Thriving Against the Odds

1. THRIVING IS DETERMINED BEFORE YOUR FACE THE ODDS.

“But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

1 Samuel 13:14 (NKJV)

“After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king…”

Acts 13:22 (NASB)

2. YOU NEED THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT TO OVERCOME THE ODDS.

“Then Saul clothed David with his military attire and put a bronze helmet on his head, and outfitted him with armor. And David strapped on his sword over his military attire and struggled at walking, for he had not trained with the armor. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, because I have not trained with them.” And David took them off.”

1 Samuel 17:38-39 (NASB)

3. ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE, BECAUSE OUR GOD IS GREATER THAN THE ODDS!

“Then David said to the Philistine ‘You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.’”

1 Samuel 17:45 (NKJV)

“So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.”

1 Samuel 17:48 (NKJV)

Victory Group Questions:

1) Have there been times when you've felt spiritually dehydrated? Share and discuss a plan of action to prevent getting to that point.

2) Reflect on how you respond to adversity. Are you more inclined to grab the "world's" armor ("fleshy") or the armor of God (spiritually) when the odds are against you?

3) How can getting to know Jesus and allowing Him to "raise you up" help you accept challenges in life and thrive against the odds?