David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee. And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him. I Sam 17:37-39 (Ref: I Sam 17)
The passage today is about the transition of leadership wrapped up in a story about courage, faith and confidence. This story of David, the little shepherd boy who goes up against the giant is a very familiar story. We find ourselves in the midst of a battle brewing and waiting to happen. Both sides, the Philistines and Israel had great armies but were in what I call the valley of decision because neither had initiated an attack. Now Goliath, who stood alittle over 9 feet tall, steps up and proposes a challenge to Israel. I can only imagined looking at this massive man who was amoured and geared for battle, and being terrified because of what I was seeing before me. After seeing this giant, Saul and all of Israel were greatly afraid; among them were three of David’s older brothers. After this challenge is made, David shows up at the camp, sent by his father to take food and he gets there just in time to hear Goliath make his challenge again. This is what I called being strategically placed at the right time, so that God can use you to get the glory and to let it be known that He is the God of salvation.
David is described as being young, small. ruddy and the youngest of his brothers, yet he speaks up and offers to fight Goliath. He then commences to tell Saul what the Lord has done for him, how He had delivered him and how he would deliver him out of the hand of Goliath. I'm sure Saul is amazed and stunned at the courage of this young boy, but agrees and proceeds to armour David with everything needed to fight. David tells him that he has not tested nor proved this armour so I can't go with this on and he takes off the armour. However, David was armed and dangerous with what he knew worked, a slingshot, some smooth stones and a God that was on his side (Read verses 44-47). Needless to say, one shot to the forehead and it was a done deal.
I don’t care how fully armoured our enemy comes, we have to go up against him with the same spirit of David, go with same faith of David, go in the power and strength of the Word of God, and nothing shall be able to stand against us. What if David had looked at Goliath's size and had not known how much bigger, stronger and mightier his God was? He could not have defeated this giant. Fear and unbelief keeps us stagnant, and unmoving against the enemy, against our problems, against our circumstances, against life. The Word says put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles or the strategies of the devil, the whole armour is needed for this battle, but the most important piece is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph 6:11-17)!
We are going to have some giants in our lives, some things that will tower over us and at first glance they may look scary or even terrify us, but we need to know in whom we trust; in whom we have faith. We have to know that we are ready for a battle at all times; we have to know that God is bigger that any of our circumstances and that he has equipped us with everything we need to rush in and take the enemy head on. David had his slingshot; we have the word and His word is our weapon of destruction. It lets us know that God is our deliver, our way maker, our strong tower, our very present help in times of trouble and that we are already victorious. David knew that victory was his, he was not only confident, but assured by the Word of the Lord … not only was he equipped and ready for battle but he was armed and dangerous ... with a slingshot!
Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde
The passage today is about the transition of leadership wrapped up in a story about courage, faith and confidence. This story of David, the little shepherd boy who goes up against the giant is a very familiar story. We find ourselves in the midst of a battle brewing and waiting to happen. Both sides, the Philistines and Israel had great armies but were in what I call the valley of decision because neither had initiated an attack. Now Goliath, who stood alittle over 9 feet tall, steps up and proposes a challenge to Israel. I can only imagined looking at this massive man who was amoured and geared for battle, and being terrified because of what I was seeing before me. After seeing this giant, Saul and all of Israel were greatly afraid; among them were three of David’s older brothers. After this challenge is made, David shows up at the camp, sent by his father to take food and he gets there just in time to hear Goliath make his challenge again. This is what I called being strategically placed at the right time, so that God can use you to get the glory and to let it be known that He is the God of salvation.
David is described as being young, small. ruddy and the youngest of his brothers, yet he speaks up and offers to fight Goliath. He then commences to tell Saul what the Lord has done for him, how He had delivered him and how he would deliver him out of the hand of Goliath. I'm sure Saul is amazed and stunned at the courage of this young boy, but agrees and proceeds to armour David with everything needed to fight. David tells him that he has not tested nor proved this armour so I can't go with this on and he takes off the armour. However, David was armed and dangerous with what he knew worked, a slingshot, some smooth stones and a God that was on his side (Read verses 44-47). Needless to say, one shot to the forehead and it was a done deal.
I don’t care how fully armoured our enemy comes, we have to go up against him with the same spirit of David, go with same faith of David, go in the power and strength of the Word of God, and nothing shall be able to stand against us. What if David had looked at Goliath's size and had not known how much bigger, stronger and mightier his God was? He could not have defeated this giant. Fear and unbelief keeps us stagnant, and unmoving against the enemy, against our problems, against our circumstances, against life. The Word says put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles or the strategies of the devil, the whole armour is needed for this battle, but the most important piece is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph 6:11-17)!
We are going to have some giants in our lives, some things that will tower over us and at first glance they may look scary or even terrify us, but we need to know in whom we trust; in whom we have faith. We have to know that we are ready for a battle at all times; we have to know that God is bigger that any of our circumstances and that he has equipped us with everything we need to rush in and take the enemy head on. David had his slingshot; we have the word and His word is our weapon of destruction. It lets us know that God is our deliver, our way maker, our strong tower, our very present help in times of trouble and that we are already victorious. David knew that victory was his, he was not only confident, but assured by the Word of the Lord … not only was he equipped and ready for battle but he was armed and dangerous ... with a slingshot!
Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde
|
