situation where you know your father purposefully left you out of something, um, and then deal with the backlash of being chosen when you were left out, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Oh but you know, and you you you gotta you gotta believe. Now the Bible doesn't, you know, really state this, but you gotta believe this wasn't the first time he had been left out.

unknown 9:43

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Right, like this this wasn't this wasn't the only time that it was like, hey, we had a family meeting or we're doing something where all the older brothers kind of have, you know, their own rhythm flow acknowledgement. But because, you know, David loved being out in the fields with the sheep, you know, he was he was a shepherd. Like, you know, his story is told that, like, hey, you know, like he later talks about how I delivered my sheep when the lion

Humility That Qualifies The Called

SPEAKER_00 10:15

came. You know, who killed the lion when the bear came? Who killed the bear? You know, he was he was fully engrossed in his own world. And I think one thing that I love that the movie portrays is that you don't ever see David operating out of bitterness about his circumstances. It was almost because David and when the Bible says that the Lord says, I have I have found me a man that is after my own heart, David was so wrapped up in God's heart that he wasn't really as affected or really taking in as much what was happening in his own family dynamic. He wasn't reading it like that because he had God as his father that he was, you know, pouring into, singing songs to on the back side of the mountain. He was, you know, uh leading his sheep, you know, and he even as he was leading the sheep, he was like, These are God's sheep. You know, this is this is everything I have is because of the Lord. Yeah, um, and I think that, you know, a lot of us may have experienced some sort of trauma, you know, growing up. I really feel like millennials, we took this trauma word and we ran. Oh, yeah. We was like, oh yeah, we all had that trauma. Okay, trauma was with us all. Um, but I love that David shows kind of how to navigate those seasons where you may have been excluded, you may have been isolated, and you know, seeing how, you know, you could see like, dang, your daddy and your brothers was just gonna have this little meetup without you. Right. But you could also see that God stopped the whole show and said, we're not moving on until you bring them here. Like exactly the the show does not move on without him. That's right. Um, and I think it's a reminder that as we are looking back in our own stories, it is easy to see what people did and how people responded and how people treated us. But when you look back and realize that God is the narrator of your story and say, okay, but what was God doing? You know, what what was the intervention? What was the what was the play that God made that got me through those moments? And I think that's really critical.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

I like how they portrayed in the movie when he was when he was uh when Samuel said, You're gonna be king, and his first response is I don't want to be king. He said, What? Um, and you know, and he kept he kept kind of deflecting it, like, I no, like I don't, I don't want, like I didn't ask for this, I don't want this. What am I doing?

SPEAKER_00 12:57

Oh yeah, I don't want to do that because I'm just a shepherd.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

Yeah, like what I why would I want to do that? Like, I don't want to do this. And uh I think that to your point, he he was so engrossed in what he was doing and that posture, and Samuel even said it in the movie, like all that all the things you're saying are actually what's what's gonna make you a great king. Like the fact that you keep saying you don't want this, this isn't something that you feel like you deserve, you don't understand how this happened. And so I think that that is the uh the mentality of when God that this is also the reminder that we are a part of a story that's larger than ours. We have our own dreams and plans, but we're once we've decided to follow God, we're part of a larger story. So all of a sudden, what you want is less relevant to your story than what God wants.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

My Lord, say that again for the people in the back.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

What you want is less relevant than what God wants. And in this case, what David wanted was less relevant, and God was like, Hey, I hear you. I understand this might not be your heart's desire, but this is my plan. So this is what we're going. This is where we're going. And David, um and and I think this is very interesting, juxtaposed to Saul. David received God's word and he it a f and um without he accepted God's word.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Paul, I mean, Saul reje often rejected God's word, or he tried to um modify it to what he wanted. Yeah, and so you know, Saul really wasn't looking to be king either. So going back, right, Saul is the current king. Saul is actually the first king of Israel. Now they don't talk about this in the movie, this is just background. So Saul is the first king of Israel. Before then, Israel didn't have a king. Israelites were like, hey, we want to be like everybody else.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

My lord.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

So we get a king. So God said, All right, I'll give you a king. You're not gonna like this, but I give you a king. So Samuel went out and found Saul. Saul wasn't interested in being king, he kind of came from a um a low a family that wasn't didn't come from a great situation. He's not he physically he looked like he could be king. His background didn't say king. Um but he, unlike David, did not always readily accept um God's plan, will, instruction. And he decided in the you know, course of his kingship that he was gonna start doing things the way he wanted to do them.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

And that's what really that's that's what kind of took him out of the running um in God's eyes. And it's like, hey, you we gotta get somebody else. Whereas David, and you kind of see this throughout his throughout his kingship. Now, obviously David was not perfect at all, and he had his issues.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

My Lord.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

But he accepted the word of God even when he was wrong. He even needed to be corrected. He accepted it. And the the movie, I think, portrays both of these very well. How David accepted things even he didn't want to understand. Saul was more consumed with his position, and it got to the point to where he wasn't willing to uh just accept what God said. I've gotta add something else to it. I gotta add my own self to it because after all, he made me king for a reason. Um that's what really got him all caught up.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

But I think it is what happened was, and with David, um phrase it the way that you phrased it again.

SPEAKER_01 16:55

You said that um the thing I told you to repeat, uh your when you follow God, your story is less relevant than God's story or your yes.

