Chosen | Overseer Joshua Goodin

1 Samuel 16:1-13 (NIV)

Whenever you’re getting ready to do what God has called you to do the enemy will always come in and begin having you questioning your qualifications and validation for why you should be doing that. You’ve been chosen, regardless of what people may think about you, or how disqualified you may think you are, God has chosen you. God has selected you and decided that you are the one who will do this or that and you don’t have to worry about or stay in your head with the enemy in your head why you should not, because God has already decided that you’ve been chosen. You cannot grasp in your mind that you have been chosen, but maybe you can adapt and understand the notion that God has chosen you for this time and this season to be and to do what he’s called you to be and do. Regardless of what happened last year, why you feel like you should not, or how many people keep talking in your ear to not do it, God has chosen you. Because God has chosen you, you have to go for it and do what God has assigned your hand to do.

*Whenever you’re in position and your head gets bigger than your position, God will always reject you. He resists the proud and causes us to make sure we are checking to make sure we stay in a place of humility. Sometimes in life we think that we have achieved so much that we feel like that we are bigger than we think we are. If there’s ever a moment in your life that you need a reality check it’s when you think you have become bigger and better than what you think you are. Don’t think of yourself in small ways, but don’t think of yourself so highly than God thinks of you.

*How long will you mourn for what God has called you away from. Is there a specific time for mourning? What happens when mourning is too long, and mourning becomes your life? How long will you keep mourning? Are you really mourning what you lost or are you mourning that you weren’t in agreement about what God decided to do? Sometimes we mourn because we disagree with God. You tell God you didn’t ask him to do it, and in place of worship you mourn. If we’re not careful enough we will use mourning as an excuse for why we don’t pray, spend time with God or don’t come to church. How long is too long? On the flip side, isn’t it amazing how some people will criticize and critique you for moving on too fast. Don’t lose a loved one, and within a month pack up their stuff. People will think you’re moving too fast, but sometimes things have a way of constantly replaying in your mind, so you have to remove some things from your life that keep you in a constant state of mourning.

*Even while you’re still in mourning God has already worked out a plan to how he’s going to fill the void in your life. The struggle is accepting the plan God has for how he’s going to fill the void. Sometimes the way we think that God will fill the void is the same way he filled it in the past. God may not fill it that way, he may do it in a new way. When you lose parents or loved ones, God will send people to your life to fill the void. They aren’t trying to take their place but they will fill the void, so you have comfort. God will allow you to be pulled closer to relationships and people that you never thought you would connect with. Not because he’s trying to replace, but he’s just trying to fill. Go forward regardless how much it cost, because it will cost you more if you stay where you are. Disobedience has a price. If the Lord is calling you to do something regardless of what you think might happen to you, it can be in no comparison to what might happen to you if you choose to disobey God. Even when you have questions about what God is telling you to do it still does not mean don’t go. Sometimes we will sit and wait for God to answer our question and then go, but in the midst of your question you should still go. Sometimes the answer comes when you make up your mind to go.

*The Lord doesn’t look at things people look at, people look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. Why is it that whenever we get rid of something, we always replace it with something that looks like what we got rid of. You have a type or preference and you wonder why you get the same results. Sometimes in order for you to have what God wants and desires for you, you have to be willing to get something different from what you had. You are looking at the wrong things and not paying attention to their characteristics. You didn’t pay attention to how they treated their mom, or the relationship they had or didn’t have with their father. You have the wrong perception in your head and wonder why it doesn’t work, because you’re looking at the outside. You cannot expect from me what you aren’t willing to give yourself.