DAY EIGHTEEN / #fortydayfloodoflove
Kings, they are a funny thing.
This is a photo of me with an African King. My team and I had to stand before the King’s council in Cote D’lvoire and gain their permission to stay in the village.
(Here is my team and I at our hearing before the King’s council)
The whole idea of a King is an interesting concept to me after meeting a “real life” one. And well, I wrote a blog about one of the most notable kings. So this blog detours from the photo, but it tied in well. Lets talk about:
King David, the not so great king.
I grew up in a baptist church, and as a small child I heard about King David – the bible character who heroically defeats Goliath, a Palestinian giant.
I am now a missionary who tells the same story to children all over the world, and declares him as a man of God. God’s chosen King of Israel.
Its important to know those stories. All of the great miracles and mighty moments of the Bible, they’re encouraging, maybe even inspiring sometimes. And they point to how powerful our God is.
But how could I, an average person, ever relate to the “great King David”?
I will never face a Phillistinian giant with a slingshot.
I certainly won’t rule a nation.
And I probably won’t acquire as much wealth as he did.
So the more I share these stories with people, the more I begin to pose the questions….. how do we, seemingly “normal” people, relate to such significant figures?
But the more I started looking for common ground, the clearer it became to me… sometimes we see these bible characters as better-than or more “chosen” than we are. But really, our lives are paralleled.
Because even the greatest heroes fall and when we fail to recognize that, we fail to relate.
We also, like David, encounter giants. We experience moments of Gods superseding power much like when David defeats Goliath, but when we do, we won’t recognize it. We end up comparing our giants to his, and they’re not as big or scary. So we retreat and feel like our battles (and victories) are inadequate and don’t have as much testimony for the Lord.
We remember his heroic defeat from Sunday school, and assume he was a hero – more than we could ever be. Maybe we assume that the rest of his life reflected that moment. But that is because we don’t know the full account.
King David was actually not so great.
He was an adulterer.
He was a lousy husband.
He was a pretty crummy father.
and He was a murderer.
The more I read, the more I felt as if I could relate to this man of valor. How does someone, so full of sin, become a biblical & Sunday school hero?
Why did I never hear the rest of Davids story? How about his fatal flaws? How he was adulterous, lustful, insensitive, and had anger issues?
What about the times he was consumed with his sinful nature, to the point of murder?
Let’s talk about how he was human, and like I, failed God.
It’s easy to paint a picture of valiance, royalty, and above reproach. Its memorable, sure. But it’s not relatable.
He might have been a sinner, but like me, he was still God’s chosen.
And the more I’m learning that, the more I realize that we serve the same God. He still wants to display His strength in us… as long as were up to face the giants and fight the battles. We are equally messy, like David was, but equally chosen and appointed. So when the stakes seem too high, our victories don’t seem important enough, and the battles become futile, we don’t have to fear. Because God is choosing, wanting even, to work in and through us just as much as He did with King David. We are “royally appointed.”
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit–fruit that will last–and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” John 15:16
We were bought with a price so that me might glorify God. And if we choose to have a heart after God, we might see that just like David….people will remember God’s glorious works through us rather than the brokenness that it had to shine through.