SPEAKER_00 17:11

I also think that for for David, when you follow God, what you esteemed low, God esteems high. Right. And so all of the things that David thought, I'm just a shepherd, I'm just you know, I'm just this, or I, you know, I I only, you know, I've never done this, or I've never done that. Like the Lord looked at that and said, and those are the things that qualify you to actually do it. And but David always saw himself as I, you know, everything I do, I do through the power of God. So even when we get to the David and Goliath scene, right, and everybody's like, we're afraid of this Philistine, because he's gonna kill us. If we go out there, right, he's gonna kill us. And uh David's response was, Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that defies the armies of the living God? Like, first of all, we're God's army. We belong to we belong to the Lord, and if we belong to the Lord, the victory belongs to the Lord, right? So why why are we afraid of somebody who doesn't belong to God? Right. And so like his mind, his mindset, his mindset was always, you know, because I bel, because I'm with God, because I serve God, because I because I walk with God, because God covers me. And, you know, he talks in the movie about how, you know, it it is easy for him to be a shepherd. And he was like, because God is my shepherd. He's like, how am I gonna be a king when God is my king? Right, right. Like it that was the that was the thing that qualified David. It was that he always kept God in the proper position in his life, no matter how victorious he was, no matter how esteemed he got, he kept God in God's proper position. And I think where Saul lost it was was that Saul took king and started turning it into God.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

Yes, exactly. And I think that's exactly. I think, and um David really was, and and I like how the movie portrayed this, uh uh unapologetic about understanding like that we are God, like you said, we are God's people. He was he and whereas not just it wasn't just Saul, everybody around him. It seemed like the the way that everybody was struggling with that reality. And it it it I think it the leader you follow is going to impact the way you move um more than you might more

Saul’s Ceiling And Leadership Drift

SPEAKER_01 20:03

than you might think. And impacts your manner.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

It flows from the head down, and so they they were like they were loyal to Saul.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Saul was loyal to Saul. Yes, not God, therefore his people were loyal to Saul.

SPEAKER_00 20:19

My Lord. And you know, just to uh it is so difficult, okay. Everybody knows, you know, I I have been in middle management for a while now, right? And it is so difficult. You you cannot some you might have the power to determine who works for you, right? You're you're you have the ability to hire people, you have the ability to train and mentor them and to try to develop them into a team that looks like, right, you you become the head of that team and it pours down, right? But the person that is the head of you, right? It is so difficult to walk um in to walk in agreement with something that you may not agree with, or to walk with somebody that you may not agree with. Yeah. But that you have to be, especially in middle management, you have to be the person that is carrying their vision, their understanding of the people, their understanding of how we progress forward. You're carrying that to your people, right? And so I think, you know, David saw himself as a middle manager. You know, he's like, hey, God's the top boss, and I'm gonna carry what he got. I'm gonna carry that's that's how I'm gonna, that's how I'm gonna live out my kingship.

SPEAKER_03 21:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

Right. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna let it flow from the head down with the head being the Lord and not me.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

That's it.

SPEAKER_00 21:48

Right. But Saul put a ceiling on top of himself.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

And because of that, when you when you build that ceiling on top of you, you stop hearing and And receiving from God. You stopped, you stopped taking seriously what he's saying, right? Because the truth is, is that Samuel had become the voice of God to the people. Because Samuel was the prophetic, you know, when he walked through, people quaking in their boots because you knew that this was a man whose life was devoted to God and who could speak for God. And so, and you took what he said like that. Imagine the weight that is. To be the person that people are like, ah, he carries the word of the Lord in his mouth. Right. And not only that, but he was like the only one. Like there was a school of the prophets. Well, I don't remember us, you know, we weren't, it wasn't until later on in the kings where they started bringing up random prophets to speak for God. Because Samuel was actually the last judge. Right. So he he had held like this role. Um, but imagine, you know, like you walk in a city and you can't even have no real friends. Yeah, you know, because who wanna be who wanna be friends with the voice of God? Right. Like, nah, you're gonna turn on me. One minute we chillin', the next minute, judgment. Okay, I can't do it.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

Yeah, that's hilarious. I never thought about that. He ain't had no real friends.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

Yeah, hey, listen.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

No, nobody won't be able to do it.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

You can't build no authentic relationships like that unless they too, you know, have a good appearing, a little voice with them. You know, you switch it in and out. One minute you chilling, the next minute you like, I heard from the Lord. That's it. And such and such and such and such.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

Not again, Samuel. Golly, we got to do this every time we hang out. See, that's the guy. You can't, you know, you can't do that.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Nah, nah, nah, nah. And you don't want him to see too much. You don't want him to know too much about your business. You know, you're gonna have to, whatever information you get about me, you're gonna have to get it straight from the Lord. Okay, I ain't giving it to you for free. All right, you're gonna have to get a revelation.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

You're so crazy.

SPEAKER_00 24:00

Um but you know, I really, I really think that it when you put that ceiling on top of yourself, Saul got to the point where he was not hearing who God sent anymore. And you, and you know, I think as we are growing, especially as middle adults, it is really hard because we you have gotten to a point where you now have a voice that you trust. Yeah, you trust your own voice, right? Because your voice has been trained in in different uh areas of leadership. Your voice has gone through different tests and trials, and your voice makes a lot of sense when you're talking to you.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

Yeah, yes, it does.

SPEAKER_00 24:43

But your voice may not be the one that God wants you to follow.

Middle Adulthood And Avoiding God

unknown 24:48

Man.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

Your voice is gonna is gonna lead you outside of the will of God. There, I think in this middle adult years, and I think this is exactly where I am right now. Just, you know, here's a little transparency vulnerability for y'all on today, right? I I think that this is there has to be, you get to a point in your middle adulthood. The Lord literally, he's been talking to me about 40, y'all. He's been talking to me. And the other morning I woke up and the Lord said, You're avoiding me. And I was like, I might be a little bit because the Lord keeps the Lord keeps saying, we need to talk about 40. And you need to make some plans. You need to, you need new vision, new, new uh scratch everything from the last 40. It was great. You did a great job, wonderful. It's time, it's a blank slate at 40. And I'm just like, I've just been like, Lord, what you mean, a blank slate, Lord? You know what I'm saying? And you see, now you get to the point where like, you know, David was young when Saul when Samuel came at him with that oil. Now you see God coming with oil, you'll be like, wait a minute, wait a minute. I don't know. I don't know yet. I don't know. I don't know if I want to. Not because, ooh, that's so big, but ooh, I walked through the last time we did this. You know, I know a little bit about what this actually costs. Yeah, I I know a little bit about what this actually takes. And I and and that's the thing. I only know a little bit. I don't know if I want to know more.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

Yeah, right. All right. Certainly don't want to repeat much. Like, I don't I don't really want to go through it again. Like, and and it's it and and then you're talking about going through it again, and plus plus new stuff, like and you do know, and you I think that's the thing we know too much when you're older. You know, reminds me of the very reason God told Adam and Eve, hey man, don't eat from that tree. And it's interesting what the tree was a tree of knowledge, yeah, both good and evil. Yeah, you don't need there's some things you just don't need to know.

