Don't Die in Ziglag: Pursue and Recover All

his long time enemies, the Amalekites came in and invaded the camp. Right. Vandalized their homes, Reduced the buildings to smoldering heaps of rubble. Right. Took their wives and children captive. And even though no lives were lost. The Amalekites worked great destruction in their lives. In one day, somebody shout one day. One day. In twenty four hours, they lost everything that they had. My god. It was a day of financial, emotional, and physical devastation. [01:34:43] (37 seconds)  #SuddenDevastation

I'm a witness that he'll keep you. I'm a witness that when you shoulda lost your mind and shoulda been plucking out your eyebrows one by one, when you shoulda been cuckoo for cocoa puffs, he'll keep you. I'm a witness that when you when you when you don't know what to do that that he'll keep you without you having to file for plot. He'll keep you without you having to go and get drunk. He'll keep you without you having to put a needle in your vein, put some hope in your brain. I'm a witness that he will. [01:56:12] (28 seconds)  #SustainedByFaith

Scripture says that these guys were distressed. Right. They were in debt and they were discontent. They were wounded men, frustrated men, men carrying burdens, disappointments, and instability of their own but somehow, they attached themselves to David in the wilderness and David became captain over these men. They weren't polished. They weren't powerful. They didn't have privilege but they were struggling to survive a difficult season. Yep. And one day, [01:34:01] (35 seconds)  #FoundFamilyInStruggle

Look at somebody said, don't die in Ziglag. Don't die. Tell somebody, don't die in that in between space. Don't don't in that in that liminal space disappointment, and loss. It does not have to be the end of your story. I know it's hard to see it right now. I know that for some people in the room, you can't see past the laws. You can't see past being dismissed from your job. You can't see past the way they fired you or the way they laid you off without any without any without any notice and didn't even give you much of a such as such as it was a severance package. I know it's hard [01:54:45] (50 seconds)  #DontDieInZiglag

People lost their loved ones. They lost homes and businesses. They lost stability. They lost security. They lost peace. And one survivor, Violet Fletcher, later recalled that even years after the event, she could still smell smoke and see fire in her memories. That was a devastating day in Tulsa. A day of inexplicable loss. By morning, the people who went to sleep that night woke up to smoke and ashes and grief and fear and devastation. Right. Because the bottom had been snatched from under them. My god. Without a word or warning, everything had been disrupted. [01:25:15] (53 seconds)  #AshesAndMemory

Some are grieving the pain of divorce, the loss of shared dreams, the loss of a future that you imagine that you would have together. Uh-huh. Some are grieving the loss of loved ones whose absence still leaves an ache in their lives. Some are carrying the quiet loss of joy. The loss of peace. The loss of rest. The loss of hopelessness about the future. My my. And some of us are carrying losses that we cannot fully explain. [01:29:21] (38 seconds)  #QuietLosses

But not all of our losses have been political. Right. Some losses have been personal. Right. Yeah. Some are mourning the loss of health. Right. And the loss of physical strength. Some are struggling with the loss of financial stability after layoffs. Right. And reduced opportunities or the rising cost of simply trying to live out in these black streets. Yeah. Yeah. I don't usually pay attention to prices when I shop. But [01:27:45] (31 seconds)  #LossIsPersonalToo

We even grieve changes in our bodies because our bodies don't cooperate anymore. Right. We think we 35. the body says, you 65. Sometimes, we grieve the loss of not being able to do exactly what we wanted to do. We grieve the loss of our changing bodies. Changes that we didn't anticipate. Changes that let us know that we ain't what we used to be. Alright. No matter how much we die half. [01:37:21] (34 seconds)  #GrievingTheBody