One
of the most well-known Bible stories is David and Goliath. The teenage David goes up against a nine-foot-tall
giant. We chalk one up for the little
guy in this story.
But
is it exactly fair to call David the little guy? Sure, he was much shorter than Goliath, and
he didn’t have the most advanced weapons technology, but was David ever at a
disadvantage to Goliath?
I
told you last week about the church camp that I went to each summer during high
school. One activity we did at
Cyokamo was skits. Sometimes they were
only meant to be amusing. Sometimes they
taught a lesson. The best skits were the
ones that did both.
My
fourth through sixth grade boys and girls were working on a Bible skit, and
they chose David and Goliath. Of course,
we began by choosing the tallest person for Goliath and the smallest for
David. Through the course of writing the
script and rehearsing, someone came up with the idea of reversing roles.
The
kids thought it would be hilarious, so the tallest student, a sixth grade boy,
became our David. Goliath was a small
blonde girl who would be starting fourth grade in the fall.
When
the kids took the stage, I sat in one of the front rows to watch the
performance. They presented us with the
most entertaining Bible skit I had ever seen!
I wish I could even begin to explain.
You can picture it, right? The little
girl is shouting and “intimidating” the tall boy. The boy is standing tall and proclaiming that
God is on his side.
I’m
not sure, though, that any of them realized the spiritual truth they were
offering.
To
our physical eyes, the real David may have been much smaller than Goliath, but
David had all the power of the Lord of Hosts behind him. He knew that God was fighting for him, and
that made him so much more than the little guy.
Goliath didn’t stand a chance!
As
Christians, we also have the power of the Lord of Hosts on our side. When we find ourselves in a David and Goliath
type situation, we can know that He is taking care of us.
This
isn’t an excuse to do foolish things. If
you decide to jump from a plane without a parachute, you’re most likely going
to be having a face-to-face conversation with Jesus by the time it takes to
fall ten thousand or so feet. This is a
belief that when God instructs you to step out in faith to do something for the
kingdom, you will have the power of God the Father behind you.
The
next time you read the story of David and Goliath, do not focus on the height
of the giant but the size of the God that defeats him. And the next time you find yourself in a
problematic situation, do not focus on the problem but keep your mind firmly
set on the size of your God.