SPEAKER_02 27:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:07

Um, and you know, and so God wants us to remain as a posha of a child, to your point. David was, he was a he was a boy, he was not a man. Um so he didn't have he didn't have the knowledge that he will have later, but he but he accepted the reality. And so he accepted it, he accepted the reality, accepted the call before he knew too much. And if you're in a position now where there's change in your life, there's there's there's like, okay, I'm I'm go, I'm I'm seeing my I'm seeing that I might have to go through something new or again, and but you but you know too much, yeah, we are a lot less likely to accept as quickly and embrace as quickly be a part of our season upcoming. And like that is real. Like we're you know, if you're listening to this podcast, you are probably in that stage, like where you're like, I don't I don't know that I'm willing to, I don't know that I really want to do this.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

But you know, we've been talking a lot about promotion and elevation, and you know, I think when we look at that, there's so much about you that is going to have to shift to go to your next level.

SPEAKER_03 28:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:31

You know, and and you go in, we go in now with the all right, I already got my stuff ready. You know what I'm saying? Pack light. Okay, that's the theme of middle adulthood. It's pack light, right? Because to go where God is gonna take you, he ain't even gonna let you take all your stuff anyway, right? Like, like he's like, no, I'm gonna give you the new things that you'll have to have in this season. Yeah, right. Like, I I have been, you know, and I it's been funny because he's been doing stuff in ways that I ain't really been paying attention to, like I normally be paying attention to, right? And so like I've I've been here lately buying a lot of clothes. And not that I don't always shop because I do, but lately I've just been like, I need more blazers, I need more this, like, like, you know, like I've I've been slowly overturning my wardrobe. And clothes for me, every time God was gonna shift me into a new season, someone would come and just give me clothes. Like it would just be random, like, hey, I thought about you. Here's three bags of clothes. And I I started to see it as okay, God is about to shift me, and he's changing my wardrobe to do so. I didn't even notice that because I was buying the clothes, and I'm naturally a shopper, so I just be like, I'll be shopping. But I just thought about the day. I was like, he got me. He slid it in this time, right? And I think like as you are going through these different seasons of your life, and you it's like you we but the more exposure you've had, the more we feel like we feel like we feel like we know what the journey up ahead is gonna look like. And so we feel like we're glimpsing into the future, and we're like, I already know how this story goes. What I loved about David, and especially as it is portrayed in this movie, is that he walked, he was walking into situations, and he wasn't trying to precursor it. He wasn't trying to build his own narrative around it. He was he was just literally living his life one day at a time with God.

SPEAKER_03 30:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

And and facing it fresh with God. And that is what we as middle adults have to learn how to do all over again. Yes, you're going into a new season. Yes, God is changing something in your life. Yes, you are da-da-da-da-da. But you cannot rely on your own understanding. The Bible says in Proverbs 3, verses 5 through 6, lean not to your own understanding, but acknowledge Him in all of your ways. Acknowledging God in all of your ways is treating every time like it's the first time. Right? Like going to God as if, Lord, I this is a brand new experience. Yeah, it doesn't matter if I've gotten a new job before, I haven't gotten this job before. Right. It doesn't matter if I've been in a relationship before, right? And that's what we mess things up because we go into things like we've done it before.

SPEAKER_03 31:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:34

We we do it like we did it the last time. Every situation that David faced, he had to decide who he was gonna be and how he was gonna navigate that situation in that moment. And it required a fresh revelation, a fresh moment with God in order to know how to navigate

Finding Fresh Stones For Today

SPEAKER_00 31:56

that. You know, before he fought David, before David fought Goliath, you know, he was out there like gathering his stones. Right? Like that was that was a that was a new moment. He had to make a decision. Am I gonna wear this armor that I look absolutely ridiculous in? Right. Or am I gonna go and find what God has for me in this moment? And I think in every time that you pivot to a new situation in your life, you have to pivot saying, okay, Lord, you know, you got to think about, I gotta go out and find my stones for this occasion, right? And you you have to take that time, and that's why the Lord told me, you're avoiding me. Because I I and it's not that I was avoiding God because I didn't want to talk to God. I love talking to the Lord. I love when the Lord talked to me, it's wonderful. But I knew that the Lord was about to give me my new set of instructions, and I just got into my rhythm, and I knew, I knew, I not I knew, I know, because this is, you know, I've already started, right? I know that where he's sending me and what he's about to start speaking to me about, it is going to require uh is gonna require sacrifice, it's gonna require a disruption in my thinking, in the way that I move, in the way that I uh process things, in the way that I approach things, right? And and for David, he kept getting introduced to those challenges. What are you gonna do when Saul changes up? Who are you gonna become? Right? When Saul no longer sees you as his beloved, you know, son that can help run the demons away, right? That what used to be a gift to him, he now sees as a curse. Because he's cursed, right? Yeah. So anybody who is troubled, eventually they will make you the trouble.

SPEAKER_01 33:53

Yeah, because they can't see right.

SPEAKER_00 33:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

And and and so, you know, so David before he even killed, like, David and Saul's relationship starts as a as a as a as a kind of a transactional relationship. Like Saul needed to be uh comforted and soothed it, soothed because he was uh he was managing uh you know Demons. We're gonna yeah, yeah. But but but honestly, I think he was managing demons. That's that's you know, but I wanna I want to name it as like a mental um mental illness. I want to name that because I think that is uh that is what it was. And he was he was really whatever it is, whatever you want to call it, who knows what it was.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

It was spiritual warfare. It was, but it was bought on by disobedience.

