ReFocus

In I Samuel 15, Saul had been rejected by God as king because of sin in his life.  In I Samuel 16, Samuel was told by God to go and anoint a new king.  Man’s method of choosing leaders is to look at qualifications, training and degrees.  That makes sense and I don’t negate that that is important.  But God will mystify us many times.  God will take the unknown, obscure, most unlikely candidate and elevate them to a prominent place of influence.  Does it make sense to make a Jewish man prime minister of Eqypt or a Jewish man prime minister of Babylon?  No…but God made Joseph the PM of Eqypt and Daniel the PM of Babylon.  Does it make sense to ask an inexperienced speaker who is prone to failure to give the keynote address on the Day of Pentecost?   No…but God asked Peter the failure, the ‘foot in mouth’ disciple, the ‘I can walk on water’ braggert!  God uses the most unlikely candidates.  Why?  So that when the great results come, no one points at the unlikely candidate, we point at the God behind them!

Back to I Samuel.  God had Samuel choose David, a mere shepherd boy, to be the next king.  If David had been anointed king after killing the giant, Goliath, with only a sling slot and a stone, we would have understood.  But he wasn’t. He was chosen and anointed king prior to Goliath when he was unknown and a very unlikely choice. 

However, David did not become king for 13 years.  Do you realize how long 13 years is?  13 summers, 13 winters, 13 springs, 13 falls …a few illnesses, a job change, a couple of wrecks, family problems, several battles with a next door neighbor who thinks your dog barks too much.  It is exactly 4,745 days plus 4 days for leap years during the time period.  Can  you remember a conversation exactly that someone had with you 13 years ago? If someone promised you something 13 years ago and it has not come true, would you hold onto the promise or would you have dismissed it by now?

Let’s say it is 12 years, 37 weeks, and 5 days into this promise.  King Saul has tried to kill you at least 3 times and sent his assassin after you. You have been waiting on the big event.  This anointing promise has cast a shadow on your whole life.  But God says, “Wait!” Maybe David wanted to be a classical harpist! When his friends ask him when he is going away to Music School, he just responds, “Well, I am suppose to be king…”  What strange looks he must have gotten!

Tired of waiting, David made a decision in I Samuel 27:1 – And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.”  God said, “You will be king.”  David said, “I am going to die by the hand of Saul.” Notice the phrase ‘David said in his heart’.  He is talking to himself and saying…”I don’t believe God anymore…I am going to take back my life in my hands and I am going to make something happen!” 

What a great plan David had:  I will go live with the Philistines. These were the people of Goliath whom David slew.  They gave David the city of Ziglag in which to live.  This had always been known as the septic tank of the world.  Get this image:  King-elect David having lunch in your septic tank, hob-knobbing with Philistines.  This is right where Satan wanted him.  When we step out of waiting, we always end up in the septic tanks of this world.  It will always get us in trouble.  Wait…stand still until you get further instructions from the Lord!

So what do you do when you are called to wait for 13 years?  2 Samuel 2:1 - It happened after this that David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “Where shall I go up?” And He said, “To Hebron.” Notice the phrase in the verse, ‘David inquired of the Lord’.  You spend each day inquiring of the Lord.  Ask Him what you are to do today and then follow those directions.  If God says nothing or is silent, then stand praying and reading the Word until you get further instructions.  Please don’t create another Ishamael…we have enough Arab-Israeli conflicts going on…which was caused when Abraham did not wait on God and made his own solution.

Because David inquired of the Lord, notice what God gave him.  You say, “Kingship?”  No…something better: Fellowship!  David asked, “Where shall I go?”  And God said, “To Hebron.”  He leaves the septic tank of Ziglag and journeys to Hebron.  Hebron means ‘fellowship’, ‘communion’, and ‘intimacy’…with God!  Wow!

We are going into our 7th month without a position that pays a salary.  We have several times been tempted to just take the bull by the horns and make something happen…but I don’t enjoy living in a septic tank.  I have done that before…no fun…stinky…smelly…stays with you for a long time.  We have opted to wait on the Lord.  To His praise and glory, we are current on our bills and we have money in the checking account.  We tell only God what we need and who He shares that with, is His business.  For now, we will stand still and wait for further instructions.  It has only been 7 months which is a whole lot better than 13 years!

