If
I
had to pick one Old Testament story to teach from for the rest of
my life, I
would pick David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17).
It is familiar, easy to understand and full of lessons
about important
themes like fear, trust, faith, God and the nature of man.
As
I
read through the incident one more time last week, I was struck by
a new
thought: “Why did Saul allow David to fight Goliath?” Saul knew what was on the
line. The challenge stated
that each army, the
Philistines and the Israelites, would chose a warrior and they
would fight each
other. The loser’s country
would then
become the slave of the winner. With
all
that hung in the balance, why did Saul allow his nation to be
represented by a
shepherd boy with no fighting experience when he literally had an
entire army
of fighting men at his disposal?
Here is my guess. I think Saul sent David
because he suddenly realized
that David was God’s man for this job! He
understood that God had picked and prepared David for that moment. Certainly, that was David’s
argument. When told about
how he had protected his
father’s sheep by killing bears and lions, he emphasized that fact
that God was
with him (verses 34-37). To
David, and
apparently to Saul, these events were not flukes. Rather they were practice!
This theory carries
even more
weight when you remember how Saul became King.
He did not seek the position.
He
was not from royal blood. He
became King
only because God chose him (1 Samuel 9).
Saul understands, from personal experience, that sometimes
there is only
one person for a specific job.
What has this got to
do with
us? Well, I wonder if we
have forgotten
to look for God’s purpose in our lives?
Maybe faith has become so focused on what we do and on our
personal
choices that we have forgotten that God prepares us and positions
us to do certain
tasks for him that only we can do.
After
all, “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which
God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
God has opened some
doors that
only you can walk through. Are
you
ready? (Romans 12:1-8)
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