Lost ground has to do with lost opportunities.
There is no doubt that as individuals, families, and church, we have lost some opportunities in life. While it may look humanly impossible to recover some of these opportunities, God can still turn things around for us if we would trust Him enough.
It is my prayer that the Almighty God would confirm His word this night, in the lives of as many of us as have lost some grounds in life, in Jesus' Name. May the Lord help us recover all our lost grounds as individuals, families and church in Jesus' Name.
Definitions
· Recover = Return Back to a normal state of health, mind or strength.
= Find or regain possession of (something stolen or lost).
· Lost Grounds = Lost opportunities, jobs, relationship etc.
From our text, recovering our lost grounds would demand the ff:
1. Good Leadership - V.1.
Amongst others, good leaders are loving, courageous, wise and visionary.
David was, no doubt, a good leader.
His leadership skills were formed during his days as a shepherd boy, through life’s adversities and divine help.
Till date, even in death, David is still celebrated as one of the greatest leaders who ever lived.
David’s good and visionary leadership helped him and his followers recover their lost ground.
2. Team spirit/work - V.1.
Recovering lost ground is always a huge assignment.
It often requires that "all hands be on deck."
Team spirit is therefore an essential requirement to recovering lost grounds.
For IBC to recover her lost grounds, we must learn to work as a team. Leaders and members need each other.
We must resolve to work together!
3. Deliverance from wandering - V.1.
Part of the problem with David and his 600 men was their wandering lifestyle.
For obvious reasons, they had to be moving from one place to another.
However, having been given Ziklag, one would expect them to remain in one place and direct their energies towards recovering their lost grounds. Unfortunately, their wandering lifestyle made them lose additional land (Ziklag).
For us to recover our lost ground, we need to stay in one place.
We must remain focused.
4. Sense of appreciation - V.1-2
There is always something for which we can be grateful to God.
The enemy destroyed Ziklag but did not kill any of the women or children that were captured.
5. Right response to tragedy - V.3-6.
Weeping is an emotional way of responding to tragedy.
While this has it’s own place, it's not a solution in itself to the problem.
Rational and God-glorifying steps must be taken afterwards.
6. Right Relationship with your Priest – V. 7a
People who don’t know how to relate with their Pastor will find it difficult to relate with God as their shepherd. The anointing you don’t respect will not benefit you.
7. The God Factor – V. 8
This is a crucial factor in recovering our lost ground.
Without God, not much can be accomplished.
But with God, we shall surely recover all in Jesus’ Name.
8. Passionate pursuit of your goal - V.9-10
David’s goal eventually was to pursue the raiders and recover his wives and others that were captured.
This he pursued passionately.
9. The right information - V.11 - 16.
In recovering our lost ground, we need to be sensitive to available information.
David and his team were able to extract useful information from the abandoned Egyptian slave.