You gotta walk on your own dirt.
(I Samuel 17:38-51)
... so yeah, sometimes we must face a real enemy. Sometimes it's not
all in our head or in our "damaged emotions" or simply the whining of a
drama king or queen. Sometimes the battle is very real as we wrestle
and bleed and sweat while those around us briefly look in our
direction, scowl and shake their head as they trot off picking flowers.
38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a
coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened
on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was
not used to them.
"I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off.
People want to dress us up in their reality, in their garb, thinking if
we would just think happy thoughts and go with the flow and handle
ourselves on the battlefield like they do... we wouldn't be bothered by
the insults shouted about the people we love or the giant threatening
to take our life or the attack against the Kingdom of our God.
They want us to approach the unlovely things that are sometimes life
as they do, much like Saul tried to equip and prepare David. Ignoring
the fact that their method failed against the conflict at hand. What
they wore, what was tailor-made for them, is not always what God has
planned for you to wear. And God's will and plan for each specific
thing that we face in life must be the method we seek, not a method
based on the vision of men.
How do you tell the head honcho
that you need to approach the situation differently? How do you tell
him that his method doesn't feel right, that you can't succeed in the
task at hand if you wear what he has determined to put upon you? How do
you say such a thing to a king, to your pastor, to your mentor or
teacher or family? What do you do when people in authority over you are
speaking contrary to what God is speaking?
How should a
king receive such a response? How should your pastor take it when a
young up-start rejects his advice and wisdom and feels that it is
necessary to do things differently to succeed in what they have been
challenged by God to do? How do you as a leader or the elder or the one
with seniority -- take your hands off of someone under your authority,
and step back and not be offended by (or abusive to force your will
upon) the situation and the people involved?
40 Then he
took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream,
put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his
hand, approached the Philistine.
ahhhh... there it is...
what God absolutely moved me with the other day. Here is David, the
unimportant little shepherd, the baby, the nobody... the one with the
seemingly least experience to be standing on the battlefield and
approaching a giant adversary that was known for striking terror into
the heart of entire armies. What would be David's method? What defense
could he possibly have? What weapon?
... a shepherd's staff, some stones from the water, his shepherd's bag, and a piece of leather.
All four items hold such powerful significance. It is no coincidence
that there are four. Four is symbolic of the World... and the love of
the world is our enemy. Satan is the instigator, the liar, the
murderer... but it is the world that is the true temptation. It is the
world that Satan offered to Christ on that pinnacle of the temple. To
rule it, to be praised by it, to be like a god.
We fight
against the enemy with the blood of the Lamb and the word of our
testimony. Here again, we see the Word of God at work in the reality
that is life. I'm running out of time, but let me quickly mention the
shepherd's bag because that is what Christ drew my attention to so
strongly as he opened this passage up to me.
The shepherd's
bag represents David's past. It was the thing that carried the stones
as he entered into battle. It was the bag that he used in the field
when he tended the sheep -- when he felt so forgotten and overlooked
and small. As he "rushed to face the giant" it was David's past as a
shepherd that he drew from to win the battle, to slay the giant that
defiantly shouted insults at the Almighty God and the people that were
loved by Him.
So many times we see our past, the life that
we have walked, as time wasted, as a mess that robs us of our hope. But
in God's reality, it is merely an arsenal, five smooth stones (five
symbolizes GRACE), purchased by Christ, polished by the water of His
Spirit, and made available to us so that we can take down any giant
that comes against us. You are loved by God. He loved you when you were
forgotten in the field, and he loves you as you stand face to face with
that giant that is spitting insults out at you right now. You are not
alone. He remains with you always.
41 Meanwhile, the
Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer
to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy
and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, "Am I a dog,
that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by
his gods. 44 "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the
birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"
45 David
said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and
javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the
God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD
will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your
head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the
birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will
know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will
know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the
battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."
48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly
toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking
out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The
stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone;
without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed
him.
51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the
Philistine's sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him,
he cut off his head with the sword.
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.
Your life has purpose. Then and now. All of it. The pain caused by a
fallen creation and a cursed world was never part of God's plan for
you. But he promises to take ALL THINGS and use them to bring GOOD
THINGS to your life. David's life as a shepherd was rewarding, but
being a shepherd boy also caused him some shame and frustration. It
made him a target even by his family, but in the end it trained him for
greatness.
Your life -- whatever shame or frustration it
contains, is no different. God can use it to train you for greatness.
The pain wasn't His plan, but the victory is His promise.
Don't feel like you have to wear what people want to put upon you.
Sometimes you gotta say what David said and tell them that you just
can't wear it. Then you gotta take it off.
You are not them, and
the path that they are walking with Christ (though laid out beside
yours) is not the same dirt that is under your feet. You gotta walk on
your own dirt. There is a bond with their's, a precious and essential
connection, but there is a uniqueness... God designs beautiful things.
Love People, be respectful, be thankful, be gracious, be kind, but
Love God Most.
Let Him be your favorite.
Value the dirt that God specifically put under your feet, and praise
him like a crazy person when he uses you to make giants fall facedown
in it.
