Fulfillment is only experienced by those who understand that we are creatures of destiny, that God has a greater, higher purpose for us, and have experienced or are on the road to experiencing your destiny. That's where you can experience fulfillment. And fulfillment's very different than happiness.
Some of our best mountaintop experiences begin in the lowest of valleys, where our faith is strengthened, our hearts are made humble. And God exalts us in His good and perfect timing. Hello and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepard. Up next, we move ahead in our series Dying to Live with an inspiring message from the book of 1 Samuel. Today's message is part of a special series you'll find at our online store when you log on to PastorPaul.net.
That's pastorpaul.net. And there you can also listen to any of our recent messages on demand, including today's. With Dying to Have Significance, here is Pastor Paul Shepard. John chapter 12, verses 24 through 26. Jesus is speaking and he says, I tell you the truth.
Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one.
who serves me. We're looking at the Theme Dying to live. We've established a number of important truths so far. In this series, we establish the foundational principle that death to self must precede. real life in Christ.
That is to say, when one comes to Christ... The path he is placed on is one of learning to die to the self-light, to the self-will.
So that we can experience the divine plan of God for. our lives. Death must precede life. It's one of those paradoxes that's extremely important. as we seek to be Kingdom first believers.
We then went on and looked at the application of forgiveness. And we saw that we must die to self as it relates to the carnal nature's desire to hold our offenders, our trespassers, in unforgiveness. And we saw that you've got to die to that. And you must release those who have offended you into the hands of the Lord. And that will entitle you to experience a life, a quality of life from God that will enable you to move on with your life.
Then, in the most recent installments, we looked at The lives of Jacob and Esau, and saw through their lives and through this case study, the need to grapple with. Sin with dysfunction, with deceit, with the things that are wrong about us. And we've got to come to understand that if you're going to do the will of God, there comes that time when you got to get sick. Of going through the same changes. You've got to get sick of experiencing the same kinds of power failures to do the will of God.
And you've got to decide: God and I have to wrestle this thing out until God wins. And once he wins and has control of us, we saw that he can change us and he can make us into the people that he has called us to be.
Now, I want to look at. Another case study to further discuss how it is that this principle of death. to self will apply to our lives. The case study I have in mind now takes us to 1 Samuel chapter 1. And I want to look at A character named Hannah.
God is preparing His people for The next Chapter of their experience in which he needs to raise up a significant prophet and priest and military leader. And in the Counsel of God's own will. He has ordained A man named Samuel. To take God's people. into the next chapter of their experience.
with God. But Samuel's not in the earth yet. He's in the mind of God, but he's not in the earth yet. And so God's plan is to get him here through a woman named Hannah.
Now, I want you to see, though, the circumstances leading up to Samuel's birth, because in those circumstances, we can learn a lot about our own lives. We're told here in the early verses of 1 Samuel 1. that there was a man named Elkanah. And this man had two wives. Which you see often in the Old Testament.
I just need to remind some of you who are new to faith, and what have you, I need to remind brothers that that was never the will of God, never the ordained plan of God. That was a concession. of God. But it was never his express will. His express will, we see very clearly in Genesis, was for a man to take to himself a wife, and they too, not they three, four, six, eight.
They too shall become one flesh. I just want to remind the brothers, some of us are new to faith and needed to understand these things. And so God ordains for us to have one, and so we're now back in line. The New Testament brings us back in line with the express plan of God. And don't fool yourself.
You might read some of that and say, wow, those guys had several wives. But don't fool yourself. If you think you really would have wanted to live back then, you're tripping. Yeah. You're tripping.
You don't mean any harm, but you don't understand. You got your hands full with one. You don't need. Let's just all. Get this straight now.
You got all you can handle with one. Ask God for wisdom with the wand. And don't go fantasizing. The man had two wives. One was named Panina, and the other Hannah.
Now you're told in verse two, That um Panina had children, but Hannah had. None. Of course, this is very significant. In Bible times, and I want you to understand that as you read on and you see that there was a real problem in Hannah's psyche because the Lord had closed her womb, you're told, in verse 5. And because the Lord had closed her womb, her rival Panina kept provoking her in order to irritate her.
So, we have a real problem here. We have a woman who is legitimately married to her husband who loves her, and she wants to bear him children. In fact, although the text doesn't state it explicitly, it seems apparent to me and to others who have studied the scriptures in depth that Hannah would have been his first wife. And it could very well be that the only reason he married Panina was because, after a number of years with Hannah, it was apparent that her womb was closed. And in order for his name to live on and his legacy to live on and the family to be taken into the next generation, of course, he had to have children.
And it could very well be, although we don't know for certain, that he married Panina for the express purpose of having children. And indeed, she bore him children, but at this point, Hannah had none.
Well, now you can imagine, especially if Hannah is the first wife, but even if she weren't, you can imagine the feelings she may have experienced as she looked at her rival. Getting pregnant more than once, and she cannot get pregnant, and then on top of that. This woman, Panina, made sure that Hannah was reminded. Over and over again. That she had no children.
