For the last couple of weeks I’ve taken a new approach to the way I journal, using the S.O.A.P. (Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer). If you don’t know about S.O.A.P. you can check it out here.

Today I was reading 1 Samuel 17. The story about David and Goliath. If you’ve been brought up in the church or went to church when you were a kid you know the story, or the gist of it; Small guy beats big guy.  End of story.

But in reality, it’s not the end of the story.

For a minute, let’s leave the story and think about where you are at, spiritually and in life.  I think of the things that my wife and I have been through. I think of the hard places in ministry, I think of all the times I ask God, “Why”? And I think of all the times I yell, stomp my feet, pound my fists at God and shout, “really:!

David was asked by his father to take some items to his brothers and check in on them. When he was seeing all that was going on (war, a challenge by the Philistines) David simply started asking questions to “the men standing near him” (v26). All he was doing was trying to figure out the status of the situation. His brothers didn’t think he belonged there, they were angry.

When there are negative people around you who think they know better, move on.

I love what it says in vs 3o; “He then turned around to someone else and brought up the same matter.”

Not everyone will be pleased with you for getting involved. I wonder if they were looking at David as the least of them. He didn’t belong there (according to their eyes) We often look at people through our own lens instead of the perspective of Christ. How many times do we think that someone can’t participate in ministry because we have our OWN standards.  And if they don’t line up to those standards they are not allowed to be involved.  I wonder how many time as pastors, we miss our David’s, and hence missing out on victory in the places we’ve been praying for.

When word got to Saul, he too had his doubts. vs 32; “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.” Again, Saul was looking through the perspective of the world.

The Aw Ha moment….

Then David remembers some of the hard things he had to deal with. When he was tending the sheep. A bear came. He fought the bear killing it. What do you think was going through his mind?   I bet he was asking “are you kidding me?  How come I just can’t tend the sheep without being threatened. What have I done to bring this about?”

Sound familiar? You’re going about your day and something happens that knocks you off your feet.  The day does not turn out the way you expected.

Then it happens again.

This time a lion came.  Come on already. David kills the Lion. Already there two separated incidents that would cause most to give up or question their calling.

In addition, David already does the impossible. He killed these two obstacles with his bare hands.

David then tells Saul, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.

Then Saul allowed David to fight the giant and we know the rest of the story.

David was merely a boy, in comparison to the rank of the Israelite army. But He knew his place with the Lord, which provided the confidence needed to beat the enemy. An enemy that event the strongest and biggest of men were afraid of.

The world outside God’s kingdom looks nothing alike in shape or size. God uses the least of humanity to fulfill His promises. And the least of these really can not be defined by you us.

God wants you to be part of something bigger. Don’t fall into the trap of what those around you try to dictate who you should be.

So here’s the question:

What paws are in you life? What is it that appears to be negative or dangerous when really, it’s preparation. I don’t think the lion or the bear was meant to destroy the sheep or David, but was meant for preparation for the day that God had appointed him for his true calling.

After David won his case and defeating Goliath, David wasn’t the only one that won that day.

Wednesdays are my favorite day right now! It’s not because of my tasks at hand that I have to do. It’s not my preparations that excite me. It’s the aftermath of my Tuesday nights. On Tuesday nights are our middle school nights. Since January, we have doubled in size with visitors bringing visitors. I’m humbled, I’m shocked, and I’m thankful. These students aren’t coming just to sit on sidelines but they’re participating! They’re involved! They’re asking questions!

So yes, Wednesdays are my new favorite day as I feed off the energy of the night before. Wednesday is our High School night and I’m excited for what God is doing there too!!

When I come into the office on Wednesdays I find myself in a  reserved mood. I’m thinking. I’m praying. I’m thinking of how to connect with our students more effectively. I’m thanking God for what he’s doing in the lives of this generation.

As I sit this morning I picked up a book on my shelf. Used mostly for decoration but will pick it up on occasion. It’s an old book.

I love old books.  This book sits  near my desk that is a daily prayer book called God’s Minute. Copyright is 1916. It has a bunch of handwritten notes inside it.  Earliest note is dated 1934.  Here is a handwritten prayer that is glued to the back of the book titled: MY Prayer:

“To be ever conscious of my unity with God, to listen to His voice and to hear no other call. To separate all error from my thoughts of man, to see Him ever as my Father’s image, to show him reverence, and share with Him my holiest treasures.

To keep my mental home a sacred place, golden with gratitude, redolent with love, white with purity, cleansed from the flesh. To send no thought into the world that will not bless or cheer, or purity, or heal. To have no aim but to make a fairer, holier place, and to rise each day into a higher sense of life and love.”

-Unknown

That is my prayer today.