Keep waiting on the Lord!

We love you,

Billy and Sheilah Daws

Everywhere we turn recently, God is showing us great things about Psalm 107.  We recently read a great sermon by David Wilkerson.  Just this morning, we heard John MacArthur’s daily broadcast and it was on Psalm 107.  So, we thought we would give our take on Psalm 107. 

This is a great Psalm. The key phrase to the whole psalm is Psalm 107:27b, ”…they are at their wits’ end.”  When you are at your wits’ end, you need Psalm 107…and more than that…you need God!  What is wits’ end?  It is that place in your life that there is no possible solution…no human way out…nothing…no ray of hope…no natural means of ending your present situation.  It could be health, finances, relationship, marriage, family, job, etc.

The Psalm begins with a summons:  Psalm 107:1 ”Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”  The summons is issued by the Holy Spirit as He inspires the writer.  The summons is issued to believers: Psalm 107:2 ”Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.”  The main thrust of the summons is that thanks is to be given to God!

Psalm 107 is divided into four parts: 

• In verses 4-5, we see the wanderers whose souls have fainted in them because they did not know where to go.
• In verses 10-12, we see the people bound and imprisoned by their own wrong decisions who have no one to help. 
• In verses 17-18, we see the foolish who have rejected what could of helped…God’s truth…they are afflicted and near the gates of death 
• In verses 23-27, we see people who are suddenly overcome by a great storm in life and is at their  wits’ end.

Each of these parts are divided like this:

• the hopeless situation:  wandering people, prisoners, fools, and storm-tossed people 
• the cry for help (vs, 6,13,19,28): hurting people cry out to the Lord
• God’s response: 

v. 7-9 – He satisfied the longing soul of the wanderers and led them where they were to be; 

v14 - He broke the chains of the prisoners;

v. 20 – He sent his Word and healed the foolish;

v. 30 - He guides the storm-tossed to their desired haven.

• Man’s Worship vs. 8,15,21,31: thanksgiving for what God has done, telling others of God’s wonderful work.  The crying out is worship (I can’t but You can!)

There are certain things that you need to know.  Each hopeless situation in this Psalm and in your life is ordained by God…that means that God either caused it or allowed it.  Whether God caused it or allowed it does not matter because the result is the same: you are in quicksand and you are sinking fast!  The Sovereign Lord has brought us to Wits’ End for a purpose.  1 Peter 4:12 ”Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.”  God wants to produce something in your heart.

How do you get out of Wits’ End?  Two things must take place everytime you are at Wits’ End:

1. Admit that you are at Wits’ End.  Remember this is the place where you realize that you have no human solution. Psalm 107:27 ”They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.”
2. Cry out to the Lord in the midst of the storm.  Psalm 107:28, “Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses.

Did you know that you could be prolonging your own storm?  This happens when you continue to murmur, complain, and question the Lord.  This happens when you run to human solutions:  counselors, psychologists, self-help books or tapes.  This happens when you keep looking for the secret, the plan that will deliver you from your pain. 

Stand still. Acknowledge this storm is from God.  Quit trying to figure it out. Cry out from Wits’ End.  Don’t call a friend, a counselor, or a pastor…call God!  Tell Him that you have no ray of hope from any natural prospect.  Admit that God is your only solution.

When the children of Israel were this side of the Red Sea and they saw Pharoah coming, who led them to that spot?  God did it.  They complained and murmur.  They failed the test.  However, God opened up the Red Sea and they were delivered.  On the other side of the Red Sea, they sang a song of thanksgiving.   Where should they have sung that song?  On the side before the deliverance!  God had the same deliverance for them whether they trusted Him or not.  They did not trust and the sea opened.  If they had trusted, the sea would have opened.  But because they didn’t trust Him, an asterisk was placed by their name: 

***Red Sea Test failed – subjects scheduled for repeat test!

So God led them to the bitter waters of Marah.  The waters were too bitter to drink.  Babies crying, old people fainting, and the thirst was awful.  They should have trusted God but, no!…they complained and murmurred which lead to another asterisk by their name and they were scheduled for a repeat test:  

***Bitter waters test failed  – subjects scheduled for repeat test!

Then God took Israel to Rephidim for another water test.  They failed again.  Another asterisk was placed by their name and they were scheduled for another repeat test!  Wow…how dumb are we humans.  The tragedy of Israel is that they never passed.  God led them to wander for 40 years until they just died off and only Joshua and Caleb got to go in because they were the only two that passed the test.

