'After This'

1 Samuel 8

v.1 And after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines… v.2 And he smote Moab… v.3 David smote also Hadadezer… v.5 David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men. V.6 And the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went.

“After this.” The word tells us that after this King David defeated his enemies and the Lord preserved him. After what? What was the this that David did theses things after? After he had been pursued and persecuted by Saul, after he had ran from his enemy for his life, after he had won the victory over and his life had been preserved, then after David brought the presence of God back to Israel – After he had suffered, been delivered, and experienced the joy of being in the presence of The Almighty God, David’s enemies didn’t stand a chance.

The Lord woke me up this morning for someone, or maybe more than one person, that needs an “After This.” Friends I want to exclaim to you today, Hold on! Don’t lose hope! Don’t throw in the towel! Don’t let go of your faith and give up! Don’t do it! There's something beyond ‘this.’

‘This’ is not the end, it’s a temporary inconvenience, it’s just a hallway between where you were, and where God is taking you. ‘This’ is the in between place. ‘This’ is just the valley between two mountains. Sometimes we refer to this place as the “meantime,” or the “meanwhile.”

The Meanwhile: the time before something happens or before a specified period ends (Webster’s Dictionary). No one enjoys the ‘meantime.’ While you’re in it, it’s mean, it’s hard, it’s painful, it’s trying, it’s dark, and it feels uncertain.

Remember after Elijah called down fire from heaven, and after his servant seen the little cloud, the Word of God says: “And it came to pass in the meanwhile that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.” – 1 Kings 18:45

The great rain came after the mean while. The great blessing came after the meanwhile. In the meanwhile, there was dark clouds and winds.

I told you, God woke me up today for someone. I don’t know who you are or what you are going through, but you know exactly what I’m talking about, because you are there right now, you’re in the ‘meanwhile.’ The mean winds of adversity are blowing in your life right now, and the dark clouds are obscuring the sunlight. You are in the ‘meanwhile.’ You’re in the place of testing, of waiting, of uncertainty, and of not knowing. You are traveling through that valley of testing and trusting.

But God gave me this word for you – “After This.” I just keep hearing this going over and over in my spirit. “After This,” David smote the Philistines and subdued them. That word “smote” means, Attack, smite, hit, conquer, punish, or destroy. And then he subdued them. That word “subdued” means to bring low, to bring into subjection, or to humiliate.

I need to say something right here that we need to remember: God never told us that if we would serve him that we would never have a problem, never fight a devil, never get sick, never be attacked, or never have problems in our families. He promised us that he would be with us, through it all.

In fact, the Bible says: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.) – Psalm 34:19

“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when the walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” – Isaiah 43:2

This is what the Lord gave me to say: If you do not give up, if you will not give in to fear and doubt, if you keep on walking through the fire, if you will keep on praising God in the ‘meanwhile,’ if you will hold onto His Word in the face of every contrary and evil report, you will make it to ‘After This.’

I don’ know what ‘This’ is to you today, I don’t have to know. All I need to know is that there is an ‘After This.’ God never promised us a rose garden, he never promised us a trouble-free life, and He never promised us a mountain with no valleys. But He did promise me an ‘After This.’

David fought with the philistines and they caused him much grief. They won a few rounds, David took some hits, and David felt the pain. But ‘After This’ …

Friends, I love you too much to lie to you and tell you that being a Christian is a trouble-free life, that you’ll never walk through the valley of the shadow of death, that you’ll never hear a Dr’s bad report, that you’ll never cry over wayward children, that you’ll never be lied on, or there won’t be times when you feel like quitting. I can’t do it, I won’t do it, because it’s not true! But I can tell you on the authority of Gods’ Word; If you will Hold on, you will come to ‘After This.’

Up to now, in the meanwhile, the enemy has hurt you, he’s hit you hard, and your embarrassed, but your getting ready to humiliate your enemy. A humiliating anointing is being released upon you, receive it in Jesus’ name!

You’re getting ready to step into your ‘After This.’ You’re getting ready to humiliate the devil, to embarrass the devil. Listen to what I am telling you! Every time the devil throws something at you that fails, every time a trap he sets for you misses you, every time an offense he throws at you fails to stick, every time he knocks you down and you bounce back stronger, he is humiliated!

This is what I heard the Holy Ghost speaking to me this morning. Your ‘meanwhile’ is getting ready to end, and God wants to release an ‘After This’ anointing on your life today!