“When Everything Falls Apart”

Series Title: Under Pressure Pastor Jim Lowe III

Sunday Morning, 9:30am Stream 10/18/26 (3rd Sunday Message)

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{All scriptures are “NIV84” unless stated}

New Series:

Under Pressure

The message this month is for those who are tired. those who have given so much…

and the pressure seems to be unbearable. this is for those who are doing their best

but also are feeling overwhelmed We’re talking to those who come to church

but no one knows how tired they are.

Because for some reason there’s a thought that Christians don’t get tired.

Just Because You’re Doing The Right Thing Doesn’t Mean You Won’t Get Tired!

It doesn’t mean you don’t need relief!

it doesn’t mean life doesn’t seem unbearable sometimes!

We’re going to talk about this from diﬀerent people’s lives… and today’s message is:

Message Title:

“When Everything Falls Apart”

Last week we talked about Moses.

He was someone who went through a major crisis. he was doing the work of the Lord…

leading God’s people out of Egypt…

yet all they did was complain almost the entire way. no matter what the Lord did…

it was just a bridge to the next complaint.

Moses eventually had enough.

He prayed asking why the Lord had placed this type of burden on him. these weren’t his personal children…

yet he felt he had to nurse them.

he said that if that was how this was going to be… that the Lord take his life now.

Moses was at a placed where he was overwhelmed by what he was carrying. Today we’re talking of another story.

This one is in the life of David:

You Can’t Always Control What Happens To You, But You Can Control How You Respond

David is anointed to be Israel’s King.

It’s God’s plan…

and all would be going well with this except for one big thing… Israel already has a current King.

a PRIDEFUL King

and THAT CURRENT King has a little bit of a problem with a replacement. so much so that he’s willing to kill David so he can’t be king.

“dead men can’t rule…” So David is on the run from Saul.

he doesn’t want to fight him…

because as crazy as he is…he’s STILL God’s king. and he doesn’t want to die either.

So David and his men and their families settle in a town called Ziklag which is in Philistine territory.

He is protected there and would occasionally help with military campaigns.

David and his men are forced go to help the Philistines in a battle against Saul and Israel. but the Philistine commanders see this as a risk!

‘he won’t fight with us…he’ll fight against us when we get there! send him away!’

So David and his men are sent back to Ziklag.

1 Samuel 30:1-2

David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, 2 and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them oﬀ as they went on their way.

This is setting up what we’re about to find out is going to be one of David’s hardest days.

1 Samuel 30:3-6a

3 When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 So David and his men wept aloud

until they had no strength left to weep. 5 David’s two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters.

David has returned with his men to see that everything they knew was gone. Imagine seeing the city on fire in the distance…

Only to run up and see the horror is real.

Their families…

their women… their children…

taken as slaves.

This created a state of shock for all of them.

all they could do is weep until they couldn’t weep anymore.

Have You Ever Had Something So Terrible Happen That All You Can Do Is Weep?

There are people here who have suﬀered some terrible losses in life. there are things in our lives that may still be on fire…

and many things we held sacred had been taken away.

We might still be “underwater” from choices or situations from our past things we may not even have had control over.

We could be in a place where we feel like nothing we do gets us ahead. These things only created a sorrow that cause us to weep.

It can put us in a place of wondering why us?

We’re just trying to be believers…

and there are people who have done 1000x worse than us doing just fine.

We’re the ones who are supposed to be protected…

yet it seems like the treasured things are taken right in front of us.

This is the type of pain David was feeling at this time.

But it was more than just the things taken… This was Ziklag…their home…

destroyed…

all they would look around and see is ashes.

What Happens When Your Place Of Peace Becomes A Place Of Pain?

A home is supposed to represent a place where you can “disarm.”

It’s supposed to be a place where you can come and find peace and quiet from a rough day. But that’s not what it was for David.

his place to unwind became a place of great pain.

Some of our places to unwind may have been places of great pain also.

You might have tension in your marriage…

where you used to come home happily but now sit in the driveway

because you don’t know what mood or argument you’re about to face.

Maybe idea of financial strain…

you don’t want to go home because that’s where the bills sit. there is a table that used to be a place to have meals… but now it’s just a place that holds envelopes…

the ones always demanding something. the reminder that the numbers on those papers

add up to be bigger than those on your accounts… and how long before something is turned oﬀ?

Dealing with Loneliness

maybe there used to be someone there with you but now there is not. either through death or the end of a relationship…

or being around others which reminds you of what you feel at home by yourself.

It could be any or ALL of these…

Truth is we’ve wept.

perhaps until we couldn’t weep anymore.

and some of us might still be weeping now.

These men were holding all of these things. their wives…their children…taken.

what’s happening to them right now?

You can imagine their thoughts… This is David’s fault…

if we would have stayed here…they would be safe.’

David was greatly distressed… his family was gone.

ALL of them were suﬀering loss.

Crying Isn’t A Sin! Sometimes The Pain Is Too Real!

There is nothing wrong with acknowledging where you are Moses did it last week…

We seem to have been taught that acknowledging pain is a sign of weakness…

yet David…a man after God’s own heart is weeping and GREATLY distressed.

And what happens?

1 Samuel 30:6

6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

There are two types of reactions here. The men talked about stoning their leader. David turned to the Lord.

