You don't know what's ahead

Scripture:

32David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

33Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

34But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” 

1 Samuel 17:32-37

45David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” 

1 Samuel 17:45-47

Devotional:

Today, we are going to be reading from one of the most famous passages in scripture, in my opinion: David and Goliath. I want to focus on a different perspective of the story, but I want to start by asking this question. Why would God tell you about a mountain you are about to climb?

Let’s dive deeper into the question.  If you were already aware of something that would happen in the future, you might change what God has already laid out to happen. Better yet, you might even put more faith in trusting yourself than trusting the God who created your plan. In the story of David and Goliath, God never gives David a heads-up about the mountain he is going to climb. He never gives him a dream saying, “Hey, by the way, there’s this guy, you’ll need to fight in the future to save your community/family. Oh yeah, and it’ll be with some stones. Lastly, he’s only 10 feet.” In the scripture we’ll read today, David is talking to King Saul, letting him know that he’ll handle the situation and defeat this Philistine. To me, I almost envision Saul’s response in a laughing manner: “Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” Verse 37 highlights my favorite part of David’s response: “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of the Philistine.” I love how David refocused Saul’s opinion back to trusting God first. God didn’t need to tell David about the mountain he was about to climb; he knew that David was going to step up to the plate and take charge in the name of the Lord. 

When we don’t allow God to be at the forefront of our trust, we choose to fight the battle ourselves or even run away from our problems like the Israelites did in this story. David knew he had the power and might of God to accomplish the impossible, and this is what Scripture says happened next. “45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

When the mountain begins to get steeper and steeper to climb, who should we turn to for strength, guidance, or peace? Seek God when you’re struggling to get past this large boulder. Seek God when the air is getting thin. Seek God when you feel like the mountain is never-ending. Seek God and put all your trust in Him. I titled this week’s devotion as “You Don’t Know What’s Ahead” because in life, we undergo the unknown daily, or even minute by minute, second by second. In life, we aren’t always going to know what is in the future ahead or what mountains we are going to climb. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. “

Prayer:

Lord, I pray that I will learn to seek you in all things. I pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance for what the future may look like. I pray that in all my ways, I turn to you and trust in you. Lord, I thank you for knowing the plans that are ahead and standing with me through it all. Help me to trust you and seek you daily. In Jesus' Name,  Amen.