June 9

David and Goliath

            The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.” 

                 But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,  and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand.”

            When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.  So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, striking down the Philistine and killing him; there was no sword in David’s hand. 

1 Samuel 17:41-50

    

            David versus Goliath was a mismatch in every way.  David was a teenager who had never fought in a war.  He was a shepherd and a poet with no armor, no sword and no chance of victory.  Goliath was a seasoned warrior, a giant of a man descended from the times when angels walked the earth.  He was equipped with the finest armor and weapons of his nation and was the champion of his people.  He would not lose in combat against two enemies at the same time, much less an arrogant boy with no weapons, armor or training.

            David was not forced to fight.  He volunteered.  He saw that Goliath was intimidating his people.  He knew that God was for the Israelites and whoever stepped onto that battlefield would do so with the full might of the God of Heaven behind them.  David had always been the smallest combatant, whether wrestling with his brothers or fighting off lions, so it did not intimidate him to not be the biggest or the strongest.  Goliath was big…but God was bigger and so David volunteered and charged onto the battlefield, striking down the giant with ease.

            There is no single Goliath for those of us in the IDD world and somehow that is even more daunting.  As the Israelites faced the Philistines, the challenge was simple if not easy:  defeat the enemy’s champion and the enemy will be routed.  We do not have one battle that knocks the rest of the dominos down.  We wrestle with the school district for accommodations and teachers and aides.  We wrestle with insurance and Medicaid and doctors and therapists over getting our kids what they need.  Usually none of these people are enemies.  They mostly want to help our kids as much as they can within the confines of their jobs.  Even if they are antagonistic…and even if we win and get everything that we want…the battle is not finished.

            Every morning our kids wake up and face a battle with their bodies.  What will they encounter that is overwhelming or painful today?  Every day we wake up and face a battle with our hearts and minds.  Will we choose hope or despair, joy or bitterness?  Will we serve our children with freedom or resentment in our hearts?  These are decisions that we have to make every single day.  There is no Goliath moment that settles everything for the rest of our lives.  Every day we decide how we will face our kids and the community that resides outside our doors.  The more that we choose joy, the easier it becomes to have that become ingrained in our nature.  But make no mistake…we go out to the battlefield every single morning.  You and I and our children.  And our children watch us to see how we handle it.  They watch us to see how they should respond to pressure and opposition.  They watch us to see how to be faithful in the midst of crisis and pain.

            Most of us did not volunteer for this life.  Our children certainly did not.  However God has been on this battlefield long before we arrived.  He longs for us to do well; He champions our success over our individual struggles.  The Spirit of God is with us every morning, equipping us to face another day of uncertainty and challenge.  He goes before us.  He comes behind us.  He fights alongside us as we contend with this life that we are faced with.

            And if God is for us, no one and no thing can stand against us.

A moment to reflect:

What part of your life feels like a battle these days?