The Season of Obscurity | John Giftah | Christian Sermon

0:01 Do you ever look around and think, Wow, the world is a crazy

0:06 place and it just seems to get crazier and crazier. Ease your mind and

0:12 take a break. This is Fuel for the Soul with John GIFTA. We're

0:17 a hub for inspirational Christian sermons, practical keys for Christian living, and Christian

0:24 discussions and interviews. You'll be inspired to live the life that you were created

0:29 for. Your host is a top ranking podcaster, best selling author, world

0:34 record holder, aerospace engineer, life coach, evangelist, and founder of John

0:39 Gifta International. Welcome to Fuel for the Soul with John GIFTA. Yes,

0:53 without a doubt, we all allowed to be recognized, no one for people

0:58 to see what God is deposited in us. Maybe with regard to your colleague

1:02 that you're excited about, maybe God has placed big dreams and you've showed you

1:06 big visions concerning your life, your future, your ministry, your business,

1:10 your goals, your aspirations, and there's something that the Lord has been showing

1:14 with regard to the purpose of your life that you're really excited about. Maybe

1:18 they posited some promises in you that you're really looking forward to, and you're

1:23 like Wow, this is what I am, and this is these are the

1:26 things that are really exciting regarding my life. But sometimes you may feel like,

1:33 but John, I don't understand why people just look at me as normal,

1:36 mediocre, average. They don't see the goal on the inside of me.

1:38 They don't see the real value that I hold. That they just judge

1:42 me from the outside, or they just assume things about me. They're not

1:47 able to see the real thing. I don't know why, John, Why

1:49 am I still being in a place where people are not seeing my real value.

1:53 Why is it that they don't recognize or they don't appreciate, or they

1:59 don't really understand what the Lord has been doing through my life, and they

2:05 just write me off for mediocrity. But I want to share a scripture with

2:09 you, and I want to take this forward because I believe this is so

2:12 important that you understand this. And I'm reading from First Timual chapter sixteen from

2:16 the n LT version, and to give you a little backdrop, this is

2:21 a moment when in the first few verses you see that David is in a

2:25 very high spirit because of all the people. Prophet Samuel comes over and he's

2:31 anointing him to become the next king. Right, this is such an amazing

2:38 opportunity, something that most people would allow to trade places with David. And

2:42 this is an amazing moment where even though he was in the background, he's

2:47 brought to the foreground and he is anointed to become the next king of Israel.

2:54 Right, this is such an a powerful thing where even though his own

3:00 dad did not value him, his own brothers did not think anything good can

3:04 come out of David. But here you see, this is a moment where

3:07 Prophet Samuel annoys him to become the next king of Israel. And he goes

3:13 back and guess what David is back and the Shepherd's feel and what I want

3:19 you to understand is an evil spirit starts tormenting Saul, and he's filled with

3:24 depression and fear. And so his servants are suggesting, why don't you ask

3:30 someone to come and play the heart for you so that the dramatic spirit will

3:35 leave you. The music will be soothing for you and you'll get well again.

3:39 And he says, get me someone who can do it. And someone

3:42 suggested that there is this guy called David who is a very talented harp player,

3:50 and he's also a brave warrior, a man of war, and as

3:53 good judgment. And he's also a fine looking young man. And the Lord

3:59 is with him. And here's the thing. I want you to pay attention

4:01 to verse nineteen. And I'm reading from the NLT version. Okay, So

4:05 Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, send me your son, David the

4:13 Shepherd, send me your son, David the Shepherd. See, it's one

4:17 thing for him to just say, send me a son, David, send

4:20 me David, send me your son David the heart player, the musician.

4:27 But he was emphasizing, and he was saying, send me your son,

4:30 David the Shepherd. I don't know who needs to hear this word. Today.