When Everything Falls Apart:

Bring Your Pain To The Lord Before It Drives Your Decisions

We have two groups of people who are reacting to the same situation. How they handle it is diﬀerent.

The men were considering killing David.

that was their way of expressing their pain. ‘He is at fault…

he has to pay with his life.’

When The Pain Is Real - We Still Have To Be Careful About What It Causes Us To Do!

There is a right way to handle things and a wrong way to handle things.

We can be grieving and still need to guard our words and especially our next decisions.

We might not kill people on the outside…

but we can easily kill them on the inside. our words…our actions…

in anger…we need to ‘punish’ someone…

But the bible tells us in Romans 12:19 that vengeance is his… Do not take revenge…because when we do…WE are sinning!

Your Pain Needs An Outlet But Be Careful Where You Paint That Target!

David’s pain put him in a very low place…

but IN that place is where he found strength in the Lord.

Psalm 34:18

18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

The bible says the Lord is CLOSE to the brokenhearted…but you STILL have to choose him.

Search For The Place To Find Strength - The Lord Will Always Be An Option

He doesn’t hide from you.

When Everything Falls Apart:

Find Your Strength In God When Everything Else Falls Away

This is more about David finding his strength in the Lord. Strength for what?

Why do we look for it?

What does this strength do?

We Look For Strength When We’re Weak To Help Us Find Comfort For Our Pain

We look to others…

We’re looking to recover. to catch a break.

strength to do something…ANYTHING David wasn’t going to find his support in these men.

they were talking about killing him.

there was nothing he’s going to get from them.

There are people out here who are feeling the same way.

“I’m always here for others…yet now that I need someone…who’s going to be there for me?” David was able to find his strength in the Lord.

the thing was at this moment… nothing changed.

his family was still gone.

his men were devastated

the city was in ashes…

yet David found strength in the middle of his pain.

Strength Is Necessary During The Trial, Not After!

This is how it works for us as well.

Just because you have a moment with the Lord doesn’t mean that trial disappears. it doesn’t mean the bills disappear

it doesn’t mean those co-workers immediately get transferred it doesn’t mean that David’s family all of a sudden returns

or your situation immediately changes either.

But that’s when you want it too!

Lord Don’t Strengthen Me After The Fact! I Need The Strength While I’m Going Through It!

why?

because those with strength move diﬀerent than those without it There is a strength

that can’t come from friends or family… Those who know where to look for that strength…

the bible even talks about knowing where our true help comes from

Psalm 121:1-2

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

The psalmist says that there is a place where strength comes from… and THAT’s where he will look.

There is a place you can find some encouraging words sometimes…. that’s your friends and family

there’s a place you can find someone to call on sometimes… that’s them too.

But there is a place where you can find HELP and Strength…

and that requires you to LOOK to the place where it comes from!

And THAT help and strength shows up DURING the trial!

When Everything Falls Apart:

Let The Lord Direct Your Next Move

David asks the priest for the ephod…

a priestly garment associated with seeking direction from the Lord.

1 Samuel 30:8

8 and David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”

Now that David has found strength...

he is able to think clearly about what to do.

This tells us how we have to look at things.

Just Because Something Needs To Be Done Doesn’t Mean You Should Do The First Thing You Feel

That goes back to point number 1.

Not Going To The Lord First Can Set You Up For More Pain Later

Because again hurt people can hurt others…

and when YOU take the vengeance away from the Lord… now he has to deal with both of you.

And those things can create more problems for us.

Some of us might need to pray before turning over the table at work. or saying that thing to our friend

or doing that thing to our significant other

or saying something to our children or parents we’d regret

Make sure you consult the Lord before anything. So what happens?

David and the 600 men with him set out to go take back what belongs to them.

They got to a place and 200 of them were too exhausted to go on… so they rested while David and the other 400 kept going.

They find an Egyptian in a field alone. he had been starving for days they give him water and food

1 Samuel 30:13-14

13 David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where do you come from?” He said, “I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago. 14 We raided the Negev of the Kerethites and the territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag.”

Oh he was a slave! He was there!

Verse 15

15 David asked him, “Can you lead me down to this raiding party?” He answered, “Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them.”

So here we are…

In all the pain and sorrow they were feeling… they were willing to help someone else…

and THAT person was exactly who they needed to help

Even In Your Own Crisis, Don’t Lose Sight Of Who You’re Supposed To Be!

Because in THIS instance…that person they helped… was the direct route to finding their families.

“You don’t know who your Joseph might be.”

Verse 16-17

16 He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah. 17 David fought them from dusk until

the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode oﬀ on camels and fled.

So here those Amalekites are…full of themselves for what they had done. They had plunder…stuﬀ they stole from the Philistines and Judah.

So now it’s time to fight.

1 Samuel 30:18-19

18 David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.

19 Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.

What started as an impossible situation… everything was returned in the end…

We Might Not Be Able To Undo Some Things That Have Happened. We Might Even Not Know Exactly How Things Will Turn Out. But We Can Bring Our Pain To The Lord, Find A Strength in Him, And Seek His Direction For Our Next Steps

Final Point

When Everything Falls Apart, Don’t Go It Alone. Turn To The One Who Can Strengthen You For What Comes Next

**Leadership Meeting**

**GLC FORCE This Week!**

**Suds and Shine**

**Hallelujah Night**