The Place of a Father (Discover & Recover It)

Ministering: Senior Pastor Shola Awobajo

Text:  1 Sam. 30:1-19.

” ¹ And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; ² And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. ³ So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. ⁴ Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. ⁵ And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. ⁶ And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. ⁷ And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. ⁸ And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. ⁹ So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed. ¹⁰ But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor. ¹¹ And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water; ¹² And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights. ¹³ And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick. ¹⁴ We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire. ¹⁵ And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company. ¹⁶ And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. ¹⁷ And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled. ¹⁸ And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. ¹⁹ And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.” KJV

Fatherhood is a gift from God to man; and being a good father is one of the greatest gifts we can give to our spouse, children and the world. There is a place of a father in the upbringing of any child. From our above text, when the fathers are absent, the enemy comes to steal their household. Such was the case of David when he and his warriors came back from a mission and discovered their families and goods were dispossessed. He inquired from the Lord and God gave him the matching orders to go and recover all the enemy stole.

Father’s Day is a day to remind ourselves of God’s expectations of us as fathers. Where are we in the agenda and mission of being godly fathers? Fathers are in the similitude of God; for God is rur Heavenly Father. Matt. 6. The Family is a like the garden of Eden God has placed us to tend, and nourish. May we not abandon the garden (our family) God has assigned to us to keep. God is never absent as a Father to His children; may we never be absent from our family. Fathers are providers and nurturers like God is. God keeps and protects us as the Apple of His eye. It’s time to get back to our post as fathers and never abandon our role and post.

Our world is filled with “fatherless” children (not really because of death) but because many men have abandoned their roles as keepers of the garden. Many societal ills are a concomitant effect of absentee fathers. Fathers show love and discipline so as not to fail in their calling as fathers. We are to teach our children in the way of the Lord so that they will not depart from it when they grow old. As a single mother, God will also give you the grace to stand in the place of a father in the lives of your children.  

Discover that God is there for you at all time. To “Discover” is to realize and bring forth something already existing. Discover that God has given you an assignment as a parent and you should not fail. As a father, the greatest legacy we can give our children are the value systems we put into them and not really the physical assets we will to them. An uncultured child will squander any rich inheritance willed to them. Be strong and courageous as a father so that the wayward ways of the world will not be in them. Discover that you are not of yourself; let the energy of God carry you. You can of yourself do nothing (John 5:30) – you are incapable of raising any child effectively, hence our dire need to depend on Him for strength and wisdom.

Steps to Recover

• Take inventory of your life and discover where you have missed it. Like the Prodigal son did in going back of his father.
• Celebrate & appreciate God for the unique family He has given you. Gratefulness honors God.

In closing, like David stopped wailing but encouraged himself and went back to God and God helped him to recover all that was lost. Joel 2:25 – “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among you.

God bless you!