As I begin this journey one of the things I’m most excited about is the people I will meet along the way. Not only from around the planet but also the people I will be traveling with. Recently, I was added to my groups Facebook page the friend requests started, and obviously so did the creeping. After all these people will be with me every day for close to a year. I should do some research. Right?
At first I was eager. Where were these people from? Where did they go to school? What where their interests, hobbies, and passions! Did they know how to use the proper forms of there, they’re, and their. Did they like eggs sunny side up? Or where they “scrambled” kind of people. You laugh, but these things say a lot about an individual. If I got one interview question with each person it would be, “Are you the kind of person who replaces the toilet paper when it runs out or do you like to leave an adventure for the next person?” and I digress…
Anyways, as much as my research was at first purely for gather information it quickly became about comparing myself to them… and one thing I quickly discovered was, “Even though I’m new to this, a lot of my team isn’t” It seemed like any given teammate had a picture of them exploring the world in one way or another. If they weren’t foreign teachers they were already experienced missionaries. This left me feeling a bit discouraged. And those voices started to creep back in… Was I really supposed to be doing this? Would I really be of any help? Would I just be in the way? After all what could I possibly offer?
Luckily God stepped in and changed my thinking.
I began to ponder the story of David and Goliath. So I broke out the bible and began to read. By now I know this is one of the best ways to fight back against discouragement.
The Story starts out with Samuel. Long story short God tells Samuel to go and meet Jesse of Bethlehem, because God had chosen the next king of Israel, and it was one of Jesse’s sons. Now, Jesse had 8 so how was Samuel to know which one? God reassures Samuel by saying, “just go ill let you know” or something along those lines. (1Samuel16:1-5 ). Now when Samuel arrived the first son he saw was named Eliab. Eliab must have just given off the stench of future royalty because as soon as Samuel saw him he said, “certainly the Lords anointed one is here before him”(1Samuel16:6). Gods response is one of my favorites in scripture. He says, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I have rejected him. Man does not see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.” (1Samuel16:7).
Over the next few verses Samuel goes one by one through all of Jesse’s children. Each one of them giving off as much of that future royalty feel as the previous. Yet none of them where what God was looking for. Finally in what was probably desperateness, Samuel asked him, “Are these all the sons you have?” (1Samuel16:11). To which he responds “Well, there’s still the youngest”. When David, who was the youngest, came he was immediately anointed to be the future king of Israel. Most scholars believe David to be about 14 years old at this time. Talk about pressure.
Picture now if you would a short time later. Saul is still king of Israel (David had not taken over) and the Philistines have come to fight them. Leading this convoy of Philistines is a mighty warrior this is how the bible describes him…
“Then a champion named Goliath, from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet, nine inches tall 5 and wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed 125 pounds.6 There was bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze sword was slung between his shoulders. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed 15 pounds. In addition, a shield-bearer was walking in front of him.”
Goliath immediately begins to taunt the Israelite army. He takes shots at God and their character. It continued for several days. 40 days to be exact. Until one day a mighty warrior overheard his “God mocking” taunts and he had had heard enough of it. This warrior charged Goliath jumped into the air and punched Goliath in the face! knocking him out and claiming victory for himself!
Actually no that’s not how it happened.
While delivering cheese to his older brothers who were “mighty warriors” in the Israelite army, he over heard Goliath’s taunts and decided he was gonna take care of business himself. At first when he told people this they thought he was crazy. How would a 14 year old boy fight this massive beast! David assured them though that He would be successful. After all David was used to fighting off lions and bears to protect his flock of sheep. (1Samuel 17:36-37) So King Saul gave David his blessing to go and fight Goliath. Once standing on the battle field with Goliath they began, what in my opinion is, one of the greatest dialog’s in all of the bible. It goes like this…
41 The Philistine came closer and closer to David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a youth, healthy and handsome. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?”Then he cursed David by his gods.44 “Come here,” the Philistine called to David, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts!”
45 David said to the Philistine: “You come against me with a dagger, spear, and sword, but I come against you in the name of Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel’s armies—you have defied Him. 46 Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, cut your head off, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God, 47 and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is theLord’s. He will hand you over to us.”
David practically looks into the eyes of this Giant and said “I’m going to kill you, cut off your head, and feed your entire army’s corpses to the birds”, and he does. David grabs a stone loads it in his sling and whips it at Goliath crushing him in the skull killing him instantly. Then to add insult to injury runs up and picks up Goliath’s own sword (which probably weighed more than David) and cuts off his head. Wow…
There’s an underlying theme in a lot of accounts from the bible and this one in particular as well and its this.
God does not always use the biggest and best. Most of the time they’re not even qualified. But he uses those who are willing, and he makes them qualified.
Look at what it written in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 1
26 Brothers, consider your calling: Not many are wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. 27 Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. 28 God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, 29 so that no one can boast in His presence. 30 But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became God-given wisdom for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written: The one who boasts must boast in the Lord.
This was truly a message I needed to hear. I don’t need to be the best missionary. I don’t need to speak the best. I don’t need to have the most experience, or speak the most languages. I dont need to have traveled to the most places. I need to be wiling to let God use me in any way he wants to. If I am then He will use me. So I’m willing, are you?
Love and Grace,
Steve
P.S. Which one are you? Do you get out a new toilet paper roll? Or do you leave an adventure for the next person?
