The idea behind this part of the Giant Killer series is "Victim or Victor."
I wonder how many of us would have taken on a victim mentality had we been in David's sandals?
Let's look at the circumstances....his only assignment had been to watch the sheep and to carry supplies to his brothers (who didn't particularly care for him) and to take gifts to the king (who apparently took no notice of him).
For some reason he wasn't allowed to join the army and fight with his brothers. Perhaps he was too young....or perhaps Jesse just couldn't stand the thought of allowing his youngest son to go and fight. So, off to the sheep it was for David.
Up to this point the only battle experience he had had was with a lion and bear and perhaps with a mean old ram from time to time. Nothing there to really prepare him for battle with an experienced war hero from the Philistines.
In addition, he was not very tall and apparently not the best looking in the family. And we would assume that his personality left something to be desired at this point as well.
On top of this, his big brother Eliab thought he was conceited and questioned his integrity. He accused David of doing what he was doing just so he could watch the battle. And I think there was something said about David being wicked......now those kinds of things would give a little brother a complex....I think.
Many of us would have turned away from those circumstances thinking that everybody was against me; no one believed in me; no one likes me; think I'll eat a can of worms......And to be honest, there certainly was evidence that some of this could have been true. But David thought differently about it.
David viewed the lion and bear as preparation for the giant; he knew he was good with his sling; and he knew that God was on his side. He was not going to allow these things to make him a victim. In his heart, he knew he would be victorious because of God.
And while I woudl ben't be surpirsed to learn that deep down inside David wanted to be tall and handsome like his big brother he knew these things wouldn't be any help to him while facing the giant. He needed a heart that was after God's own heart.
That's why he announced that he was coming against the giant in the name of the Lord Almighty. He wasn't coming against the giant in the name of his father; his older brother; Saul or even the armies of Israel. His source was the LORD Almighty. And David knew that the LORD Almighty would make him the victor in spite of the things that could have made him a victim.
It's our choice....victim or victor. I know what I want to choose, how about you?
Always in Pursuit!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
How To Be a Giant Killer, Part IV
I mentioned at the conclusion of "How To Be a Giant Killer Part III" that when I learned more about Giant Killing, I would write about it. Well.....I've learned some additional things about slaying giants and I want to share those things with you. I suspicion that learning how to slay giants (I like the word "slay" better than "kill." It sounds kinder......:) is an on-going process.
Recently while reading Victoria Boyson's book, "Giving Birth to Your Destiny" I discovered some additional insights into slaying giants. Thus, Part IV of that series. Additionally I will have part V ready to post in a day or so.
Vicky's book (which I would recommend to you, it's available from Arrow Publications. This is a ministry Francis Frangipane.) brought up the subject of David and his older brother. Now I've never been a younger brother. But I do have lots of experience as an older brother. I am the oldest of three boys. And while I have my own battles with being first born David was fighting his own battles with being the last born.
According to 1 Samuel 17:13, Eliab was the oldest of Jesse's sons. He was tall and handsome and reminded some of King Saul. At least that was Samuel's first reaction to him when he saw him for the first time as noted in 1 Samuel 16:6.
But when David carried supplies from his father to the front lines of the battle, David's big brother reacted poorly to David's presence. 1 Samuel 17:28 says that when Eliab saw David, he "burned with anger." He also insinuated that David had been irresponsible for leaving the sheep; and call him "conceited" claiming he had a wicked heart.
It's guys like Eliab that give us big brothers a bad name.
Verse 30 of 1 Samuel 17 tells us how David dealt with Eliab. He turned away from Eliab and searched for someone else to talk to. Have you ever had someone that you wanted to "turn away" from? I have. I wish I had paid attention to this portion of Scripture to see how best to handle situations like that. I'm not sure I handled either of these situations well. I didn't fight with them; or aruge with them; I simply internalized their comments and let them eat at me. Sorry for the confession.....it was bad judgment on my part.I should have turned away from them. Since I'm sure there will be more who are like Eliab come along, I will be prepared to do better. Hopefully you will be better prepared too.
My experiences involved two other ministers. After more than 20 years.....it's been more than 30 years now......one co-worker began to chide me about being a pastor's kid and how that made going into ministry so much easier. He also went on to imply that when he came into ministry,he had to work much harder than I did.
Well, I am a PK.....Preacher's Kid. I'm proud of it. Dad pastored churches that were difficult places to be. They were small churches and had been small churches for most of their existence. They were churches with no money. And they were churches that did not want to grow, no matter what he tried to do. I saw his discouragement. I saw his frustration. I saw the disappointments and I lived without many things due to there being no money. (God kept him humble and the church kept him poor.) I don't know that this was a great advantage for me. What was a great advantage though, was the faithfulness of my dad that I saw day in and day out. So, perhaps I did have an advantage from that standpoint.
