David picked up five stones that he knew had defeated his adversaries in the past to use against this giant Goliath. These five stones may have seemed insignificant, or unworthy of defeating the giant, but with God behind them, they were unstoppable. When we face a giant, we need to look back at what has served us before, and use it again. We need to look back and see how our experiences have shown the Lord to be faithful.
Last week we discussed how God has used our entire life to prepare us for what we are walking through now. It is amazing to
David is such a great example of what to do, and what not do. He knows about being unworthy. He knows about waiting. He knows about great sin and revenge. He knows forgiveness and friendship. He knows victory, and he also knows the bitter sting of defeat. He knows fear, and doubt. He knows deep sorrow. He deeply knows and deeply loves God. David has been there, and we can learn so much from his example of how to walk through it all.
What are we spending our time doing? Are we whining and complaining and filling our time building idols in the desert? Are we complaining about the daily manna God is giving us just because we can’t quite see the promised land? Is it possible to shift our focus from ourselves to a God who has always taken care of us, always been faithful, and never forsaken us?
There can be deep sorrow and grieving alongside our hope in the Lord, and our faith that he will redeem all of this for our good. We can grieve over things we are missing, and be hopeful that God is doing big important things in his time; these two things can coincide. It is not either or, it is all of it, together.
We are sinners, we are condemned (without Jesus), but we were not put on this earth to condemn others. We were called to love. When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment his answer was to love God, and then love your neighbor. He did not say love God, and then point out to your neighbor all the things he is doing wrong. Or love God and make sure everyone follows all the rules that are in the bible. He said love them, just love them.
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