SPEAKER_01 34:44

I get it, but it was in a form of a mental illness. He could not control his mind. Um, and so that and so he needed to be comforted by something. So he would he brought in, you know, musicians. He was like, I need to somebody play me some music. David was chosen to do that, and so he kept David around for when he had his episodes to play him music, and that was the way that the relationship started. And that was also David's exposure to the palace, which you know he and and I think uh David, as portrayed in the movie, he was not he was not ex it didn't um it didn't change him to know that this will be me one day. He didn't change up in that moment. He just did what he was supposed to do. So he said, So I'll say come play, come and help with, you know, do the music. That's what I'm gonna do. And he didn't, he didn't, it it didn't change who he was.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

And so I think I think the Bible portrays it like that too.

SPEAKER_01 35:52

Yeah. He he's just he just came and did his did did what he was asked to do.

SPEAKER_02 35:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:58

Um nobody knew, by the way, that David had been anointed. I think that was something also that the that the movie portrayed really well. Like it reminded you, like, hey, this is not just some cute little ceremony. What and the and what what Samuel was doing very uh very well legally was could be considered treason, like one of his brothers said. You're anointing a new king while we have a king, like you're saying that this this guy's my brother's gonna be king. Our whole family's in danger. Like you that it's all gonna come for us if he ever finds out. So they needed to keep it under wraps, which they did. Nobody knew that this was happening. He could never tell anybody, he would be immediately attacked, which we see later on actually is the case. But his job was just to do him, which is what he did. And I think that's something we we should, you know, a lot of times, some let's say a lot of times, sometimes there are elements of elevation that we'll be able that we can see or sense in our lives. But you're not there yet. And so going back to what we're talking about regarding process, we don't get to skip steps. You don't get to skip from where you are to where you're going to be. Um, you have to go through a process. And David's process was about 15 years where he was he was anointed, and then it wasn't until 15 years from there, from then, that he actually became king. So now you're you're in the middle of this journey. And if you spend time, too much time, thinking about the destination that you that you're sure of, you're gonna miss the moments of the preparation and the journey to actually succeed when

Staying Present In A 15-Year Wait

SPEAKER_01 37:52

you get to that destination. And so I think this is what David portrays well um for us in the movie and in just the story in general. How do you remain present for your process knowing what the future will bring?

SPEAKER_02 38:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:12

Um that that can be a real challenge, but I think it's something we we have to accept. And a lot of us have to um uh a lot of us have to learn how to do because it can be a it can be very tempting to operate in your future today.

SPEAKER_00 38:32

Man, let me tell you something. Today's generation, it would have they would have been right on uh right on social media. Yeah. Okay, I was just in prayer tonight and the Lord spoke a word to me. Okay, we we we can't keep nothing. We we don't hold no secrets. There are no sacred secrets. It's hey, I gotta, I gotta tell somebody because people need to know, right? And I think, but again, when you talk about a man that is after God's own heart, it was never about, it was for David, it was if this is what God wants, then it's it's God's to give, right? It's not about me. And it and I think the the more you rise up the ranks, my lord, the more you rise up the ranks. Like I, for me, any type of elevation or any type of place that I attain, I I I see it as this is where God is sending me. This is this is this is what God is assigning me to do. This is God's plan and intention for my life because this is where he needs me to be. Right? This is what God wants, right? Like if God leads me there, then I have to assume that it's for God's purpose and God's will. But a lot of times in this American dream culture, in this hustle and grind culture, it's not, okay. I deserve it because of who I am and what I've done. And I, you know what I'm saying? How could they not want me? You know, I'm that girl, okay? And and when I get up in here, I'm about to I'm about to rock it and roll it like they ain't never seen it before. Yeah. But what's your assignment? What's the impact you're really supposed to have there? And I guarantee you that what God is looking, what God is hoping to come out of your elevation is not written in the position description. So um, I was listening to I hate it when Ruth Abigail moves on from my point.

SPEAKER_01 40:45

What?

SPEAKER_00 40:46

Ruth be like, so and moving on.

SPEAKER_01 40:48

Because I don't need to ask you.

SPEAKER_00 40:49

Give me some affirmation, be like, oh, that's good.

SPEAKER_01 40:53

Ooh, Quita, that was good, Quita. That was good.

SPEAKER_00 40:55

Thank you, Gara.

SPEAKER_01 40:57

Um, I so I was listening to uh Darius Daniels' um uh sermon this morning, and uh he he was talking about the Sabbath, which you know, but in it, he one of the things that I felt convicted about was being part of part of the idea of Sabbath, right, is like um what he said basically one of the things he said was uh God would God will do something in six days. Uh it doesn't take him that that most people it might take seven to do. So the the principle obviously is that God doesn't need all of what you think he needs to get something done.

SPEAKER_00 41:40

My Lord.

SPEAKER_01 41:40

Um, and so I, you know, just personally, and I'm in a season where my life is about to shift pretty drastically, and it's gonna take me away from my work responsibilities for a year. And so that that is, if I'm honest, like that is definitely not a comfortable plus posture for me. We're also going into, you know, work at this point, it's crazy. I mean, this the timing is just not something I would have ever picked. Um, we were big fundraising season, we're doing a million dollar, you know, we have anyway, we're we got multi-million dollar capital campaign coming up. I mean, I'm I'm not this is not this is not slow season for the organization, but it's slow season for me. And I have to remind remind myself that God can will do what he has planned with less than what I can do with everything I have.

SPEAKER_00 42:38

My lord.

SPEAKER_01 42:40

And I have to be reminded of that. And when I'm when I when I think about this fight between David and Goliath, and it's like God did with stones what it would take everybody else to do with armor.

SPEAKER_00 42:52

Canon. Okay, that's what they needed for Goliath.

