Scripture: 1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49
As I read this I am struck at how detailed the discription of Goliath. We know the size, weight, and material of every weapon and piece of armor on this guy. This cases me to realize that these Israelite soldiers spent a lot of time watching this man. Which is not far fetched since h would probably be pretty hard to keep your eyes off of even by today’s standards.
This also says that we as humans spend quite a bit of time focusing on our problems. They could rattle off every point that caused them to fear this man, but there is no discription on the weaknesses of the man. It is not until the last verse of this section we learn where the weakness of this guy’s defenses are. For days an entire army carefully inspected the the man from Gath, but what were they focused on? They saw only the obsticals not the opportunity.
David, some punk kid comes on to the scene. Sure he has a destiny to become the most memorable monarch in the entire world, but at this point in time he is just a punk kid bringing the men their lunch. Yet this kid saw something tat trained soldiers missed, he saw an opportunity. He was there for just a moment and he was able to see what others failed to see.
This speaks to me deeply. Sometimes we are too close to a problem to be able to see around it. The Quakers have a practice they will engage in to help each other see things in a different perspective, called the Meeting for Clearness. This is actually a fancy name for something pretty simple. An individual will call trusted friends and respected individual of the community together, present an issue they need help with, and they will engage in holy expectancy and conversation. This process of prayer and discussion has assisted many individuals find direction in ministry, marriage, among many other things. The Meeting that I minister among has also engaged in this process when faced with an issue of how to proceed in a decission.
Like Israel the problem was right before us we could see everything that could present a problem, but we were not able to see an oppertunity before us. We needed to take time to look at the problem from a different perspective. When Goliath came down to the field of battle the problem presented itself, it was clear to everyone that a one on one battle was humanly impossible, but they did not include the God factor. David was weighty in relating with God, so it took the human factor off the table. He was able to clear his head of the fear walk down to the plain find his tools and trust.
Why would a boy have the ability to trust and hope when seasoned adults feared? It comes to perspective and where we put our faith. Do we trust ourselves or God? If we put our faith in ourselves we have reasons to fear when facing a giant. We may not posess everything needed to accomplish the task. But if we have faith in God we let ourselves off the hook and do not have to posess everything. It is almost like putting God to the test but not really it is giving God all we have and lettng Him take control of the areas we can’t handle.
Today as you pray give yourself a break, you are probably stressed out about something, and maybe worrying yourself sick over it. If you are struggling talk to someone else and together work out the problem, asking for help is not weakness, but stressing over problems and not movng forward is. Let God take down the giant and move forward in confidence.
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:6-17
It seems we have this constant burden in our lives to please everyone around us. Our teens want to be accepted into a group so the immitate any number of behaviors that maybe we would or do not favor. Our coworkers and even at time ourselves do things at our jobs that if the tables were turned we would complaine about. I know many of my coworkers have done this. I of course am the perfect employee so I have not taked about any of my customers degradingly…as long as they are in ear shot at least.
We want to please everyone, we drive ourselves mad trying to do this or the opposite trying to act as if we do not care. The problem is we do care, we get upset if someone is just a little to vocal about their oppinions that contradict ours’. We want to receive a promotion so we act in certain ways even when we would perfer to tell our managers they are full of hot air. Sometimes we are quite when we shoul be speaking and acting out.
I am sure there are many therories to hy we do what we do as humans, but the reality is we do not have to be this way. Paul says to be confident in our faith. Not timid, not judgemental, and not shy. Confident. Are we cofident? Since we spend so much time trying to please everyone around us my guess is NO, we re as far from confident as we could be.
The confidence that I feel Paul is speaking of is being real, honest, and humble. Knowing who we truely are and living it out daily. We are used to facades we are all good actors, if a camera were to follow us around each day it would probably surprise most of us as to how quickly and often we move in and out of character. At one moment you are a smiling friend to everyone, and the moment the back is turned you turn into grumpy. In Christ we become a new creation, the old is gone and the new comes in.
