God Looms Larger
You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty.
1 Samuel 17:45
Giles Kelmanson, a South African game ranger, described the incredible scene: two honey badgers battling a pride of six lions. Although outnumbered, the honey badgers refused to back down from ferocious predators ten times their size. The lions thought the kill would be simple, but video footage shows the badgers walking away with something like a swagger.
David and Goliath offer an even more improbable story. Young, inexperienced David confronted the fierce Philistine Goliath. Towering above his young combatant, Goliath possessed brute strength and unrivaled weaponry—bronze armor and a lethal, razor-edged javelin (1 Samuel 17:5-6). David, a fledgling shepherd, carried only a slingshot when he arrived at the battlefield with bread and cheeses for his brothers (vv. 17-18).
Goliath challenged Israel to engage in battle, but no one was willing to fight. King Saul and “all the Israelites were . . . terrified” (v. 11). Imagine the shock when David stepped into the fray. What gave him the courage none of Israel’s hardened warriors possessed? For most, Goliath dominated their vision. David, however, saw God. “The Lord will deliver [Goliath] into my hands,” he insisted (v. 46). While everyone else believed Goliath controlled the story, he believed God loomed larger. And, with a single stone to the giant’s forehead, David’s faith proved true.
We’re tempted to believe that “Goliath” (our troubles) directs the story. God is larger, however. He dominates the story of our lives.
By Winn Collier
REFLECT & PRAY
What concerns threaten to overwhelm you these days? How does God’s reality, the fact that He’s larger, transform your perspective?
Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The Philistines played a large part in Israelite history. Both Abraham and Isaac made treaties with Philistine kings (see Genesis 21 and 26). They oppressed the Israelites in the promised land and Samson delivered them (Judges 13-16). It was David’s defeat of Goliath (1 Samuel 17) that began the final delivery of Israel from Philistine oppression. J.R. Hudberg
No comments:
Post a Comment