SPEAKER_01 42:55

Yeah, literally, like it was just and so, but God did it with rocks, you know. And uh, and I I have and I think it's so important to, you know, I was I I was thinking about this song and I and I hope it makes sense, but I was like, you know, there's a song um that says uh Lord, whatever you do in this season, don't do it without me. Don't do it without me. Come on, Bishop Paul Morton. But you know, I thought about this though. I said there's another side to that. And in this season, the Lord is saying, I'm going to do it without you. And that was it's just a humbling thing. I'm going to do it without what you think you need. And in this season, it's I I think I need me, quite frankly, to do some things. Like, I can't, like, who else is gonna do this? And guys, like, hi, what's up, what's up? Hey, I'm here. Yeah, me. I'm not, I'm gonna get it done without you. Um, and I think we have to remember that as we are going through this journey of wherever that destination is, there will be you've we've got to get comfortable with again the fact this is God's story, not yours, and that what you think you need to do something, God is gonna show you he doesn't need what you think you need to get it done. Yeah, even if it means he doesn't need you to get it done.

SPEAKER_00 44:31

And that is that is the piece right there, that God is gonna do it without you. And you know, for some of us, it it is not that he took you away from it, it is that he is holding your hand from moving. He is saying, No, don't do anything. I got it. Don't do it, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. But they coming, but they got guns and knives and stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. But Lord, what about this? And I don't know how I'm gonna pay this, and I don't know. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. I think for me, again, going back to what I was saying, that the Lord told me, you're avoiding me, you know. And he he almost said it like, you know, like, hey, you think I don't see you? Yeah, I see you, I see you, and I know what you're doing. And I was like, dang, you know what I'm doing for real. You really know me, Lord. You really know me for real. Um, but the other piece of it is that I it is so much easier sometimes to go with what we imagined life would be.

unknown 45:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:49

Right. And and to and and to be the ones that are writing the story. You know, like I used to have this uh this thing in my office. I don't know if I still had it. I got it randomly, you know, randomly. You just pick up, you know, decor for your office and it said write your own story. I'm pretty sure I left that somewhere because you ain't I ain't writing this story. Yeah. And every time I try, it ends up uh like what's this horror story? Yeah, who wrote this? You know what I want? I want light romantic comedy. Okay, you know I I want a feel-good, you know, light conflict, light conflict that we laugh our way through. Remember how we got through that? That's what I want. Okay, but I

When God Does It Without You

SPEAKER_00 46:42

keep taking the pen, all right, and writing these these dramas. I didn't ask for fences. I don't want fences. You know, give me deliver us from either, you know. Okay, give me brown sugar, you know what I'm saying? I don't I don't want this, you know, down in the delta, deep. Yeah, I don't want it. I don't want it. I don't want the color purple. Okay, I don't want it. These are all movies we haven't done yet, but if you'd like to see us reveal just kidding, but you know, like I I think that it it it really is you get to a point where you have to re-evaluate your trust of God. Yeah, you gotta re-evaluate because again, your voice becomes really good in your ear. It ain't the devil, it's you, it's you. No, this ain't even your friends and family members. You know what I'm saying? We talk a lot about how you have to navigate the voices that came from your past. One of those voices is yours. You need to learn how to navigate your own voice, and part of Saul's torment, yeah, you know, the Bible says that there was sent a spirit to torment him. It was, but it was because of his past decisions. Yeah, it was because of what he was telling himself, and now it's coming and it's tormenting you.

unknown 48:15

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 48:16

The the things that you did, the things where you decided to put a ceiling over yourself and to not receive from God, to not hear from God, to not move with the way that God was telling you to move. Now you're being torn, now you're in an echo chamber of your own making.

SPEAKER_03 48:31

That's it.

SPEAKER_00 48:32

You built these walls around you, and now all you can hear is you. Yeah. And was torment, the torment came because uh, and I have to go back and look at it, but the torment came because you no longer felt the spirit of God with you.

SPEAKER_01 48:48

Right, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00 48:50

Right. Like you you no longer had the voice of God in your ear leading and guiding you, which is why in the Bible, and we'll get, I'm sorry, we'll get back to the movie in a minute. But in the Bible, when he got really desperate and really wanted an answer, he over here trying to trying to pull up Saul, pull up Samuel from the grave, trying to get an answer. Because you you're trying to get the voice of God back in your life. Do not build an echo chamber around yourself where all you hear is you. That that's gonna become torment. It's gonna feel good at first. You're gonna feel like, yeah, I know what to do. I know how to navigate this, I know, I know how to make the right decisions and make the right moves until that's the only voice you got. And all of a sudden, this ain't fun no more.

SPEAKER_01 49:34

The way that happens is you you by by by ignoring, because it's not that that's the only voice talking, but you you continue to shut off, shut off, shut up, shut up, shut off, ignore, ignore, ignore, ignore. And then well, this is people. This will happen with people, and it'll happen with God. People just stop talking. Sometimes people just stop. So because you're you're not you're not receiving, you're not paying attention. And so the only voice you're left with is you. But it's never it that never starts that way.

SPEAKER_02 50:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:10

Um, and so the more we isolate ourselves, the less people are going to speak into you.

SPEAKER_02 50:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:19

When people stop talking to you, when God stops talking, that's when you have a problem. And you don't, you don't hear, and nobody and the you and so that's really when people go crazy. I mean, you think about it when the only voice you hear is yours, you're hearing, but you're hearing multiple voices because you've got different things going on in your head. And that's that's and it's when when you you just you feel like you're you've lost control. Like I can't, I don't know what's going on. And and so that's where Saul was. And it was and it was driving his every decision, and it ended up, and then it didn't make it any better because when when when David kills Goliath, the people noticed David in a different way. And Saul was already isolated, he was already feeling like he's been rejected by God.

unknown 51:12

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 51:12

Now he's being rejected by people.

SPEAKER_02 51:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:15

And so now that's another thing that your voice is telling you. Yeah. Now you got all these things that your voice is telling you. And it's starting to impl it's starting to um uh dictate his actions, and it causes him to attempt, do multiple times attempted murder.

SPEAKER_00 51:35

My lord.

SPEAKER_01 51:37

Because he's now he's he is he has told himself that David is after his throne.

