Do you look for the silver lining or do you focus all the what if's and worst case scenarios?
Last night, at a women's Bible study, I was deeply challenged.
Again.
I was reminded - and convicted - to live a life of courage.
Not fear.
Not timidity.
Not worry.
Not dred.
Not hesitation.
Not regret.
Not intimidation.
What is a life of courage?
What does being courageous look like?
Does that mean you are never scared or nervous?
Does that mean you are always confident and bold?
Not exactly.
I love what Jennie Allen shared last night on the DVD. She explained how courageous people ARE scared, but they do what needs to be done anyway. She used David as an example. You know David? The little boy who faced a towering giant, taking only a sling shot and 5 stones with him to fight this armored veteran whose shield probably weighed more than David did!
David didn't focus on Goliath's size.
Or his sword.
Or the entire Philistine army gathered behind him, ready to attack the Israelites and take them captive as their slaves.
David didn't worry about getting a shield or sword himself.
Nor a helmet for his head.
King Saul tried to outfit the shepherd boy in his own royal gear, but it fell off the much smaller, and younger, David.
So, David headed down to the stream and picked out 5 smooth stones.
Armed with these rocks (measly pepples in the giant's eyes), young David headed to face Goliath.
Perhaps the shepherd boy was quaking in his sandals on the inside, but from what we see in Scripture, he was quite bold and extremely confident as he climbed the hill to approach the 9 foot giant who had been mocking his God.
You see, THAT is what David cared about. THAT is what motivated him to volunteer to do battle against Goliath.
He wasn't in this for his pride, to show off, or accumulate massive amounts of wealth.
David was ADAMANT that God's name be defended. How dare this man - who cares if he's a giant - make fun of the Creator of the universe, the God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?! David could NOT let that go.
He didn't see the Philistine army.
He didn't see a 9 foot giant armed with sword and shield.
He saw GOD ready to help His people conquer this pagan nation and claim the victory that was rightfully theirs.
David didn't even consider a worst-case scenario.
His FAITH in God was rock solid.
He didn't doubt or question if God could protect him.
He didn't hesitate or stop to formulate the perfect plan.
He simply saw a need, made himself available, and let God do the rest.
THAT is what emboldened David and gave him the COURAGE needed to walk up to Goliath and declare that GOD would hand him over to him and that he would cut off his head. Pretty BOLD for a small shepherd boy!
If only we could live with the same kind of courage!
Wait.
Stop right there.
Why can't we?
Don't we serve the SAME GOD as David?!
YES, we do.
And He's just as powerful today.
We may face different giants, but when we do, GOD is right there with us too.
Ready to give us the victory.
If only we would ask Him to help us.
Instead, all too often, we focus on the worst-case scenario.
As a result, we get trapped in fear, worry, dred, and anxiety.
We are gripped with intimidation, afraid of what people will think of us or concerned about what might happen if we fail or come up short.
We haven't even taken the first step and we're worried about not crossing the finish line or everything that MIGHT come up along the way to stop us or slow us down!
How ridiculous is that?!
Just about as silly as the Israelites looked when they refused to figth Goliath and the Philistines.
If David, a young shepherd boy can go up against a 9 foot giant, then surely we can face our fears, with the same FAITH and COURAGE he did.
To end the Bible study, we passed around cards and answered questions like:
What would your life look like if you lived without fear?
What is fear keeping you from?
How could you help others if you didn't live in fear?
As I said, I was challenged.
Convicted.
Moved to share with you all.
You see, if I step out in faith and live boldly and courageously, maybe that will inspire you to do the same. Then, as you live out the plans and purposes God has laid on your heart, without fear in your heart, YOU will inspire someone else to do the same. And the ripple effect will keep on going, getting bigger and bigger as it does. In reality, we could CHANGE THE WORLD!
Let's not fear hold us back.
Throw away the worst-case scenarios and focus instead on what our AWESOME, powerful, amazing, loving, gracious, faithful, sovereign GOD can do.
When we do that, our hearts and minds are too full of GOD to make room for fear.
No comments:
Post a Comment