| | David and Goliath.
then Goliath, a Phillistine champion from Gath, came out of the Phillistine ranks fro face the forces of Israel. he was a giant of a man, measuring over nine feet tall! he wore a bronze helmet and a coat of mail that weighed 125 pounds. he also wore bronze leggings, and he slung a bronze javelin over his back. the shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver's beam, tipped with an orin spearhead that weighed fifteen pounds. an armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a huge shield - 1 Samuel 17:4-7
this guy was a beast to say the least. he was so big that it took a good three verses to describe what he's like. he was so incredibly scary that the israelites were "terrified and deeply shaken" (vs. 11) but his taunting and his challenge..
i loved what one of my youth and my co-counsellor said when they worked on this bible study together for our youth group. goliath was more than a physical giant. he was a spiritual giant as well. no, i don't mean that he's a spiritual giant in terms of his faith... like Abraham or Joseph etc. obviously not. but he was a giant that defied the name of the Lord. he was a distraction that caused the israelites to take their eyes off of their God. he was effectively a temptation, a trial or a season in life... something that challenges our faith and may potentially steer us away from the Lord...
i loved David's response, and this is the pivotal passage for this entry...
David talked to some others standing there to verify the report. "what will a man get for killing this Philistine and putting an end to this abuse of Israel?" he asked them. "who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the Living God?" - 1 Samuel 17:26
what a bold statement. the entire israelite camp are shaking and hiding in their tents thinking of what to do. and here's a young man, who wasn't recognized by his brothers, stepped up and made such a bold statement. try to imagine what you'd think if you were one of the israelites who just overheard what David said. you'd probably laugh your head off. or maybe your heart is full of sympathy because you know that this kid isn't going to back off. which means he's going to take on Goliath's challenge and take him on one-on-one... and will be crushed within seconds... and brings defeat to the entire camp of isarel...
here's something else that we discussed in our bible study at Bethel, our wonderful high school fellowship. just what exactly gave David the guts to make such a bold statement?
David was fully aware of the power of the living God. he was aware of what the Lord has done for his nation. he was well aware of what the Lord is capable of doing and has done for the israelites...
the ten plagues.... the passover lamb... the deliverance... the splitting of the red sea... the drying of the jordan river... the collapse of the wall of jericho... the extended daylight for battle etc...
his God was the God of miracle, of power and of justice. his God was the same as before... and will always be the same. David was well aware of that. why weren't the isralites?
Joshua and the Israelites.
i want to draw another example from scripture to conclude my point...
Then Joshua said to the Israelites, "in the future, your children will ask, ' What do these stones mean?' Then you can tell them, ' This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' For the Lord your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had all crossed over. He did this so that all the nations of the earth might know the power of the Lord, and that you might fear the Lord your God forever." - Joshua 4:21-24
joshua encouraged his people to build some sort of a monument where they've just crossed the jordan river, where a miracle just happened. he wanted others to remember what the Lord has done for them and who the Lord is to them. these stones are not only reminders of God's faithfulness and omnipotence, but they are also a declaration of his faithfulness and power to those that wasn't there at that time...
back to our lives.
there are so many defining moments in our lives. these defining moments are like the stones the israelites have placed as a reminder of what has happened. these defining moments are like paintings that we can revisit from time to time in remembrance of an event, or a revelation, or even of your transformation. there are so many defining moments in my life. i know that for a fact. but here's a harsh reality. how often do i remember them? not frequent enough...
my pastor's been preaching on a series at our church something along the lines of "God in all circumstances". i believe that God has given us many different tools to "fight", "endure" or perhaps to "enjoy" different circumstances in life. we go through different seasons but the Lord has given us different tools to survive and growth through each and every single one of them. and i believe one of the most powerful tool that he's given us... is our memory... or perhaps our experiences... our past... those defining moments... those stones... those painting...
when i'm faced with situations that challenges our faith, all i do is panic, or surrender to whatever that's challenging my faith. i'm no different than the israelites at the time of David and Goliath. but one thing that i've been reminded of comes from the response of David. he rose up to the challenge because he was well equipped to do so. and the most important aspect of his "well equipped-ness" was the fact that he was fully aware of the presence of the Lord. he knows what the Lord is capable of doing because he's heard about it from his ancestors or perhaps even experienced it first-hand. if his God can bring ten plagues and struck down the first-borns of all the families and spared those that believed in him, then why can't strike down goliath also? if his God can bring down pillars of fire to protect the israelites from the egyptian army, why can't he do the same with goliath?
David knew God can. and because God can, he can also...
bringing it all together.
in case i haven't explained it clearly enough, here it is. David was well aware of those "defining moments" from the history of israel. these were proofs of God's faithfulness, power, justice and love towards his people. David was empowered by these defining moments. Those were reminders that he had nothing to fear and will fight whatever is trying to defy the name of his God, or to challenge his faith and his God...
i'm sure we've all placed many stones in our lives. i'm certain that i've had many defining moments where the Lord has revealed a little bit of himself to me, or taught me something, or changed me somehow. but the whole point of these defining moments isn't so that we can live them and forget them. these are more than pictures at an exhibition, where once you walk past a certain painting, it somehow escapes your mind...
in the same way, our experiences with the Lord shouldn't be forgotten. they are to be experienced first and then translated into our lives somehow. we need to live out the things that we've learned through an experience. these stones are nothing more than stones if they don't mean anything to you...
if we forget about the experience and what the Lord has taught us, these stones merely define moments in our lives, but are not defining moments in our lives...
but if these experiences lead us to the Lord, reminds us of our relationship with him, transforms our lives, and empowers us to live out our faith, then these stones represent a defining moment...
do you see the difference here? if there are no meaning behind these experiences, then they're nothing but moments in our lives. but if these experience mean something to you, then you'd do something with and about these experiences. these experiences are defining moments in our lives. to conclude, i would like to draw a quote from a book that i have yet to finish...
"but even the strength of my intentions is not an accurate indicator of whether or not i will take the time to act, to put my faith to work, to be the difference that christ has empowered me to be. defining moments are only as good as the lifestyles they translate into" - Looking for God
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| | Posted 5/15/2009 7:16 AM - 9 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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