We know that we have had to repeat tests in our lives.  Recorded next to the names of Billy and Sheilah Daws:  

***Faith and Dependence test failed – subjects scheduled for repeat test! 

Noooooo! Not again! Not ever again.  We are at Wits’ End…we have no natural  solution, no human way out, no human answer!  We cry out to God who is our only hope!  No more asterisks.  We trust you. We quit trying to figure it out.  We will not read another self help book. We will not call another friend or pastor with the secret, the plan, the way out!  We trust only God!

David Wilkerson made this comment, “I believe the greatest sign or wonder to the world in these last days isn’t a person who’ been raised from the dead. No, what truly makes an impact on the mind and spirit of the ungodly is the Christian who endures all trials, storms, pain, and suffering with a confident faith. Such a believer emerges from his troubles stronger in character, stronger in faith, stronger in  Christ.”

When the subject or subjects of Psalm 107 came to this place, God delivered them from their distresses and the darkness.  They then went into a worship service of thanksgiving.  Maybe you are at your Wits’ End. Admit it. And stand still and watch God work:

Psalm 107:33-38 ”God turns rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.  He turns a wilderness into pools of water, and dry land into watersprings.  There He makes     the hungry dwell, that they may establish a city for a dwelling place,  And sow fields and plant vineyards, that they may yield a fruitful harvest.  He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly; and He does not let their cattle decrease.”

Read Psalm 107:8,15,21,31 and hear how God so wants us to give Him thanks! For the next few days try refraining from asking God for things and only thank Him.   Keep a list on the refrigerator of things you are thankful for and have everyone add to the list each time the fridge is opened this week. Have a happy, thankful Thanksgiving!!

Giving thanks for yall,

Billy and Sheilah Daws

God has been speaking a lot in the last few days.  He has also been testing our faith.  We were very disappointed that we had to cancel our trip to Kenya.  There are times that God uses circumstances to reroute His children.  This was one of those times for us.  We are interceding for the group that went on to Kenya. We know that God is going to bless Steve Fields and the team.

Today, we simply want to share some random thoughts that God has been sharing with us.

1. God used Psalm 105:19 to say this, “Until the time that his word (his promise) came to pass (is fulfilled), the word of the Lord tested us.”

2. God’s schedule takes precedent over His promises…He will delay fulfillment of a promise until you are on His schedule. 

3.  There is a big difference between seeing the acts of God and the ways of God.  In Exodus 6:3, God inspires the writer to say, “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them.”  God Almighty is El Shaddai who performs miraculous acts.  Lord is a name for the Sovereign God of the universe…who is pulling the strings and ordering the steps, the stops, the trials, the blessings, the closed doors, and the open doors.  In Psalm 103:7, we find these words, “God made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.” 

4.  The book of Ezekiel is tough.  But there is one phrase that appears 19 times.  In Ezekiel 39:28 we find the phrase, “…then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer.”  God wants us to know Him as the Lord God which means the ‘sovereign God of the Universe’.  He is pulling the strings and ordering the steps…it may not look like it sometimes but He is!

5. It has been almost six months since we left our last ministry position.  At times, you wander what is God doing!?  Is He asleep…has He forgotten your address?  And then He will point out a refreshing passage such as Hebrews 10:23 - “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

6.  We proclaim that our God is a loving, caring Father as Matthew 7:11 indicates:  “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  He is our Father and He cares for us…we trust Him that He knows what He is doing.

We worshipped Sunday at FBC of Atlanta.  Steve Green sang and Dr. Stanley preached.  What a combination!  FBC has a beautiful sanctuary. You could tell God was in that place. The In-Touch program is being translated in 103 languages.  Dr. Stanley is literally teaching the Scriptures to the entire world. Wow!   (There is a link to In-Touch on our website.)

God bless you this week.

