Why Your Strategy Will Never Beat God's Anointing
- Henley Samuel
- Jun 28
- 5 min read
June 28, 2026
There is something incredibly freeing about knowing that your success does not depend entirely on how clever your plan is or how hard you hustle. Today, we are going to sit with a truth that has the power to completely shift how you approach your life, your work, your health, and your calling. The anointing of God is greater than any strategy you could ever devise, and when you lean into it, ordinary moments become extraordinary turning points.
When Strategy Falls Short
We live in a world that celebrates strategy. We are constantly told to plan better, network smarter, position ourselves more carefully. And while wisdom and planning certainly have their place, there is a dangerous trap in placing all our confidence in human strategy, especially when it replaces our trust in God.
Consider the story of Absalom. He was ambitious, charismatic, and strategic. He had chariots, horsemen, and a carefully crafted plan to seize the throne from his father David. Yet, despite all of that, his end came in one of the most striking ways recorded in Scripture.
"Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on." 2 Samuel 18:9
Picture that moment. Every strategy Absalom had built, every alliance he had formed, every crowd he had pleased, and in the end he was left hanging between heaven and earth, caught by a tree, while even the donkey walked away. The donkey did not stop for him.
If you trust only in strategy, not even the donkey will stay with you.
This is not just a historical account. It is a living warning. When we strive for promotion, recognition, and success through purely human means, trying to please the right people, building the right image, working every angle, we may find ourselves suspended and stuck, going nowhere.
The Ordinary Man Who Became King
Now contrast Absalom's story with that of Saul, and even more so with Solomon. Saul's story begins in the most unremarkable way possible. He was not on a mission to become king. He was not politicking or campaigning. He was simply looking for his father's lost donkeys.
"Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, 'Take one of the young men with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys.'" 1 Samuel 9:3
Saul traveled through the hills and various regions, still no donkeys. But he did not give up. He kept doing what was in front of him. His servant suggested they visit Samuel the prophet, and when Saul arrived, the donkeys had already been found, and God had already spoken to Samuel about him.
"Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, 'Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel.'" 1 Samuel 9:15-16
Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin, described as the smallest and least significant tribe in Israel. His background, his credentials, his social standing, none of it qualified him on paper. But the anointing of God does not look at paper qualifications. It looks at availability and faithfulness in the small things.
Divine calling can appear in your most unexpected, ordinary moments.
This is the beauty of walking with God. You do not have to manufacture your breakthrough. You do not have to engineer your promotion. When you are faithful in the ordinary, God is already arranging the extraordinary.
Not by Might, But by His Spirit
Solomon's story takes this even further. Solomon did not campaign for the throne. He did not gather horsemen or run a political strategy. And yet, when it was time for him to be crowned, the king's own mule was brought to him.
"So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon." 1 Kings 1:38
While Absalom's mule walked away from him, the king's mule was brought to Solomon. That is the difference between striving in your own strength and walking under the anointing of God. One has things running away from it. The other has things drawn toward it.
"Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, 'Long live King Solomon!'" 1 Kings 1:39
The confirmation came without manipulation. The celebration came without campaigning. And the Scripture gives us the governing principle behind all of this.
"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts." Zechariah 4:6
Your victory and your purpose will be accomplished through His Spirit. Not through human strength or effort. This does not mean you stop working or stop being faithful. It means you stop placing your ultimate trust in the strategy and start placing it in the God who anoints.
Walk by Faith, Not by Sight
"For we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:6
Walking by faith means walking by anointing, not by strategy alone. It means doing the ordinary things in front of you with faithfulness, trusting that God sees what you cannot see and is arranging what you cannot arrange.
You may have tried every strategy. You may have followed every piece of advice, worked every connection, and still feel suspended and stuck like Absalom. This is your invitation to stop striving and start trusting. The anointing of God will do what no strategy ever could. It will bring promotion to you. It will bring healing to you. It will bring elevation, breakthrough, and things that you simply cannot comprehend.
God does great things you cannot comprehend and He wants to do them in your life this season.
Conclusion
Today, make the choice to be like Solomon, not Absalom. Stop chasing what you think you need to chase and let the anointing of God attract it to you. Do the ordinary thing in front of you with faithfulness, with the word of God in your heart, and with trust in His timing. Your promotion comes from God. Your healing comes from God. And what He is about to do in your life, in your health, in your work, in your family, is beyond anything you could have strategized on your own. This is your season to see what God can do.
Reflect on This
Are there areas in your life where you have been relying on human strategy more than trusting in God's anointing and timing?
What ordinary, everyday task might God be using right now as the doorway to your unexpected calling or breakthrough?
Prayer
Father, I thank You that my promotion, my healing, and my breakthrough come from You alone. I declare that the anointing of God is flowing in my life right now, bringing promotion, elevation, and things I cannot comprehend. I receive victory in my health, my work, my family, and my calling. I walk by faith and not by sight, trusting that even in my ordinary moments, You are doing extraordinary things. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Key Takeaways
Trusting only in human strategy, like Absalom, will leave you suspended and without support.
God can use your most ordinary, faithful moments to launch you into an extraordinary calling.
The anointing of God attracts promotion and breakthrough to you rather than requiring you to chase it.
Walking by faith means trusting God's Spirit to accomplish what no amount of human effort or strategy ever could.
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To dive deeper into this powerful message, watch the full sermon on our YouTube video below.
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