Panina was one of those folk. I hope you don't have any in your life, but I bet you do. One of those people whose life mission Seems to be to get under your skin. You know, the people of whom I speak, people who just look like they don't have anything better to do. They don't have a higher quest in life.
And so they have decided that what they're going to do is look at you, find your weaknesses, and try to exploit them. Find what you're missing and try to blow it up and blow it out of proportion. Find things that they have up on you and try to constantly remind you of those things. That is panina. When she gets pregnant.
She walks around talking around Hannah about the pregnancy. In fact, she's the kind of person who probably wouldn't say it until she sees Hannah in the room. And then she said, Whoa, this baby's just kicking. I want you to feel this. I want you to understand what she's dealing with here.
Oh, this baby, whoa, I tell you. And then she cut her eye over at Hannah. Baby's just kicking. And then the other little one, the little toddler, is that she's pregnant with the second one. The little toddler runs in the room and she sees Hannah's in the earshot.
She said, Go on in there, run in there to your father and show him what you go on, see your father. You see what she's dealing with? Hannah's dealing With B Shame of not being able to bear her husband any children, but she's also dealing. with this rival wife. The other woman Whoa.
never ceases to irritate her, never ceases to get on her nerves, get under her skin. She is constantly looking for a way to to poke at the psyche of Hannah. Still ahead, the second half of today's Destined for Victory message, featuring the teaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. In case you didn't know, Destined for Victory has a free mobile app designed to help you stay connected, stay encouraged, and stay rooted in God's Word. Just search for Destin for Victory at your app store and visit pastorpaul.net for more details about how you can listen on your favorite digital platform.
In your walk with Christ, you'll have unsolved mysteries and delayed revelations. For a closer look at the faith and perseverance of Hannah, let's get you back to the rest of today's Destined for Victory message: Dying to Have Significance. And we're told that every year, as the family would go up to Shiloh for one of the feasts. That uh Al-Qana tried his best. To mitigate the damage here.
He tried his best to make up for what was going on with this rivalry. He tried his best, and the Bible says he loved Hannah. And so when they would have the meet up at the feast. You know, when it came to the peace offering, part of that offering, the blood would be drained, part of it given to the priest, and then the family would dine on the rest. And so we're told here in chapter 1 that to express his love for Hannah, he would give her a double portion of the meat.
Just, he's trying his best. To let her know that you don't have any children, but I'm not holding that against you. I love you for who you are. And God has blessed me with children through Panina, and so I don't feel like there is a need. And so he's trying to reassure her, but it's just not.
working. And I want to tell some of us here a couple of things as we look at these verses. The first thing I want to say to you is that this problem she has is one. that could have fallen into one of two categories. There's one category of problems in our lives as people of God that I call unsolved mysteries, just like the TV show.
Things that you just don't get. God, I don't get this. I don't understand. I don't see why you would allow this. I don't see why this would happen to me.
I know I was born in sin and shaped in iniquity, but it seems to me I wasn't that bad, God. You have that level of things. You know what I'm talking about? There's that level of things in your life where you can't figure out. It's an unsolved mystery.
God, why would you let such a tragedy befall me or befall my family? Why would you permit that? Unsolved mysteries. But there's another category of problems that aren't unsolved mysteries, they're just delayed revelations. That is to say, you're going to understand it better by and by.
But meanwhile, you have to just walk with God through the process. And I want to tell you that as you walk with God, you're always going to have those two things. You're going to have some things that are unsolved mysteries. There are some things that God allows, that God permits. There are some things that happen in the lives of His people that I don't believe we will ever understand in this world.
And in the world to come, either God will give us full understanding of it then, or He will so erase it from our minds until it's no longer an issue. One of the two is going to happen. We're not sure of which one. We do know the Bible says that in the age to come, God will wipe all of the tears from our eyes. That suggests to me that there will be no such thing as painful memories in heaven.
There'll be no ability to look back with remorse. There'll be no ability to say, God, but I still didn't understand what you happened. You're not going to go to heaven with your list of mysteries. And say, now, okay, now help me figure this out. I mean, I'm glad I'm here and all, but now.
That's not going to happen. He will wipe all tears from our eyes.
So either it will be instantly solved and resolved when we're translated from this mortal into immortality, or it will be erased from our memory, and all we will know is the presence and the glory of God. In fact, I'm not so sure that God's going to have to actually erase our computers because the Bible says, in his presence is fullness of joy at his right hand are pleasures for evermore. I think when you step from mortal to immortality, that the glory of God will just blow away anything that would have been a mystery, anything that would have been a problem or trouble. Um I mean, I think the songwriter had it right when he said, just one glimpse of him in glory will the toils of life repay. All you've been through, I don't care if you had 80 years of pain and misery.
