Look at 1 Samuel 17:48, "And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine."
How could David, who was "but a youth" run to meet Goliath who was "a man of war from his youth," a "champion," not to mention over 9 feet tall and carrying over 150lbs of armor and a spear with a head weighing fifteen pounds???!?!? David ran, because he was prepared.
Have you seen Hoodwinked? If not, you need to. It's hilarious. If you're close by come borrow it. It's great, although some would question its existence, it really is pretty funny. Meet one of my favorite characters:
A goat that can only sing. He sings a song about being prepared. He says, "This lesson must be shared, to be prepared....And unless you got a spare, you only got one life so handle it with care." Whilst singing this melodic and very catchy tune he demonstrates his preparedness with his different horns: "Horns that hold my keys, I got horns that when I turn 'em right, they help me watch t.v." The point is, he got thrown from a mine cart and would have fallen to his death. However, we see the goat flying through the air with helicopter horns and hear him saying (singing?), "I was prepared." His preparation saved his life.
What then was David's preparation?? It wasn't horns. But stones. Stones that he trusted. David, although young and small compared to his opponent was confident that "The Lord that delivered [him] out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear...[would] deliver [him] out of the hand of this Philistine." He refused Saul's armor and sword, and chose instead a proven method, a sling and stones. He carefully chose five smooth stones from the river. Good thing too, what if the first had missed. He was prepared. But it was more than just bringing back-up stones, it was the fact that David knew and understood who the Stone was; who the Rock of his salvation was. Verse 47 "the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands." David knew Christ would fight for him. He knew that Christ had already won the battle. John 16:33 reads, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
David ran, because he had the Stone at his side. I know that if we have Christ at our sides that we can run with confidence towards whatever Goliaths we might face. I know that Jesus truly performed an atonement through which we can be saved and delivered from all our enemies.
2 comments:
That was a good lesson! Thanks for sharing! It is definitely easier to run toward our challenges when we have that Rock by our side.
I never noticed the "run" part. That's a way better approach than the "run away!" from Monty Python. They didn't have the "Rock". Thanks for the reminder that we have the Rock too.
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