October 24, 2026
Pursue, I Got You!
Dr. Eric Thomas
The Message
The One Thing
It's not the hand you've been dealt that decides how your story ends — it's who your partner is. David's hand at Ziklag was as bad as a hand gets: his village burned, his wives and children taken, his own men turning on him. But because God was his partner, not his circumstances, all of it worked together for his good (Romans 8:28) — and it will for yours too, no matter what's actually in your hand right now.
The video opens at the start of the message.
IT'S NOT YOUR HAND.
This Week's Message
What He Said
Your hand doesn't decide the outcome — your partner does.
In spades, running a Boston (winning all 13 books) was never really about how good your hand was — it was about who you were partnered with. The same is true in life: all things work together for good, not because your circumstances are good, but because of who you're playing with.
Romans 8:28
Every assignment you master is proof you're ready for the next one.
David didn't go from shepherd straight to king. He mastered the sheep first — killing the lion and the bear in private, with no audience — then faithfully carried his brothers' lunch, then killed Goliath, then earned the people's hearts long before he ever got the title. You can't kill a giant if you haven't killed a sheep.
1 Samuel 17
God doesn't let it fall apart to punish you — He lets it fall apart to promote you.
The whole catastrophe at Ziklag wasn't David losing God's favor; it was God setting up an assignment big enough to take David's standing with the people to the next level — bigger than killing Goliath, because the people needed proof, again, that David (and God) still had it.
1 Samuel 30
"Get the New Out of the Year"
ET opens by naming that a new year doesn't make your life new by itself; you have to apply the word to get the new out of it. He roots this in his own testimony: the direct, repeatable correlation between the degrees he earned, the obedience he practiced, and the income and doors that followed — not because effort is magic, but because he did what God told him to do and watched it work.
Four Things We Already Know
A recap of the last two weeks in 1 Samuel 30: the village was burned to the ground, the wives and children were taken captive, David's own men were in anguish over their own families, and then those same men turned on David and talked about stoning him. Four real losses, stacked on top of each other.
"You Only Need to Know One Thing"
Read together, on their feet, three times: Romans 8:28, "all things work together for good to them that love God." The point isn't that good things happen — it's that you'd never be depressed about anything, in high school or at 56, if you already knew how the story ends. The devastation isn't the whole story; not knowing the ending is what makes it feel unbearable.
The Grass Illustration
ET's lawn: it burned in the summer heat the same weeks his neighbor's lawn (which his neighbor fussed over constantly) also struggled, and by fall both lawns looked the same. The sun that burned the grass was also the thing the grass needed. You want the good weather, but good weather alone will wreck your life — you need the sun and the rain, the good and the hard, for anything to actually work together for good.
"It's Not Your Hand — It's Your Partner"
The extended spades illustration (presented with two card hands, "hand one" and "hand two"). The trick to running a Boston was never playing a strong hand well; it was having the right partner. A weak hand with the right partner wins. A life handed over to the wrong partner (Satan — who, ET says, mostly just gets you to overthink things that never even happen) loses regardless of how good the hand looks. Be careful who your partner is — it determines whether you end up in the grave, in jail, in a wheelchair, or recovered and whole.
You Can't Kill a Giant Until You've Killed a Sheep
David's actual progression: faithful, unseen shepherd (killing a lion and a bear with no audience and no bragging) → obedient errand-runner (carrying his brothers' lunch, which is where he found Goliath) → giant-killer → king in the people's hearts, before he ever had the title. Using the lion/giraffe comparison: a giraffe's neck is long because of what it has to reach for; the point of the trial is what it shapes you to reach.
The Challenge Had to Get Bigger Because David Did
The reason God allowed Ziklag: David had already proven himself with Goliath, so the next test had to be bigger, not because David had fallen out of favor, but because the people needed to see, again, that David — and God — still had it. The assignment you're resisting right now may not be punishment; it may be the next size up from the one you already passed.
"My Hiding Place, My Rock, My Portion"
ET closes by reading through a sequence of David's own psalms as the proof of what it looks like to make God, not people or possessions, your actual partner: Psalm 23:1-4, Psalm 18:2, Psalm 27:1, Psalm 32:7, Psalm 61:2-3, Psalm 34:4, Psalm 27:4, Psalm 25:4-5, Psalm 16:5, and Psalm 139:1-3 — closing in an altar-call moment inviting people to make God their one partner instead of dividing their trust between Him and everything else.
Do Not Just Read It
This Week's Assignment
This week, before you react to anything that happens to you — good or bad — ask yourself one question first: who's my partner in this?
0 of 5 done this week
Monday
Check Your Partner
Think of the hardest thing happening in your life right now. Have you been processing it with God, or with everyone and everything else first? Write down who's actually been your partner in it so far.
Romans 8:28
Tuesday
Name Your Sheep
What's the small, unglamorous assignment in front of you that you've been skipping past because you want the bigger one? Do it this week, on purpose, with no audience.
Psalm 23:1-4
Wednesday
Stop Asking for a New Hand
Write down the hand you've actually been dealt — the thing you can't change right now. Then write one sentence about what it would look like to trust your Partner with it instead of trying to trade it.
Psalm 18:2
Thursday
Find Your Hiding Place
The next time bad news hits this week, catch yourself before you call, text, or spiral — go to God first. Write down what you told Him.
Psalm 32:7; Psalm 61:2-3
Friday
Trust the Promotion
Look back at a hard season you already survived. What were you able to handle afterward that you couldn't handle before it? Name the pattern — it's the same one at work right now.
Psalm 34:4
The full message, edited for reading, with the slides built in.
MASTER THE SHEEP.
The Word
HE'S SETTING YOU UP.
Your Move This Week
PURSUE. I GOT YOU.
Arise and Build