Worst case scenario, if you just had a life full of pain and misery, if you almost never had a mountaintop experience, you seem to just live in the valley. Just one glimpse. Of him in glory will the toils of all of your life repay. And so there are those unsolved mysteries. And I say that because some of us waste a lot of time in prayer trying to get God to tell us why.
And that's valuable time that you could be focusing in prayer on something else. It's okay to ask God why, but don't, if He doesn't answer you, don't keep bugging Him. Because your problems, your crises are going to fall into one of two categories. Either they will not be solved on this side and won't matter on the other, or they are merely delayed revelations. And that was the case with Hannah.
Hannah is going to understand why God closed her womb. But not yet. Right now, she's got a deal with Panina. Right now, she's got to deal with going up to Shiloh year after year. Having a Cana just try his best.
to reaffirm his love for her, but it's not scratching the itch. And so that's the first thing I want to show you. The second thing I want to show you as we look at this portion of 1 Samuel 1 is that God is setting her up. See, we are called according to God's purpose. We are creatures of purpose.
The reason why you can't be truly fulfilled outside the will of God is because you weren't designed to be. You can have relative happiness. A lot of people who are still in their sins have a lot of happiness, but happiness is very circumstantial and very superficial. Fulfillment Is only experienced by those who understand that we are creatures of destiny, that God has a greater, higher purpose for us, and have experienced or are on the road to experiencing your destiny. That's where you can experience fulfillment.
And fulfillment's very different. Than happiness. Fulfillment means even when I'm having it rough, I know I'm in the center of God's will. I know that I am a person called according to his purpose, and therefore I can know, and Hannah's gonna discover that God takes all things and works them together. For good.
To those who love him and are called according to his purpose. I'd rather have trouble in being God's will. than to have the trappings of a great life. but not understand divine purpose and fulfillment. Because the one is temporary, is fleeting, and is subject to be blown away with the right wind, the right storm.
Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 7. Two people build a house. One builds on a rock, the other builds on sand. The house on sand can look great. But just let the right storm come.
and it's coming down. And you see that all over the world. That's why I say often: don't envy people who don't know the Lord. I don't care what they have. Don't envy them because they don't have a rock.
Who is Christ Jesus? And if your life isn't built on a rock, it's only a matter of time. before it comes down. And so Hannah is a creature of divine purpose. And therefore, God is setting her up to experience a purpose, and the path to her purpose.
is a rough one. I say it all the time, you cannot afford to buy into candy store theology. It just isn't consistent with scripture. There are too many cases where people got where God wanted them to go, but the way they got there is not the path you would have chosen. Because God doesn't let you leap from one mountaintop to another.
God will take your life through some valleys. And it's because his purpose, elements of his purpose, are picked up in the valleys. He wants to build character, and you don't build character on the mountain, you build character in the valley. You know how you get certain spiritual muscles strong, they have to be tested. They have to be tested.
That's what the gym is all about. When you see all that apparatus, it's there to test your muscles. It's there to say it's weak now, but when I get through with it. It's going to be strong because you put it at the weight that you can handle now, and you constantly bring pressure to bear on the muscle. And the reason why they have so many different pieces of apparatus is because they isolate different muscles.
And you know the gym fanatics, they'll tell you all about oh see that isolates your glutes and that does your and they tell you about all the seps and beps and things and uh and you know And they'll tell you that they're isolating a certain muscle and what have you, but notice there's no fun in any of it. Right? No fun in it. Because when tests come They're designed to strengthen you, not to give you a good feeling. The good feeling comes afterward.
Hebrews chapter 12, afterward, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. But in the meantime, God will discipline you as a spiritual son and take you through some testing times. Uh It's only through these seasons of testing that God can prepare us for the seasons of triumph. In order to be equipped to thrive on the mountain top, we almost always need to spend a little time in the valley. Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepard.
It's always a pleasure studying the Word of God with you. You know the Christian life is a victorious life, and it's not a happy coincidence. It's your birthright already purchased by Jesus Christ through His sacrificial and voluntary death. And yet so many believers live in defeat, selling their birthright for things worth far less. In his booklet More Than Conquerors, Pastor Paul uses the unlikely story of Gideon to outline the path from defeat to victory.
If you want to understand how to take on a victor's identity and tear down the idols competing for your heart, you want to reserve your copy of this outstanding resource. That's More Than Conquerors, yours this month for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. Please give by phone by calling 855-339-5500. That's 855-339-5500. or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online.
You can also mail your gift to Destined for Victory, post office box 1767, Fremont, California, 94538. God will set you up sometime until you get to a place where you say, God, I tell you what, you can have it all. If you'll just give me your joy and your peace, if you'll just assure me that you're with me, if you will just answer my prayer, the prayer of my heart, I want to be significant in your plan, I want to do your will. And God, I don't care what it costs me. That's next time in our Destined for Victory message, Dying to Have Significance.
Until then, remember. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
