Today’s Devotional Scripture: 37 David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee. - 1 Samuel 17:37 KJV
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: - 1 Peter 1:7 KJV
The Message For Today (April 7, 2026):
***Audio Version For Paid members: Tested and Proven Audio 513
Day after day, we are faced with tough battles. We’re faced with issues with our children, issues with marriages, issues with family and friends, issues with businesses and organizations. We have battles that we’re facing in our health. We have all of these natural battles, and we also have battles in the spirit.
Battles over our sleep, battles over our minds, battles over the emotions of our hearts and the meditation of our minds. We have these battles that we are fighting, and these battles all help you. Each and every one, showing you a part of you that often we don’t actually look at until after the battle is done. Words that we regret.
Anger that we wish we could just undo. We could go back and change reactions that felt very much justified in the moment, but later on felt very heavy. So we have the aftermath of the battles that we face. But what if we saw battles in the midst of them as opportunities to develop, opportunities to rise to the occasion, and opportunities to shift our hearts and minds?
That the battles would become tests that help show us and others how we’ve grown in Christ. What if every test and every battle was a blessing that God allowed for the edification of your faith, for the growth and maturing of your walk with God? What if the battles are blessings, and the tests are there to help give you testimonies?
We’ve heard this, but it’s not that easy to walk it out. We see in the cornerstone scriptures that God often allows tests for a reason. With David, as a young boy, he was restricted to watching the sheep while his brothers went off to battle. And so for 40 days and 40 nights, he did not go to the battlefield (1 Samuel 17:16 KJV). His father sent him after 40 days of him watching the sheep.
But during those 40 days, and the time before as a keeper of the sheep, he had battles that he walked through. There were issues that he faced. There was the lion and the bear that he faced and overcame. These are battles that he was tested in and proven in and of themselves, one after the other.
So in what seemed as if it was the least honored position, being the sheepkeeper was actually the training ground that God used to prepare him for Goliath. When you read 1 Samuel 17 in its entirety, you can see the transformation and the absolute shift from shepherd boy to anointed.
You can see it at the beginning as you walk through 1 Samuel 18, the way that David was celebrated for his ten thousands and Saul only for his thousands (1 Samuel 18:7 KJV).
You see how that battle with the lion and that battle with the bear, although small, he was able to be victorious (1 Samuel 17:37 KJV).
They prepared him for the battle with Goliath, which was a transformational battle. It was a transition point where he was not allowed to go home. It was a blessing. But in the midst of it, he might have been frustrated that he was left out there with the sheep. In the midst of it, he might have been frustrated that he was basically relegated to sheep care and relegated to just use his sling and his stones to protect sheep.
But it was practice. Little small things. Practice testing and proving that happened that he didn’t even know were going to be beneficial for a bigger battle. Take a moment this morning to look back at the battles that you’ve come through, the wolves that you fought in private, the battles that you overcame in secret, the wars that you’ve won over and over again, and just know that God is still God.
He is still more than able. He is still with you. You’ve already overcome some things. You’ve already been prepared for this next battle. There is nothing too hard for the Lord. But you often find when looking at your life that there are certain things that transpired that in the moment felt very unfair, felt very overwhelming, and felt almost like punishment.
But they were testing and proving. These battles, these trials, these things that you faced were testing and proving. Constantly growing you in your faith, empowering you for days ahead, preparing you for unknown battles in future seasons. All of this, because God allowed it.
This is why the Bible tells us that in all things give thanks. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, it states:
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. - 1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV
The battle you faced yesterday, the trial that you experienced last week, and the continuous testing that you may be in doing as of late, almost as if things are getting heavier, what if this is testing to prepare you for something greater? What if these are battles that you can look back to and glean from, when you say something, and you can say:
“Wait, this feels familiar.
I’ve faced this before.
God has delivered me before.
He will deliver me again.”
This is the power of God to remind you by his spirit that everything that you’re facing has already been won. Every battle, God is already victorious in it. Every trial, God has already guided you through it. He knows what you’re facing. He knows the plans that he has for you. He knows the thoughts that he thinks towards you, to give you a future and a hope. He knows.
And if we can step fully into that and embrace it with all of our hearts, the battles will become blessings. The tests will become opportunities. The doors will open when we feel like they’re closing. We will see things differently, because remember that His ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV).
Higher are his thoughts. Greater is our God. And when we begin to see our battles and our tests through the eyes of Christ, when we begin to inquire of the Lord on our next steps, we can then begin to shift. We can then begin to see open doors.
It is at that point that we are now walking with the Lord, and the Lord with us, and we are giving the Holy Spirit room to move exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.
Closing Devotional Prayer
My prayer for you:
Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you. I thank you for the fire of God. I thank you for the power of the living God over this mighty woman of God. I thank you that she is not alone.
I thank you, God, that you are pouring out your spirit afresh, anew. But I pray that the mighty woman of God will open up her hands, that she would lift up her hands and bless you, God, recognizing that you are the Holy God, our righteous Father, that you are the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
And that you are not surprised by the battle she’s facing. You know where she is, oh God. You know what she is struggling with. Lord, have your way, King of glory. Shift the mighty woman of God. Open up her heart, oh God, and give her eyes to see, oh God, and ears to hear in the name of Jesus everything that you have for her.
The hidden things of the Lord of God, reveal them to the mighty woman of God, that she may be able to walk fully in the word of the Lord, and that she may be able to walk wholly in the righteousness of God. I thank you, Lord, and I pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.
This was so needed. Thank you for listening to the Holy Spirit
Amen