4:32 You're saying, John, I am so talented in this area. I'm

4:38 so gifted in this area. Even when you look at David, right,

4:41 he was a gifted heart player. If the king of the country is choosing

4:46 someone to play the heart, it's not going to be like some Tom Dick

4:48 and Harry right. It means that he's really really good at it and he's

4:53 really famous in it. I want you to just think about it this way,

4:57 like if, for example, in today's world, if the primary minister

5:00 or the president or the royal families inviting somebody to come and perform. They're

5:05 not going to just choose some Tom Dick and Harry. They're going to choose

5:09 the top rated, the chart topping and the most famous and most albums sold

5:15 artist, or the one who's in the like the odd sensation artist to come

5:19 and play. So if King Saul was choosing David, that means David would

5:24 have been really good at this. He would have been a well known figure

5:28 in the day of music. But he didn't refer to him as the talented

5:33 art player or the talented musician, or of course he didn't say, you

5:41 know, the upcoming kings. It's good that he didn't know that he was

5:45 going to become the next king, but can you imagine how it was a

5:49 test. It was actually a test for David at that point, Oh my

5:54 goodness, you know what, I'm going to be the next king, and

5:59 I'm so talented in playing the arp, I'm so good at this. But

6:04 he's still referring to me as just the shepherd. I wonder if you feel

6:12 like, oh my goodness, why is it that people are still looking at

6:15 me as just a mediocre you know, just a shepherd when I have so

6:19 much more in me than what meets the eye. There's so much more in

6:23 me, And it's one thing to say that, Okay, you know what,

6:26 maybe King Saul doesn't know he's going to become the next king. Okay,

6:29 it's one thing to say that. Okay, God hid the fact that

6:32 David was going to become the next king from King Saul at this point,

6:35 because if King Saul knew at that point that David was going to become the

6:39 king, he would have killed him. Isad of calling him over to ask

6:43 him to play the arp. But at certain points, God protects you so

6:50 that people don't kill you, you know what I mean. Like the obscurity

6:57 is not it's not to make your life miserable, but it's as really a

7:00 blessing in disguise to protect you so that the wrong forces don't stop you or

7:08 kill you ahead of time. Because David was not in a position at that

7:12 point to face you know, like King Saul's chasing like he did later later

7:19 when King Saul became jealous and he started chasing David that time. Not only

7:26 was David experience, he had people to support, he had he was in

7:29 a different dimension altogether. So you have to understand there are seasons when God

7:34 make sure that people don't see your real value, see your real calling,

7:40 see your real you know thing of who you are, just because God wants

7:46 to protect you so that the wrong people don't take you out. And also,

7:51 Saul knew that David was talented. But sometimes, you know, people

7:56 can see the talent that you have, but they still want to get to

8:01 that place where they just want to keep you under Oh you're just a shepherd.

8:05 You just gotta lucky break in music, but you're still a shepherd.

8:09 That's who you are. You know a lot of times, you know,

8:11 people still look down on me or put me down in terms of like,

8:15 oh, you know what, even to be honest, like even even even

8:18 a couple of days ago, somebody was asking what do you do in the

8:20 ministry? And of course I have a call for traveling, international ministry,

8:24 all of those things. But I was sharing, like in the season,

8:28 you know, most of what I do is just online and you know,

8:31 the podcast, the YouTube channel, social media and all of these things.

8:35 And and he literally looked at me like, oh you call that as ministry?

8:39 He was he was kind of like putting me down. You know what

8:41 I mean. Of course here and the people invite me to minister and bring

8:46 for more doors and opportunities that I'm open to as got leads. But what

8:50 I want you guys to understand, you'res this important truth. You know.

8:54 I was like, man, I have a big call and this guy is

8:56 just looking down on me because of the season that I'm in. But I

9:01 want you guys understand that's a test of its own. These are tests that

9:05 you need to be willing to pass. Tests in the season of obscurity where

9:11 even if you're not recognized, even if you're not understood, or people don't

9:16 see your real value, they don't see your real calling, they don't recognize

9:20 and acknowledge the gifts and the talents and the calling and the vision and the

9:26 promises of God over real life. Can you still be in a good place

9:31 of trusting God with a good attitude saying God, you know what I trust

9:35 you in the season of obscurity. I know that you have hidden me for

9:39 a reason, for a purpose, and I know that even though Saul is

9:45 still referring to me as just a shepherd, It's okay. God, Saul

9:48 doesn't define who I am. You define who I am and at the right

9:52 time, I believe that the right people would recognize my true calling. And

9:58 that's the place of vizag Each one of us to kind, please say you

10:03 have the right outdu towards the seasons of obscuritinia life. Amen, God bless

10:09 you. You've been listening to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We

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11:11 God bless you