Billy and Sheilah Daws

What is the job description of a ‘waiter or waitress’?  The federal government gives the following definition:  “A waiter is responsible for coordinating the entire station and communicating with front- and back-of-the-house personnel to provide a dining experience that meets or exceeds guest expectations. He will process guest orders to ensure that all items are prepared properly and on a timely basis. He may carve meats, de-bone fish and fowl, prepare flaming dishes and desserts at tableside and present, open, and pour wine when serving guests. He observes diners to ensure that guests are satisfied with the food and service, and he responds to additional requests and determines when the meal has been completed. He totals bills and accepts payment or refers guests to cashier. He may assist bus person with stocking, removing, and resetting dishes and silverware between courses and cleaning and resetting vacated tables.”

Schonwalder.org says, “A waiter should be able to handle any task of a waiter’s complex and demanding job. A waiter should be experienced in seating, greeting, cocktail preparation and service, wine serving and sales.  If he knows something about accounting, the better for him. A waiter has to be able to explain the menu!  He has to be able to write fast and legible. He has to know how to serve any and all the guests’ orders! A good waiter is expected to handle himself in any situation, never to get angry with a guest and never to start a fight with coworkers. A waiter should be well groomed and able to stand long hours on his feet.”

It is a matter of choice for any waiter to be:

• a) just an order taker and plate carrier or
• b) a professional waiter well respected by the customers.

The customer, the patron, the guest – whatever you call him - is always right.

God is the diner…God is the guest…God is the patron…God is the customer…and, of course, He is always right. 

God dines on the fellowship of His children. This is His favorite meal.  God devours this fellowship and intimacy with His children.

You and I are the ‘wait-ers or wait-resses’.

It is our job to satisfy the needs and desires of our one client for the day or evening.  We are to turn down every other table for we have one diner, one guest.  It is God.  How rude to leave our one table and go serve another!  For now, we have one table.  Later, you can wait on the ‘table of work’, and the ‘table of sports’, and the ‘table of finances’.  But for right now…just one table…God’s table.  You and I are His ‘wait-er’ and we are to ‘wait’ on Him.

I can decide to do the bare minimum and just take God’s order and carry His plate.  Or – I can decide that I am going to make this the greatest dining experience that I can offer!  No need, no desire will go unmet!  I will anticipate His every desire and be ready to respond at one simple glance of His eye!  I will ’serve’ Him glory and honor and praise.  I will delight in my work, my path in life,  and my responsibility as inner joy shows forth.  I have no way of knowing how long this dining experience will last.  I really don’t care; I am just enjoying the process.

At some point in time, if I have done my job correctly, my Guest will turn and give me a look of satisfaction that says, “Well done!”  The dining experience is over for now. In the process, I have learned areas that I can improve.  In fact, I can’t wait for the next dining experience with my one Guest…God Himself!

By the way…there is a perk to the job!

The prophet Isaiah gives us a great word in Isaiah 64:4, “…God works…God acts…God moves…on the behalf of those who ‘wait’ for him!” 

Wow!

Have a great week ‘wait-ing’ on your one Guest’s table!

Billy and Sheilah Daws

In 1 Kings 18:1, we find these words: And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.” God tells Elijah that it is going to rain. Elijah proceeds to pray seven times for it to rain. After the seventh prayer, God sent a drenching rain on the land.

In Revelation 5:8, John records for us: “Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” There are golden bowls in heaven that hold our prayers.

In Ephesians 3:20, Paul wrote, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…” I have known this passage for years but one phrase stood out this week as I was studying…’according to the power that works in us’. If I understand this correctly, all that God is and can do is released as I allow an effectual power to work in me.

In Revelation 16:1 John also writes, Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.” God’s bowls were meant to be poured out….as a release of the contents.

Question: why did Elijah have to pray seven times asking God to send rain? God had just said He was going to cause it to rain. So why did God still want Elijah to pray for rain?

I believe that the four verses above are connected.

God desires His will to be done.
God desires a close relationship with His children.
God desires His children to grow mighty in the Lord.
God releases His power as we connect and grow.