SPEAKER_02 51:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:44

He's told himself that. Nobody said that but him. He's told himself that. He's also told himself that the people want David to be king.

SPEAKER_02 51:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 51:52

He's told himself that. Right? And so he and so he now he's protecting what what he what he deems is his. And he's a he's he's attempted to murder David multiple times. And then we get into this part of the story where now David is a fugitive.

Saul’s Echo Chamber And The Chase

SPEAKER_02 52:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:12

Because he like, I didn't do nothing but follow God. Here's the other thing with that, he goes through this, and I like, I I kind of there's a s there's a song. I've only seen, you know, we only seen the movie one time, so I don't I can't tell you exactly what the song is. But there's a song that I feel like he's um, as he's kind of running away and going into hiding, it mimics the Psalms, which is where you hear a lot of his uh the way that he's feeling in this time while he's being hunted, while he can't, you know, and and he's like, you know, the that his enemies are are um this is all before he becomes king. This is in his this is in the middle part of his journey where he's in danger. You're hearing all this, um, all this stuff coming out of him. And I liked how they portrayed that in the movie through song, God, why are you putting me through this? I didn't ask for this. This was not my idea. And you know, this isn't fair. How am I supposed to get through this? And so I think that there's always we always hit that part of our story where we we are questioning in the middle of our journey why why is it that I'm here when there is nothing that said what I did, I deserve to be here. Yeah, what I'm doing, I deserve to be at my destination. Wherever you said I was gonna be. But I don't deserve to be here. And it's like, but here, wherever that is for you, is a part of the journey that we that most of us are gonna have to endure, and it's not gonna be pretty, and it's not gonna feel like you deserved it, and it's not going to feel like you're not gonna oftentimes you're not gonna feel like you can get out of it, you're not gonna see the light at the end of the tunnel sometimes. Um and so we have to remind ourselves this isn't the end of the journey. Yeah, it's the middle of the journey, and the middle of the journey is always the hardest and the messiest of the journey. And if you find yourself, you know, and well, I'll say as middle adults, we are in the middle. A lot of us are in the middle of our journey now.

SPEAKER_00 54:21

In the middle of it. In the middle, sorry, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 54:26

That didn't really fit the mode, you know what I'm saying? That was too happy of a song. You have another song, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 54:32

Let's just move on.

SPEAKER_01 54:33

No, okay. That as we're as we're entering, a lot of us are entering into this middle part of our lives, that we are it is very, it's a very high probability that we will hit these moments that we did not ask for, we didn't necessarily even our decisions didn't even wouldn't, wouldn't, you wouldn't think would take us to where we where we might land. But it's not it's not the end of your journey. Yeah. You have to remember that. Um, but I think it can be really hard to do when you're in the middle of this messiness.

SPEAKER_00 55:26

You know, I I I want to take us a step back just for a moment to King Saul and kind of like his uh him becoming very uh zealous of kind of stopping David.

Protecting What You Won’t Surrender

SPEAKER_00 55:43

Like he becomes convinced that like David is trying to steal my throne and I gotta kill him. Like, not just, you know, strip his power, send him back home, right? I gotta kill him. He he he has to be killed. Like, that's the only way I can I can get rid of the threat. And you have to be really careful about how you protect what you haven't surrendered. Because there are things in our lives that God asked you multiple times to give back to him. Yeah, and instead of giving it back, because you know, David, even Jonathan was like, the crown belongs to God. Jonathan's still my favorite character, FYI. When I read the biblical story, and when I watched the movie, I was like, love me some Jonathan. Okay, because Jonathan was he was he he was the he was the middleman, he was the voice of reason, and he also recognized David and who David was. And the saddest part in the movie was when when Jonathan went down, and he gave gave David that little I see you, my brother, yeah, and you will rise one day, but I will not be there for it. Right? Like I was like, oh man, that was beautiful and sad. Um, but I think you know, instead of Sam, instead of Saul spending the rest of his life repenting, trying to get back to God, trying to, trying to, you know, trying to get back to a place where, you know, he could lead with with God with God's help and with God's guidance. You know, he he wasn't even seeking that. No. He was seeking how do I protect what I have instead of surrendering it and saying, Lord, I messed up. You're free to do what you want with what I have. You know, right? Like I'm gonna give this back to you. I'm not gonna hold on to it. I'm gonna let you have it, right? Instead of surrendering it, he protected it. And I think we do that in a lot of areas of our lives. Sorry if relationships keep coming top of mind. Um, but I think that there are a lot of relationships that we have not surrendered. And I'm not just talking about romantic relationships. You haven't surrendered the relationships with your parents. You haven't surrendered the relationships with uh the people that hurt you from your childhood. You haven't surrendered the relationships with your siblings and your understanding of who got treated better and who got, you know, prioritized more, who got this, who got that. You are still holding on to things. And we're at an age and we're at a point in our lives where you're not just holding on to it, you're protecting it. And by protecting it, you are refusing to allow God to reform you. You're refusing to allow God to transform you into the next version of yourself because you're holding on to this old thing so tightly that God cannot help you to get past it. You're holding on to it and you're keeping you. Not only was Saul keeping himself stuck, he would have kept the kingdom stuck if God had allowed him to continue in it.

unknown 59:01

Right.