At another time, a different co-worker decided that since I hadn't experienced the things of this world, as he had, that I probably wouldn't be that effective in ministry. He claimed that I could not related to folks who were coming from worldly backgrounds and lives that had been entrenched in sin. I'm still greatful that I don't know their pain. But I know that God knows their pain and He's the only one who can fix their pain, no matter what I have or haven't experienced.
Back to Eliab.....it would be easy to judge Eliab's heart based on what God said to Samuel in 1 Samuel 17:7. God said that while man looked on the outside, God looked at the heart and it sounds as if God didn't care for Eliab's heart.....or at least his heart wasn't right to become the next king.
Perhaps it's safer to say that Eliab's heart was just different than David's instead of saying it was bad.
That's the conclusion I came to with my co-workers. Their hearts weren't wicked, just different. No one was better; no one had it easier; no one was more effective than the other; we were all just different.
But sometimes when someone like Eliab begins to challenge you, with a different heart, it's just best to turn away and find someone with a heart similar to yours........if you really want to kill the giants.
Always in Pursuit!
Recently while reading Victoria Boyson's book, "Giving Birth to Your Destiny" I discovered some additional insights into slaying giants. Thus, Part IV of that series. Additionally I will have part V ready to post in a day or so.
Vicky's book (which I would recommend to you, it's available from Arrow Publications. This is a ministry Francis Frangipane.) brought up the subject of David and his older brother. Now I've never been a younger brother. But I do have lots of experience as an older brother. I am the oldest of three boys. And while I have my own battles with being first born David was fighting his own battles with being the last born.
According to 1 Samuel 17:13, Eliab was the oldest of Jesse's sons. He was tall and handsome and reminded some of King Saul. At least that was Samuel's first reaction to him when he saw him for the first time as noted in 1 Samuel 16:6.
But when David carried supplies from his father to the front lines of the battle, David's big brother reacted poorly to David's presence. 1 Samuel 17:28 says that when Eliab saw David, he "burned with anger." He also insinuated that David had been irresponsible for leaving the sheep; and call him "conceited" claiming he had a wicked heart.
It's guys like Eliab that give us big brothers a bad name.
Verse 30 of 1 Samuel 17 tells us how David dealt with Eliab. He turned away from Eliab and searched for someone else to talk to. Have you ever had someone that you wanted to "turn away" from? I have. I wish I had paid attention to this portion of Scripture to see how best to handle situations like that. I'm not sure I handled either of these situations well. I didn't fight with them; or aruge with them; I simply internalized their comments and let them eat at me. Sorry for the confession.....it was bad judgment on my part.I should have turned away from them. Since I'm sure there will be more who are like Eliab come along, I will be prepared to do better. Hopefully you will be better prepared too.
My experiences involved two other ministers. After more than 20 years.....it's been more than 30 years now......one co-worker began to chide me about being a pastor's kid and how that made going into ministry so much easier. He also went on to imply that when he came into ministry,he had to work much harder than I did.
Well, I am a PK.....Preacher's Kid. I'm proud of it. Dad pastored churches that were difficult places to be. They were small churches and had been small churches for most of their existence. They were churches with no money. And they were churches that did not want to grow, no matter what he tried to do. I saw his discouragement. I saw his frustration. I saw the disappointments and I lived without many things due to there being no money. (God kept him humble and the church kept him poor.) I don't know that this was a great advantage for me. What was a great advantage though, was the faithfulness of my dad that I saw day in and day out. So, perhaps I did have an advantage from that standpoint.
At another time, a different co-worker decided that since I hadn't experienced the things of this world, as he had, that I probably wouldn't be that effective in ministry. He claimed that I could not related to folks who were coming from worldly backgrounds and lives that had been entrenched in sin. I'm still greatful that I don't know their pain. But I know that God knows their pain and He's the only one who can fix their pain, no matter what I have or haven't experienced.
Back to Eliab.....it would be easy to judge Eliab's heart based on what God said to Samuel in 1 Samuel 17:7. God said that while man looked on the outside, God looked at the heart and it sounds as if God didn't care for Eliab's heart.....or at least his heart wasn't right to become the next king.
Perhaps it's safer to say that Eliab's heart was just different than David's instead of saying it was bad.
That's the conclusion I came to with my co-workers. Their hearts weren't wicked, just different. No one was better; no one had it easier; no one was more effective than the other; we were all just different.
But sometimes when someone like Eliab begins to challenge you, with a different heart, it's just best to turn away and find someone with a heart similar to yours........if you really want to kill the giants.
Always in Pursuit!
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