God willed it to rain. God prompted Elijah to pray seven times. What was happening every time Elijah prayed? The essence of his prayer was captured and stored in a bowl…seven times this happened. What was happening to God? He was enjoying the fellowship…you see, every time we pray, we go into the Holy of Holies and talk to God. He enjoys this like a dad enjoys his son coming to talk. What was happening to Elijah? He was getting stronger every time he prayed for he was in the presence of God…an energy was beginning to flow through Elijah! After seven prayers, Elijah is pumped! God is having a good ole time…He has had seven sessions with one of His children. The prayer bowl is full! Now as an effectual power is working in Elijah, God is free to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think! The prayer bowl is tipped over and poured out on the situation. God moves! Need is met! God gets glory! And we are growing in the Lord!

And we wonder why we have to wait and pray and pray and wait and wait and pray! It is part of God’s divine process!

James 5:16 says, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

Have a great week…spend some time filling your prayer bowl this week.

Billy and Sheilah Daws

The ‘inner three’ consisted on Peter, James and John. Of the ‘inner three’, Peter was the closest to Jesus. He also had more uncontrolled emotions than all the rest. Peter was impulsive and arrogant in his rough and raw state. Yet this is the man that went on to preach that great sermon on the day of Pentecost. God used him mightily…but for Peter, the journey took him through failure before he was ready for Pentecost.

Jesus told Peter in Luke 22:31-32 “Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

God allows a sifting process to make us into what he desires for us to be and do. Sifting is a two stage process. One step involves tossing the wheat in the air to allow the chaff to blow away in the wind. The second stage involves a sieve that would be used to separate what is valuable and useful from what is not profitable. In this way, the farmer cleans the wheat and prepares it for the market. He is preparing it for a purpose. God does that with us. He allows people, circumstances, and events in our lives to take place in order to sift us.

I notice two encouraging facts about the way Jesus treated Peter: 1) He never criticized him and, 2) He never gave up on him. Jesus knew about Peter’s denial long before it happened. He knew what Peter would do, he knew how he would react, and he knew the kind of man Peter would be afterward. That’s why he said “when you have turned back” …not “if”… but “when”! He knew that Peter’s heart was good, he knew after his terrible sin he would return to the Lord. Isn’t that wonderful? Jesus has more faith in Peter than Peter has in Jesus. He knew that Peter had important work to do – “Strengthen your brothers”. But he was not ready for such a task in his ‘pre-sifting’ period of his life.

Peter was more effective for Christ after his fall just as a bone that is broken often becomes stronger after it is healed. Something in the healing process actually makes the break point stronger than it was before. The same is true of a rope that breaks. In the hands of a master splicer, the rope once repaired becomes stronger than it was before. The same thing is true of our failures. God can touch our broken places and make us stronger than we were before. Though we fall, we can rise by God’s grace from our defeat stronger and more useful than we were before.

Before Peter’s fall, he was loud, boisterous and unreliable; afterward he became a flaming preacher of the gospel. Before, he was a big talker; afterward, he talked only of what Jesus Christ could do for others. He was the same man, but he was different. He was still Peter through and through, but he had been sifted by Satan, and in the sifting the chaff of his life had been blown away

This is what Peter lost in his failure:

His vanity

His pride

His self-confidence

His rash impulsiveness

His unreliability

This is what Peter gained after his restoration:

Humility

New confidence in God

Tested courage

New determination to serve Jesus Christ

A willingness to use his experience to help others

The things he lost he didn’t really need; the things he gained couldn’t have come any other way. In the same way God redeems our mistakes by removing the things that brought us down and replacing them with the qualities we always wanted but couldn’t seem to find.

II Thessalonians 3:3 says, “But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.”

If you have experienced a failure, be encouraged. Whenever the evil one is causing you to fall, God is always guarding you and using what the enemy is doing to establish you in your faith and to make you more useful.

May God grant us the grace to learn from past mistakes and move on.

Please pray with us about the following:

We have been given access to a Bed and Breakfast for the purpose of conducting seminars.
The Bed and Breakfast can accommodate 4 couples.
We would like to schedule 4 pastors and spouses who need encouraging.
We would also like to develop a seminar for hurting families…parents of wayward kids, or couples on the verge of separating.
We are looking at scheduling the first of these in January…the sessions would run from Monday night throughThursday noon.

We leave for Kenya on the 17th of November. Continue to pray with us as we make final plans for this trip.

We love you.

Billy and Sheilah Daws

Everyone should have a Personal Calling Statement.  It serves as your life map so that you know where you are going.