SPEAKER_00 59:02

And you have to realize that you will get to a point in your life where it's no longer you that's impacted, but because you are a leader and because you have authority and you have um you have influence, right? Like what you're holding on to will become what everybody who follows you holds on to. That's right. And you will start to see it mirrored in the people that you mentor, the people that you supervise, your children, right? You will see it, it will come up before you constantly. Yes. That thing that you won't let go, they will have the same mentality about it. They will have the same struggles, right? Because as a person of influence, you're not just passing down your wisdom and your and your goodness and your and all the character that you've built up. You are also passing down, you are teaching them to hold on to the things that you won't let go of. And we have to be really mindful about how we navigate these seasons where God is saying, you know, God said, I'm gonna tear the king, I'm gonna tear the kingdom away from Saul. And Saul's response to that was, I'm not gonna let it go.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:21

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:23

Who knows who Saul could have become had his heart changed?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:28

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:29

Who knows what God would have done in the life of Saul and his lineage if his heart had changed? Matter of fact, if it had not been for David being who David was, Saul would not have made it as long as he did.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:43

He would not have. Because David had at least two attempts where he could have killed him. Um, and he would have done it.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:51

And let him know. Want to let you know, I could have did it.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:55

Could have did it.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:56

I could have did it. And David was a man of war. Don't get it confused.

unknown 1:01:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:00

Okay, could have did it, but didn't, because you still God's man. And to know that that's how God still esteemed him. You know, saw Samuel, after he had to, after he became aware that Saul was not, that Saul's lineage was not gonna continue the kingdom, like that Saul as king was about to be done. Samuel grieved it.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:28

You know what I'm saying? As as God's prophet Samuel loved Saul, right? He had walked with him, he had helped him to grow, he had helped him to navigate difficult decisions. And when it got to the point where I'm not gonna be able to, you're not gonna continue forward, right? Like you, you've been disqualified from your position. That is grieving to a mentor. That is that is grieving to somebody who walked with you, who poured into you. That is grieving. The one person in my leadership that I've had to fire, it was it was it was a heartache. It was a headache too, but it was a heartache because I was like, I I hired you. Yeah, I I I was putting everything I had into making you the leader that you can be. And I I hate that it had to come to this. I would have, this is not what I wanted. No, and I don't think Saul realized he saw the loyalty of the people, the blind loyalty of the people because they ain't know everything, right? But he didn't realize the people that loved you the most were the people who knew everything. They were the people who were the closest to you, but who protected you anyway.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:48

And that that and that, yeah, and that that's typically the case. Like, that's where real love shines. It's I know it all, and I still love you.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:57

My lord. Um that's how I am with Ruth Abigail, y'all.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:01

Okay, all right. Anyway, um I think something else that we need to learn from this is that when you do when you are elevated, don't isolate voices that you had before you were elevated.

Elevation Without Isolation Or Ego

SPEAKER_01 1:03:28

Um Saul Saul really he lacked community.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:33

Um, he lacked people, trusted people.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:37

I mean, he was also throwing stuff at people.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:41

Well, yes. Right. Well, he was that's what I'm saying. He I he was he he he isolated them. He he, you know, he didn't feel like he needed them. And I think that is uh it's such a dangerous place to be when you are whenever whenever you kind of raised up to a level where you're more seen or more heard, uh, have more responsibility, have position, have authority, whatever it is. When you forget who you had, who you really had with you before all that, who knew you before all that, who could speak into you before all that, then that's a lot of times that's where we get this. Um we get to a point where nobody can talk to us anymore, yeah, but us. Um, and that that's I think a Saul's that was also one of Sells down for we talk a lot about community. You gotta know who's for you. And it doesn't it it and the people who are for you, it won't matter what your status is. They will be for you regardless, but you gotta let them continue to be with you in the different places that you find yourself. Yeah, um, because they are the ones who can speak into you in a way that people, when you get to the next levels who meet you at that higher level, they will never speak to you that way. You can't trust that. Um, if you you gotta keep you I ain't say you gotta keep everybody, but you gotta be discerning and know who I need to keep around me as I continue to elevate. Um so with so as we get to the end of the movie, you know, the movie kind of takes us through Saul's chasing of David and David kind of coming into this reality of becoming king, reality of pulling the kingdom back together after this turmoil uh that has happened because of the divide, right? So you have people who are loyal to Dave, you have people who are loyal to Saul. Um and so eventually Saul and Jonathan are both killed in battle. And what what are you looking at me like that for?

SPEAKER_03 1:06:00

Well Saul killed him battle in the movie.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:04

Saul died. Well he killed and battled in the in the in the Bible. Oh yeah. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. He I mean he he was killed. So uh they so they they they go and David is um David is takes the throne, right? But it is you know putting putting the thing putting things back together, you have to think like David was he didn't come into a situation that was uh pretty as king. He came into a very divided country. And he had and so he had to navigate people there were still people, even when Saul and them were gone, people didn't they didn't want him to be king, they were loyal to Saul. Um, and they were loyal to the family of Saul. And they wanted Saul's family to continue to be in uh in position. I'm I'm going Bible on some of this. The movie doesn't necessarily portray all this, but it's a reality. They do the movie does portray this uh kind of destroyed kingdom, people that are wounded and tired and scared. And David shows up and it's like, hey, you know, and reminds everyone who really is again on the throne. It it's it's we we are here to serve God, and it and it kind of King of Kings and Lord of Lords, kind of it and and so it kind of ends that way. But I think it's important to know that there's also a reality that even when you get to the place that God has for you, that place is not always going to be put together. Yeah, and there are a lot of things, again, in your journey that will prepare you for the turmoil that will actually be waiting for you when you do get elevated, which again sounds it sounds contradictory, and it's and and and all of it sounds hard and just like why do we but but this is this is the reality of what uh a lot of times what what journeys are and what life is a lot of times. People complicate things and we have to be we have to be ready to manage that kind of chaos. And so I think that we've got to uh we've got to unlearn that just because we are headed somewhere higher, the higher means easier and smoother.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:38

Um you ain't unlearned that yet, please.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:41

Higher oftentimes, honestly, means more chaos, more criticism, um more uh uh more conflict, more confusion. It means all of that, but you don't have to be that. You don't have to be chaotic and confused and full of criticism and full of and um full of conflict. You are shaped differently and put in a situation that has those characteristics, but you are different. And that was that was the way that David showed up to his kingship. David didn't have that, but the kingdom did, and they needed somebody who has been shaped in a way by God through all of this stuff that was different than the people have been experiencing it so that he can lead them in a different way. Um and that all and I think I think that is a lot of our journeys in leadership. Hey, you have you've gotta be different than your environment. Yeah you can't you can't mirror where you're going all the time. You're going there, you're showing up there because you're different, and you've got to lean into that difference, even though it will be hard, even though people will come against you, even though there'll be people who don't think you should be there, you gotta still be, you've got to stay true to who God has molded you to be through this process because the reason you're there is because you've been molded to be there to move it into a different direction. If you become your environment, you're no longer effective. Um and so remember don't become your don't become the thing that you show up to.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:21

You you be remain who you are. Show up to the place as who you are and begin to change what the place looks like because of who you are. Don't let the place change you. Um and that, but that that is that is a very uh it's a challenging thing, but you've been molded for it.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:41

My Lord. You've been molded for it.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:48

Amen. Amen. Any last words, Jaquita?

