Cathy Duplantis - How to behave in a cave : its what you do in the cave that gets you out of it

Contents

CHAPTER 1

SO YOURE IN A CAVE! NOW WHAT?

J esus said that in this world we would have tribulation. But He also said, Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33). Sometimes bad things happen in life, and you just want to retreat. (Have you been there?) In this life, the devil sends all kinds of tribulation your way to try to make you run and hide in a cave.

Perhaps fear, discouragement, failures or disappointments are driving you into a cave. Or maybe battle fatigue is making you faint along the way because you're so weary in well doing. (Gal. 6:9; 2 Thess. 3:13.)

But the Bible is full of reasons for good cheer. You don't have to stay in a cave. You can come out, once and for all, and be victorious. God wants you to get up, stand on your feet and go forward with Him.

It Came to Pass Away

When your back is up against the wall, you don't have to give up; you don't have to pass out. No matter what it is that has come against you, it didn't come to stay. It came to pass away.

Sickness didn't come to stay in your life. It came to pass away, in the name of Jesus. Failure didn't come to stay. It came to pass away, in the name of Jesus. Any problem you can think of didn't come to stay. It came to pass away, because Jesus declared, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away (Matt. 24:35).

So whatever it is that comes against you, you can say, "That thing is in the earth, and it's going to pass away. I'll have victory over it, because the Word of God is going to dominate this area of my life. And His Word will never pass away!"

A Life Lesson

I don't know about you, but I like life lessons. Years ago I heard a story that is still one of my favorites. It's one I've often told my daughter to teach her that she can overcome any problem and that she doesn't have to get down when troubles come.

A little bluebird was flying around in a pasture one day. It was snowing and the little bird got so cold that he couldn't fly anymore. So he landed on the field and began to freeze.

The snow kept falling until, eventually, he was completely covered with snow. Just about the time he thought he was going to die, a cow wandered by. It stood right over him and dropped a great big plop on top of him.

At first the little bird was aggravated and mad because it stunk. He said, "What is this?" But after a while, he thought,

Hey, this isn't too bad. It's kinda warm.

The frost started falling off of him, and before long he began to revive. When he realized that he was going to live after all, that little bird was so happy he began to sing and chirp up a little song.

The little bluebird was just chirping away when, all of a sudden, a fox nearby heard him. The fox ran toward him, dug him up and ate him.

And so the moral of the story is this: Not everybody that dumps on you is bad. Not everybody that picks you up is good. And if everything is going great, then for goodness' sake, keep your big mouth shut!

Everyone in a cave isnt bad. Thats not exactly a scriptural lesson for your life, but it does illustrate something I saw in the Bible about three men in a cave. They also learned a great lesson in life. They learned that not everybody who winds up in a cave is bad!

You see, it's the devil that's bad. But God is good, and He will pick you up when you are down. That's the kind of God we serve.

I'm telling you, when things look their worst, God is always ready to pick you up. He will illustrate in His Word what you need to do to come out victorious.

Even if you're at a point where it seems you've fallen and you're trapped in a cave of discouragement, you don't have to stay there. If you keep your eyes focused on Him and don't give up, you're going to win every single time.

Stop beating yourself up and thinking how bad you must be, or how terrible your life is, and start packing your bags and getting ready to go. God always has a way, and He wants to bring you out of whatever cave you happen to be in.

So if you're in one right now, wondering what you're going to do, then read on. You're about to learn how to behave in a cave and how to come out in victory!

CHAPTER 2

DAVID: FIVE KEYS TO VICTORY

R emember those three men in a cave I mentioned at the end of chapter 1? Well, they weren't actually in there all together. I was talking about three different men in caves on three different occasions: David, Jonathan and Elijah. But the important thing is , they didn't stay there. They came out!

All of them learned principles on how to get out of their caves. And you can apply the same principles that they learned to your own situation.

So let's start with the first "caveman," David. As you read on, you'll notice I've devoted several chapters to David's life. That's because, written in the Psalms, we have his personal record of survival through the caves of life. So we can learn a lot about how to behave in a cave from this one man whom God loved.

Davids Escape to a Cave

Most likely you've heard the story of David, the little shepherd-turned national hero. When he knocked down the giant Goliath with a stone and a slingshot, he became the talk of the town. People started singing about it in the street how Saul had killed his thousands and David his ten thousands. (1 Sam. 18:7.)

Well, do you know what? They should have kept their big mouths shut! They sang so much, it infuriated Saul. He became consumed with jealousy and wanted to kill that little guy. So David was running for his life.

According to 1 Samuel 22:1, David escaped to the cave Adullam ....

But he didn't go there alone.

When his brethren and all his fathers house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.

1 Samuel 22:1 ,2

Four hundred men went with him. However, they weren't exactly the kind of people you like to surround yourself with when you're going through a trial. Usually, when you're down, you want to try to find people who are up.

But here David was, surrounded by people who were in distress, in debt and discontented. These guys were losing at the game of life.

From Failure to Success

But God specializes in transforming failures into successes and turning losers into winners. Something happened to those men when they followed David into that cave. They may have been discouraged when they went in, but I tell you what, they didn't stay discouraged. They didn't stay in debt, distress and discontentment. God showed them how to get out!

In fact, they became so strong and courageous that the whole world came to know them as "David's mighty men." (1 Chron. 11:10.) They were so successful and blessed that they joyfully contributed out of their vast wealth to finance the building of the temple of God. Now that's success!

But just as David and those 400 men discovered, there are some key things you have to do to go from being a loser to a winner and from failure to success. They had to learn how to behave in a cave.

You see, there were certain principles that they applied during those early days that established a firm foundation for their success. And we're going to find out what they were.

Out of the Cave, Into Victory

A careful examination of Psalm 57 reveals five important keys to successful behavior in a cave. This psalm is David's record of his own thoughts when he fled from Saul into the cave of Adullam .

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast . I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.