Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them.
David was simply delivering bread and cheese, and he ended up delivering and entire group of people!
If I had been David, I’m sure I would have felt like saying, “Oh there must be a mistake; I’m just delivering the food for this party, not singing on stage in front of everyone.”
David, however, did not try to get out of a responsibility. In fact, he willingly walked right into it. To add to the negative situation, right before David volunteered to fight the enemy, David’s older brother was mean, unjustly accusing him of being conceited.
I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart; you came down only to watch the battle.
Wow. How many of you Warrior Moms out there have been there? We are simply showing up and doing what we believe in our heart to be the right thing, and we get treated horribly by someone who is technically supposed to be supporting us and encouraging us. It’s a common tactic of the enemy to use people in our lives to discourage us – one second before victory is about to be revealed. I think it’s fascinating to think of critical moments and people in history. You can ask anyone who has experienced victory, and I know you will discover that just before they achieved victory, there was a person, a moment, or a circumstance of discouragement that attempted to thwart their awaiting win. Thank God they decided to persevere past the mean people, and through doubt and obstacles! As a result, their stories of courage and faith live on.
I love how David responded to his mean brother.
“Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
I love how David turned away from the discouragement of his older brother and looked for someone else who would listen to him. We can learn from him and turn away from those who tempt us to quit.
But, David, again, received discouragement.
Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against the Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.”
I’m noticing a pattern here. It seems that people look at us and/or our circumstance and say, “You aren’t able to do that, you are only a woman, you aren’t smart enough, strong enough. You are only a…. (fill in the blank). I believe that so many of us stop at the red sea and never raise the staff of faith that God has given us. Consider for a moment what the outcome would have been had Moses stopped at the red sea and said, “Well, this is impossible, I guess me and everyone else will just die here”? The answer is simple: the end of trust in God rather than stories of amazing deliverance from God would be Moses’ legacy. What if David agreed with his mean brother and his doubting King? David, however, was willing to go from delivering bread and cheese to delivering people because he knew that he wasn’t going to fight the Philistine anyway. God would fight through him!
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 defiled.
Let us not be distracted by who we aren’t or who someone else thinks we aren’t. Rather, let us focus on who God is and what God is able to do through us.
Warrior Moms Unite!™
Kristina Seymour loves to encourage and equip women through the Word and through community. She is the author of The Warrior Mom Handbook, The Warrior Mom Leadership Manual, and The Warrior Wife Handbook; they are available at Amazon.com. Kristina's Bible studies are for women who desire to live by faith in the midst of their everyday lives. She has learned that women can't survive on caffeine and animal crackers alone; women in the Word and in community are united and able to stand firm. To learn more about Kristina, please visit her website, https://kristinaseymour.com/. God loves to share His story of love and grace through us all, and Kristina believes that everyone has a story to tell.
Kristina Seymour loves to encourage and equip women through the Word and through community. She is the author of The Warrior Mom Handbook, The Warrior Mom Leadership Manual, and The Warrior Wife Handbook; they are available at Amazon.com. Kristina's Bible studies are for women who desire to live by faith in the midst of their everyday lives. She has learned that women can't survive on caffeine and animal crackers alone; women in the Word and in community are united and able to stand firm. To learn more about Kristina, please visit her website, https://kristinaseymour.com/. God loves to share His story of love and grace through us all, and Kristina believes that everyone has a story to tell.
Originally published Tuesday, 21 May 2024.
SHARE