Worship As The Anchor In Power

SPEAKER_00 1:10:55

You know, I think I most of my favorite stories in the Bible are ones where we get to watch kind of the evolution from youth to you know adulthood. And I think David's story is the perfect one of someone that we get to see go from young adulthood to middle adulthood. Right. Like we really get to see what that transition is like and how he carries it, right? From being a, you know, young adulthood was young shepherd, you know. I also love that sometimes your secondary gift is the one that opens the door. Right? Being a shepherd was what prepared him to be king, but being a musician, being a worshiper is what opened the door. And a lot of times, you know, I think about myself in like poetry, right? Like it used to be a big part of my life, right? But it's something that I put down because I was like, I need to focus on all these other areas of my life, right? But I have in in the phases of life that I'm in now, I've had to find new lanes of worship where poetry used to be one of those, right? New lanes of expression. And you don't know what doors can open when you allow yourself to live in not just what you do well, but in who you were created to be and how you find connection with God, right? Worship singing was how David maintained his connection with God. He didn't stop, stop writing the Psalms when he became king, right? Like he it maintained his connection to God, and so you cannot keep focusing on being a better leader and gaining greater skills and more exposure, and you don't know what it is that keeps you connected to God, because that is what keeps you after God's heart, is the ways that you express and relate. And David understood his kingship through his worship. That's where he got understanding, that's where he got answers, right? If you read the Psalms, you can go through his story. Like, right, like, you know, I was, you know, I felt forsaken, but God, you know, grow not weary and well doing, you know, like like you start, like you see him go through, you know, I have a conflict, I have a fear, I have a situation, I have um an impossible scenario to solve, right? All of that is in the Psalms, but it always ends, he ends with the new declaration of who God is and who he can trust God to be in anything that he faces. And I think that as we are growing, especially a lot, some of us moving from that young adult uh mindset to that middle adult, you know, the the challenges of kingship, the challenges of more authority. You know, David went from they didn't want to invite him to the to the dinner, right? To now it's 20 million people outside my house clapping and applauding that I'm I'm gonna be king. Right. Right. It's it's it's all these people who are who speak well of me when 15 years ago I couldn't get an invite to my own family dinner. You know what I'm saying? Right, like you have got to maintain as you are transitioning into this next level of living, to this next, to this next uh season that God is taking you into, it's gonna be really important that you establish what are the things that keep me connected to God, that help me to understand where God is playing, what God is saying, uh, what God is, how God is helping me to understand the circumstances that I'm facing, or else you will become like Saul and you will end up in an echo chamber. And that is that's very easy to do when you don't make worship. And and worship is not just singing, right? I think, you know, worship is intimate connection, it is intentional time spent meeting God and God meeting you. And we have got to make sure that worship is a more intentional, uh, consistent part of our lives so that we can continue to grow in who God has called us to be without sacrificing his heart and his mind in the matter.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:51

Well, amen. Amen and amen.

Watch David And Share The Show

SPEAKER_01 1:15:55

Thank you for joining us once again for this summer music, summer music, nope, summer movie series where we're doing movies. We hope you enjoy it. Hey, if you haven't seen David, you got kids, watch it with your kids. Uh watch it with the kids, watch it with your kids.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:13

Watch it with the kids.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:14

This generation's Prince of Egypt. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 1:16:17

Um, I ain't gonna lie to you. Prince of Egypt, you know what I'm saying? Prince of Egypt was amazing. Fire, okay. David is good. David's a good time. Great illustration of the biblical narratives.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:35

I will say though, all the kids that I know love it like we love Prince of Egypt.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:42

So that's because they didn't have they don't have no Whitney in this generation.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:46

Okay, it ain't got nothing to do with it.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:48

Yes, it does because the Whitney had got on the soundtrack.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:52

We felt this way about Prince of Egypt.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:55

I'm sure my parents was like uh Nah, parents love Prince of Egypt. What you talking about?

SPEAKER_01 1:17:01

My parents didn't, they didn't date.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:02

I want you to ask them tonight. Parents love Prince. That movie was good.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:07

My parents wouldn't know the Bible. Yeah, I mean, they said it was fine, but if they were not into cartoons like that, it was one for them.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:15

Nah, Prince of Egypt. Also, Prince of Egypt was much more like it was much more adult themed, though. Like, it wasn't like I can look at it now and I'm like, this was made for kids. You know, David is very much, you can bring your five-year-old and y'all can watch David together.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:35

Yeah, I think you can do both. But yes, but if you if you have kids, watch what you know, you haven't seen it. It's great to watch with your kids. It's a great way to introduce them into this, you know, to this Bible story. Um, that is uh every boy I know, this is probably one of their favorite Bible stories. Because who doesn't want to kill a giant? You know?

SPEAKER_00 1:17:54

I mean, listen.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:56

So, you know, I think that's uh anyway, so just you know, go watch it. Hope you enjoyed this conversation, y'all. Uh, as always, we would love for you to like, share, subscribe. Don't keep this to yourself. If you think somebody uh could grow as a result of hearing this, push it on out to them. Um push it on out. So we are going to see you next week. But until then, let's keep unlearning together so that we can all experience more freedom. Peace. Thank you once again for listening to the Unlearned Podcast. We would love to hear your comments and your feedback about the episode. Feel free to follow us on Facebook and Instagram and to let us know what you think. We're looking forward to the next time when we are able to unlearn together to move forward towards freedom. See you then.