Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Isreal, and he said to them, "Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us." And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Isreal this day; give me a man, that we may fight together." When Saul and all Isreal heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
1 Samuel 17: 8-11 NKJV
The Bible tells us that this Philistine, this Goliath that faced the armies of Isreal that day was a mountain of a man. He was huge by the description of the scriptures. I have no reason to doubt that picture. I think back, now, to a few of the troubling situations that I've faced in my life and I think I could equate a good number of them to facing off against my own Goliath. The symbolism here is pretty impressive, there is my troubling situation before me, daunting as it is at the time. This goliath of mine is faced by a servant of the living God, the battlefield is set.
Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Isreal, whom you have defied. "This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Isreal. "Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our hands."
1 Samuel 17: 45-47 NKJV
Here's David, the shepherd boy and future king of all Isreal defying the arrogant Philistine and answering his challange. Of course, we all know how this battle played out. David the Shepherd boy took down the mighty Goliath with just a stone and a sling. One of historys first underdog stories. In fact, had our modern day Vegas bookies been involved they probably would have given poor David something like 500-1 odds to defeat the Philistine that faced him. Some people would have definately gotten rich off of this battle! There is, however, a catch here.
We often think of David slaying his Goliath with just his sling, stones and the God of Isreal. We do well to remember this, for this is how scripture tells this story. However, when it comes to our facing our own Goliaths, the strategy is not us with God, but God within us that defeats our adversaries.
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galations 2:20 NKJV
Galations 2:20 assures us that we who are in Christ NEVER face our Goliaths on our own. Not only is the living God with us in our struggles, but Christ himself, who dwells within us, fights our battles for us. Christ is not the source of our strength, He IS our strength! With Jesus dwelling within us, we have access to his holy power each day. What problem we ever face can overcome that? We make the mistake of seperating he who is our strength and help, when He is within us the entire time.
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 NKJV
Whatever trials we encounter, the battle is never ours, but Christ who is in us.
~Scott~
No comments:
Post a Comment