Today's Devotional
August 25, 2003
Subject: Lessons From David And Goliath - Every Job Is An Important Job
1 Samuel 17:28 - 29 "And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?
1 Samuel 17:33 - 36 "And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
What may seem a trivial and unimportant task to you, in Christ, it is just the tool that He is using to prepare you for the big battles looming on the horizon. That was a lesson that David learned early in life and used greatly to his benefit and the deliverance of his people.
David was the youngest child of eight boys and since I grew up in a family with four boys and realizing how we treated our youngest brother as children, I can pretty much imagine the amount of harassment he must have taken from his elder siblings.
On this occasion, he had been sent to take lunch or some other meal out to his brothers who were arrayed in battle against the Philistines. David's oldest brother, who seemingly had much disdain for his puny little brother, ridicules him by asking him who he left his "few" sheep with in the wilderness. He also hints that David only came out there to see the battle because he had never been a "real" warrior. However, David knew that he was sent by his father for a particular purpose; to take lunch to his brothers.
While there, David sees that everyone is running scared from the giant Philistine, Goliath, who has challenged the men of Israel. Therefore, David takes up the challenge and explains his credentials. He tells King Saul how while he was keeping his father's sheep, a job his brother had just trivialized, he had to overcome a lion and a bear once and he killed both of them. "And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them" he goes on to say.
David was successful because what his older brother saw as trivial, i.e., tending the "few" sheep in the wilderness, David saw as instrumental and necessary for the fight against the giant.
So it is for us. When God places us in a particular situation, it may seem harsh, meaningless or trivial at the time, but like David, we should know that we are in this situation in preparation for the battle against the giants of life. It could be that, while you may want a change of employment or a different situation in your life, you need to first defeat the lion and the bear where you are, because without those experiences, you will not be prepared for the coming giant.
Carlen