When I was discerning the World Race, one of the key scriptures that came up was 1 Samuel 17, the story of David and Goliath. I’d heard the story a dozen times, but reading it again made it come alive.
In one corner, we have David, handsome, scrawny shepherd-boy, no armor just a staff and his trusty sling-slot (v. 38-40). In the other, we have the challenger, the man-troll, Goliath, a fully clad champion, and armed to the tooth. He was a virtual panzer. For those of us who weren’t present, the scripture fills us in to just how big and how real this Goliath thug was… his armor probably weighed as much as David (v. 4-7). Then comes the pre-fight smack talk (arguably my favorite part, v. 41-47). It’s no surprise that Goliath feels pretty confident in what he sees. But when David speaks, he shows us that he’s seeing the situation different than everybody else.
Life has Goliath sized giants, and they are big and scary and all too real. The World Race is no different:
$15,500, + health insurance, + equipment costs, + spending money, + malaria medication, + vaccinations (What if I can’t stand needles?!)…
Not to mention the whole “You’ll be gone for a year” thing, and homesickness, and friends’ marriages, and people having babies, and what if all my grandparents die?
Or the whole 11 different languages, danger abroad (are we flying with Malaysian airlines?), possibly eating cat,
And food poisoning, and bugs, and weird dreams from the malaria meds, and Rabies,
And being crammed into a van, like a clown car, so we can ride for God only knows how many hours to some place that literally no else in the world has even heard of,
And I’m only recommended to bring how many pairs of underwear?!?
I’m sure what you are up against has as many (or more) qualities that make you want to avoid it at all costs. Then we see David literally running to meet his opponent (v.48b). He sees his obstacles, he sees Goliath and he does so THROUGH GOD’S EYES.
What do you think God would say to Goliath? I think David said it. “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
What do you think God would say if He looked at your problem/s?
If your problem is HUGE, all the better, because God allowed it to get to you. The situation may be outside your power, but it’s not outside His. You are going to have to trust Him to do something only He can do. I think what Jesus wants is for us to stop seeing life without Him, and to start loving Him with the trust to follow where He leads.
And where He leads might be to a field with a 9+ foot tall behemoth looking to make your ‘internals’ your ‘externals’,
Or where He leads might be the doctor’s office to find out that the test results came back positive,
Or where He leads might be that mundane class with the Charlie Brown teacher talking professor,
Or where He leads might be Albania with 80 people you just met a month ago.
But He’s with you and He’s not going to leave you. Friends, that makes all the difference.
