Do you ever have moments when you’re just going through life, maybe you’re watching TV, or driving to work, or listening to the radio, when all of a sudden you see something or hear something and God uses it to just blow your mind?
That happens to me sometimes. And it happened one morning on my way to work. I was listening to the radio, and the radio host was talking about the story of David and Goliath. I’m sure most of us are familiar with this story. The army of Israel and the army of the Philistines are at war with each other. One army was on one mountainside and the other army was on the opposite mountainside, and there was a valley in between them.
“Choose one man to come down here and fight me! If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!” That’s pretty intimidating! Of course when King Saul and the Israelite army saw and heard this, they were terrified. No one would go down to fight him.
A giant among us
The Philistine army had this guy. And he was big! Over 9 feet tall. Just his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds. The bible says that “the shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds”. And each day this guy, Goliath, would strut out to the head of the valley and taunt the Israelite army. Each day he would throw down a challenge.
No one.
Until David showed up.
David heard the taunts Goliath was making about Israel and started asking about this Philistine. The king heard about it, and sent for him. After some discussion, Saul agrees to let David go and face the giant.
1 Sam. 17:40: “Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.”
Standoff
Picture it in your mind. Hundreds of soldiers fill opposite mountainsides. An empty valley lies between them. The sun is bright in the sky, flags are fluttering in the breeze…the smell of smoke from dozens of campfires wafts through the air. The sound of murmuring voices can be heard as soldiers wait at their posts. Then, from the Philistine camp, comes the sound of chainmail…a “chink…chink…chink” as Goliath steps out with his shield bearer. A cry goes up from the Philistine camp and Goliath begins to shout out his challenge.
Then, from the Israelite camp, comes David. One shepherd boy. Walking out alone.
He reaches into his pouch…
Five.
Five smooth stones.
But how many does it take to slay the giant?
One.
It only took one.
One stone to silence the taunts, to end the struts, the arrogance.
One stone to wipe out the fear that had held that army captive.
Only one.
And this is the part I heard that morning that gripped my heart…
God doesn’t need a lot, to do a lot.
Oh my friends…if you are worried that you aren’t smart enough…you’re not brave enough…you’re not talented enough…you don’t have enough…or your “giants” are too big for you to do anything for the Kingdom. Remember, God doesn’t need a lot, to do a lot. You just need to be willing to say yes.
Even if it’s a broken yes.
A willing heart
God took my broken, defeated, angry heart and turned it into one that is willing to say yes to whatever He wants me to do. And because I said yes, God has taken me on a journey that has been the most unexpected, challenging, extraordinary, difficult, amazing, and faith building that I have ever been on. And it has been glorious! I am doing things that I never thought I would do. Never. God is putting dreams in my heart that are more than I can imagine and have left me awestruck!
And He can do the same for you. Yes, your faith is big enough. Just put it where it belongs.
Think about it. I’m pretty sure David was a little scared when he went out to face that giant. But he didn’t put his faith in his own strength and abilities. His faith was in his God.
1 Samuel 17:45-47
“Then David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword and 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 down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand’.”
Did you catch that? The Lord will deliver. The battle is the Lord’s. But most importantly, so that everyone will know that there is a God. He wins. The glory is His.
So. When you are willing to step out and face whatever needs to be faced…even if all you have in your pockets is just what you picked up along the way. Remember, God doesn’t need a lot to do a lot. He just wants a willing heart that will say yes.
Photo by Aaron Burden (unsplash.com)
