The Battle Belongs to the Lord
This week I re-studied the story of David and Goliath. Sometimes there
are situations where I need to take a stand. But I’m tired, the holidays
are coming, and let’s face it— I don’t want to fight people and issues
that are bigger and stronger than me.
We all have them, Goliaths that loom larger than life: unrepented sin,
addiction, cancer, depression. The giant points to our failures:
promises broken, marriage dissolutions, relationships fractured beyond
repair. He laughs and tells us that we’re losers because we gave in last
time, or wimps because we didn’t fight at all.
I keep hearing that people would be more successful if they had better
childhoods. But look at David. He was frequently mistreated by his
father, Jesse. Normally the baby of the family would be the child most
pampered. Not here. Jesse focused on his older sons’ potential. He
treated David like a servant, not a beloved child.
Then God instructed the Prophet Samuel to go to Jesse’s house and
identify the king to replace Saul. Jesse called all his sons to meet
Samuel… all of them except his youngest. David was left in the field
tending sheep. Why bother him? His older brothers had potential—he
didn’t. Yet, David remained submissive to the will of both his
fathers—earthly and eternal. In a stunning story twist and turn, Samuel
chose David as the future king.
I would have wanted a bit of preferential treatment at that point:
better food, a comfortable bed, maybe a donkey to ride while tending the
sheep. Not David. After his anointing, he went back to shepherding with
humility and grace.
Meanwhile, the Creator of the Universe was personally designing David’s
boot camp.
When David—still a child-- walked into Israel’s military camp as
recorded in 1 Samuel, there were hundreds of experienced Hebrew
soldiers. They looked more ready than David. They had spears and swords
and armor. They’d been trained in combat. Any one of them could have
volunteered to fight the Philistine bully, Goliath. None did.
In contrast, David walked in wearing shepherd’s clothes and carrying a
small bag of rocks. He didn’t look like a warrior. He hadn’t worked on
muscle building, hadn’t studied strategies for killing a man twice his
size.
We don’t get ready for Goliath by getting tougher and meaner. We prepare
by developing a heart that is submissive to, humble before, and
worshiping of the One who really leads the army.
The most important thing David did while tending his father’s sheep was
strengthen his faith through worship. Alone, he communed with God in
prayer. He worshipped on his stringed instrument. He wrote psalms that
praised God. He developed a relationship with the Lord and practiced
discerning His voice.
David wasn’t cloistered on the hillside with an eye toward being the
king. He was simply enjoying his relationship with God. But that
relationship was the foundation for everything else God had planned for
David.
Faith doesn’t measure the size of the giant. It doesn’t care who gets
the credit, whose idea was the best, or whose special skill made it
happen. Faith isn’t ten easy steps we study on-line while slurping down
a latte before work. Faith isn’t about us at all. It’s about the One we
worship.
Sincere faith is rooted in our experienced relationship with Him.
God never sends us into battle without preparing us for whatever He asks
us to fight: bullies, negativity, abuse, deceit, criticism, sin—ours and
the sins of others.
Today’s challenges prepare us for tomorrow’s giants.
Sometimes I need to remember
that humble submission and sincere worship are the only training I need
in a future where God has already planned my battles.
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