After reading David and Goliath yesterday, I shared with the kids what I had learned and was amazed at how many more lessons were in this story. Even though the story is so familiar, once again, it came to life with so many principles that can be applied to us and to our financial situation, to our children's work pursuit, even to my little 5 year old who was struggling with his adding yesterday.
In this story we see the giant Goliath coming out and for 40 days he announced his threat, defying God and the army of Israel. Right away I saw that number 40 again. Every time I come across the number 40 in the Bible I try to see what it could possibly mean. In this case, was it a time of preparation for David? Perhaps a time to show God's glory through someone so unexpected? Not exactly sure, but all I know is that at the end of those 40 days, David had been proven a young man of great character and God had certainly gotten the glory through him.
David was sent by his father with bread and cheese to his brothers to see how they were and to bring back news. It is a small thing, but the Bible includes everything for a reason. Verse 20 of Ch. 17 says, "And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse commanded." There is just so much in that one verse. It shows he wasn't lazy. He didn't sleep in until he felt like going. He got up early. A displined boy. Then, he made sure he didn't just take off on his sheep. He found someone else to watch them, a "keeper". So responsible! He could have hoped he'd be back in time, but he took care of all unexpected circumstances. And, all of this because he was obeying his dad, "as Jesse had commanded." He didn't give him flack, he just went and did what he was told. Disciplined, responsible, obedient. I made sure I explained that to the kids.
Once he arrived, David heard Goliath's rant. He had a lot of questions. He had also noticed how every man fled and how afraid they were of him. He wanted to know what would happen to the man of would kill the Philistine. He was shocked that anyone would "defy the armies of the living God." He knew it made no sense. He had a right view of God - living! For him, it was a matter of fact. It wasn't if someone could kill Goliath, it was when. He knew whoever took him on would get a reward and wanted to know what it was! The reward is fascinating.
"And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel." (v. 25)
All this for taking on a giant. What if we took on a giant? Would we get a reward? I think we would! I see God always rewarding my faith, not necessarily with financial riches, but riches of other kinds. I'm rich in children, in love, in peace....I have great riches. A wife? No, I didn't get a wife, but I did get a husband! He is definitely a reward for me! I believe God rewarded me with being patient for a husband. I told the kids as they take on giants in their life, by God's grace, He will reward each one of them with a spouse some day. They must be faithful like David in fighting each giant that comes their way. This intrigued my oldest son who I can tell would love to be married one day, "Ok, so what do I have to do????"
My favourite part of the reward though was the last part, that his father's house would be "free in Israel." That is what I most long for as a reward for taking on our giant of debt. May we be "free"! It could mean financially free, or free from the bank, or free from any type of bondage. I pray that my children will be free all their lives and never enter into the bondage of debt. But it will mean taking on many giants.
Goliath wasn't the only giant in the story. David's older brothers were giants, too. They were naysayers in his life. When they saw him asking questions, his oldest brother said, "Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil in your hear, for you have come down to see the battle." Wow. He sure assumed a lot about David. He assumed he came down with wicked intentions. He assumed he was irresponsible. He assumed he was there with wrong motivations. He was jealous of his bravery, no doubt. David was making them all look bad. But not on purpose! He was simply being who God had created him to be! We'll have so many naysayers in our lives. And we have! People have made fun of us for attempting to take on mortgage debt. Who does that? Mortgages are completely normal and we have been told to just accept our situation basically and enjoy life more. Well, we disagree. We feel we will be able to enjoy life a lot more without the bank on our back. So we have to ignore the naysayers.
I love David's response, "What have I done now? Was it not but a word?" I guess this wasn't the first interaction with his brothers. It sounds like they are always on his case, "What have I done now?" implies "What have I done to bother you this time?????" He just asked a simple question and he got in so much trouble for it?! Then, and this is what we need to do, too, "he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way...." We just need to turn away. I explained this to the little boys, "Just turn away when your brother bothers you." It worked for David! Such a better way to handle conflict!
Word started to get out that David was asking a lot of questions. Saul called for him. David was so sure of himself, "Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." His heart wasn't failing, why should mine when I face a giant? More naysayers though, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth." Too young, too old. There will always be an excuse to not do something. We are getting too old to take on our debt giant. It sure would be a lot easier if we just gave up and enjoyed what we have. Truly I would rather do that. Living frugally isn't very fun! But David won't hear of it. This is when he gives Saul his resume of lion and bear fighting. I hadn't noticed before that it was lionS and bearS! Notice the plural "s" on the end of those words???? He had taken on more than one lion and more than one bear! That's crazy! It sure makes fighting debt like a walk in the park. I can fight debt if he can fight multiple wild animals.
When I reflect on the battles I've already been in, I need to say like David, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." He's done it once, twice......many, many times....He can do it again. That's why it is so important to record these victories, to remind myself!!! As I wrote yesterday, Saul was convinced, "Go, and the Lord be with you!" We need to just Go! The Lord is with us! We know this!
Right away, we left our little Bible time together and I knew each one would have a battle at some point in the morning. It was really great to be able to tell each one who came up against a giant in their school, "Hey, that's your giant right now! You need to fight this giant! You can do this!" And it helped them all, even the little 5 year old who just refused to do his adding problems, "I can't do this! It is too hard!" "But that's your giant! Don't you see?" Once I said that to him, his attitude immediately changed and he took on the page with a new fury. Learning obedience, courage, discipline, responsibility at that young age will take him far. If he can take on a little math giant, then one day he'll be able to take on much bigger giants, like the ones RM and I are fighting.
So, there you have it - David and Goliath - We're at the beginning of our 40 day adventure again. We see lots of giants in our lives and in the lives of others around us. We are recognizing we don't need to be afraid. We have the living God on our side. We have naysayers in our life, but we are turning away from them and listening to those who tell us, "Go!" We know that God will one day reward us, perhaps here on earth, but definitely one day in a heavenly sense, for our willingness to fight. The giants are HUGE, but they're nothing in light of who God is. We have to be disciplined, responsible, and obedient in the meantime. Each battle we encounter will one day be understood as part of the process, our lions and bears. We won't use youth or old age as an excuse not to fight. Until we are told to stop, we're pressing forward, refusing to let our hearts fail. We "will go and fight this Philistine" and we know the Lord will be with us. Amen.
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