An Old Inspirational Story Of Overcoming From A Different Point Of View
For about a month or two now I have been wrestling with the thought of where our faith, our talents and Gods intervention all fit together. We are hearing some pretty out-there ideas about our abilities to accomplish great things with our minds.
As I was trying to figure this out, the Biblical story of David and Goliath came to mind. Many of us growing up in the church understood a simple version of a young boy, a small Shepard boy who had older brothers currently at war with the Philistines.
David is sent by his father to bring food to his brothers. Upon arrival, David hears a loud voice call out in the distant; Goliath, a giant of a man standing nine feet, nine inches tall who has come a number of times to challenge anyone, some man who would fight to the death; the losers nation would be slaves to the winner.
David, a man after Gods own heart (according to Psalms), was wondering why someone has not already fought this blasphemer. David was outraged, and seeing that every other man available was not willing to fight, decided he himself would fight.
As the story unfolds, we know that David wanted no armor for protection, picked up five stones in a brook for his sling (a leather strap with a pouch), and headed to face Goliath. Goliath slewed out some vile words of protest before David said to him… ““You come to me with a sword, … But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts…”
David runs toward Goliath, grabs a stone from his bag, and using his sling he hits Goliath in the forehead – killing him. That is the story as we remember it as a kid. A little boy, killing a giant of a man – And the Lord was with David.
The Real Story
I am not going to dismiss the fact that God plays a very big roll in this story. However, the role that God plays I believe is different than what you might think. The way I understood the story, is that God guided the stone, a spiritual intervention taking place to accomplish His goal. Now you nor I cannot deny this, but because we live in a world that for the most part does not play fair, we have a hard time believing that God plays a part with much of anything. Yet I know He does.
Life itself can be very hard for some, and good for others. Knowing this as well as looking closer at the the story of David and Goliath, I have a different idea of how David was able to, not only kill Goliath, but anticipate this encounter without fear.
How much fear and doubt do we spend our time on when facing a large challenge? Even a small challenge. Well, if you read the story carefully in I Samuel 17, you will find that when David was brought to King Saul, Saul tells David he is but a youth. The first words out of David’s mouth is that as a Shepard, when a lion OR A bear took a lamb, he would go after it, strike it and remove the lamb, and when it would rise up against David, he would grab it by the beard and kill it.
What are you learning about David? He is not just a boy is he? But a young man with the skills of a great warrior. One thing for sure, he is nothing like the young men growing up in our age.
A Year In Africa
I was 19 years old when I was in Uganda Africa, many of the men had self made scars on their bodies proving their path into manhood by having killed a lion. They told me that as young boys, typically around the age of 13 years old, they would have to go out and kill a lion, and not to return home until they had done this. We seen the same thing in the movie “300″.
I know what you might be thinking, what kind of parents send their children out to face a lion? Answer: Parents that want to raise men and woman to become great and do great things. What has our culture raised?When a lion attacks, it goes for the throat of a human. (Sorry ladies, this is turning into a bit of a macho thing, but bear with me, you will soon see where I am going with this.) As the lion is leaping the young man thrusts his arm with the thorns into the belly of the lion, now connected, sidestepping and following the lion down to the ground so that the lion ends up on its back, while the young man drives the knife home into the chest of the beast.
You get the picture. This is practiced over and over while growing up until the skill is perfected. But facing a lion still would take a lot of courage.
Back to David and Goliath
So, now lets go back to David with what we just learned from the youth in Uganda. We can let our minds wander a bit to imagine that David most likely acquired some amazing skills, because he used them to kill at least one lion and one bear. If you read the text, it says that “…when a lion or bear took a lamb…” so there could have been more. I can also imagine that David could pick leaves off a tree branch at will with his sling.
At this point, you might be wondering, if it is skill (knowing, understanding, wisdom, action) then what does faith and God have to do with it?
David understood that God was the creator. He has faith in the mind that God gave to him. David was not really thinking about the talents that God has gifted him with, he just knew he needed to protect the sheep. I would guess that there were others, maybe himself or his brothers at one time or more that lost sheep to lions and bears.
When a problem presents itself, we find a way to solve the problem. However, we are not always using our brains; when the can was invented to store food, it took 40 years before someone invented a can opener. Sorry, that one was free. True story!
But I am not going to end the story here, because I do not like stories that end poorly.
Let’s take a closer look at what David said to Goliath…
“You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”
What is David doing in these words he is sharing to all that would hear? First of all, we can see that he was eloquent with his words; powerful words. This is no ordinary young man. He has been refined by his culture and beliefs.
But the most important thing that sums up this entire story, is Davids gift back to God by using the brains and skills that God gifted David with. David wants to make sure that God is glorified, that God be praised above all else. David recognizes that without God, there is no food producing land, no sunsets, no air, well… nothing!
Each one of us should want to be used of God in some way in our life time. Did God send the lion and the bear to refine David and his skills for this day? Maybe, I don’t know. Either way, David was a man who believed in a God that provided. He put his faith in a God that gave him the ability to become more by refining himself.
It is because of the Creator, in His Love toward us, gifted each one of us with a brain and a body, capable of doing extraordinary things when put into practice.
The next time you are faced with a difficult decision, or you have a dream you want to see fulfilled, are you going to wait for someone, maybe even God to do something for you? Is it possible that God is waiting for you?
Steve Nyhof
5 Responses to “An Old Inspirational Story Of Overcoming From A Different Point Of View”
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
 |
 |
 |
 |
Great article,, really cuts to the point..! Thanks for sharing.
Steve this article was right on point. It was totally awesome and well deserved. I’ve read it now maybe 2 or 3 times and absolutely love it!
Thanks a lot man.
Thank you Adrian and Jack for your comments. I hope it will help put somethings that are going around into a little better perspective.
A refreshing article, Sir. This reinforced our knowledge, on the life of David, by delving into the finer details of some parts of his life. I have read it 3 times also. Enlightening. It makes you want to change your tactics when faced with a problem!
Steve, this is wonderful! I remember wondering why Saul would want to put his armor on a small kid…I think David was head and shoulders over all the rest just like Saul, or Saul would have asked for a smaller man’s armor. And even his brothers looked at him as “little brother” getting into their business when he should be home. They didn’t see him for who he really was because of their preconceived ideas: that “shepherd”. David’s story is a good picture of how the Pharisees saw the Lord Jesus. Here He was doing great miracles right in front of their eyes and they could only see “that Galilean”.
How often is our perspective the thing keeping us from doing the will of God. But as long as we keep our eyes focused only on the Lord Jesus through daily reading His Word, He will show us the “way in which we should go”.
Love you big brother.