Have you really thought about this new creation? Is it realy throwing every aspect of our present or past person out and making us into something totally different? I cannot say yes or no on this. As I look at my own life I would defenatly say not a lot has changed. I look the same and have the same sense of humor (dry and sarcastic) as I always have, but there are definate differences also. I talk more now than I did before. I enjoy going to social events where I dreaded them before. I could almost say I am totally changed, but I am not I am still myself.
The confidence or the reality is that I know myself. I know who I am, where I stand, and why I am standing there. I am not swayed around in a wind or a changing cultural tide. I am confident. This confidence is not because I have done anything spectacular, I a confident because I know that God has done spectacular in me.
To gain this kind of confidence comes from spending time with God in prayer. It comes through listening to His Spirit in our actions. It comes through living the life Christ would have for us to live with those around us. We cannot do this in our own power. If we actually do not have a relationship with the divine personally we will only be empty shells of humanity. The change in confidence can only happen if there is something real acting in our lives. I know God is real and active in the lives of humanity because I experience it every day. I am fully comfortable with who I am and am just as comfortable even if you do not agree.
Today as you pray consider the areas of your life where you would like to see something new, consider who you have been or are now, and let God take control of those areas. Now once you consider those area, stop worrying about it and just focus on God for a while. After a few weeks I encourage you to look back to this day of prayer and see where God has taken you. If you do not keep a prayer journal I encourage you to do so. It is a great confidence builderto see where your journey with God has gone and als to see how God answers the prayers you make.
Scripture: Ezekiel 17:22-24
Ezekiel to me is one of the weirder books of scripture. I do not know why I feel that way, probably because the ancient alien folks use it so often. If you believe in ancient aliens do not be offended, aliens just FREAK me out so I would rather call them angels.
As I reflect on this scripture I contemplate spirituality. We all know there are various spirtual practices drawing from Celtic, Arab, Hebrew, and Oriental roots just to mention a few. Even Christian mysticism or spirituality draws from various backgrounds to bring us our practices today. The point is not from where the practice originated but if it is bringing us closer to God.
This pasage speaks about God bringing about something new out of something that already existed. In various horticultural practices we see this happening. If you have ever planted a rose you have most likely planted a hybrid rose. These hybrids graft two different varieties of roses together to gain the benifit of both. One may have a better root system another disease resistance. They will breed the plants naturally to form the best color, fragance, and resistance they need then they will carefully cut the flowering portion off of one and physically join it to the root system of another, they tape these together so that the roots of one plant will grow together with the stock of the other. It is very technical and beautiful. They use this same practice in many different types of ornimental and fruiting plants.
There is much research and disipline going into these practices, people invest their entire careers to perfect just one rose bush, and in the case of a vinyard or orchard many lifetimes have been invested to gain the prized product. Our spiritual lives are much like this. We must be careful not to haphazardly bind practices together that do not complement each other. It would not work well to combine the ritual sacrifices of Hinduism with Christian mystism because the theological bases do not mesh. However yoga could be grafted into our spiritual lives. Another concept that has been grafted into Christian discipleship throughout history is the labyrinth. In ancient times people would travel to Israel to walk the paths of Christ. Today people still gain incredible spiritual encouragement from these trips. Eventually due to hostlity and economics it became nearly impossible for many to visit the Holy sites, especially during the Crusades. As a substitute many Medieval cathedral began to incorporate the sacred pathway of a labyrinth into their design so that people could travel to places like Chartres to reflect their spiritual lives on Christ while they physically walk a path. If you want to know more the use of the labyrinth in Christian spiriuality I encourage you to read Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Tool, by Lauren Artress.
Of course many people will question the incorporation of spiritual practices from other traditons into Christianity, and rightfully so. We must be careful what we do and only do things that direct our mind, body, and spirit toward our goals (in the Christian view this would be closer to Christ). You may ask why I’m going on a rant about these practices? Well I write what comes to mind, and as I consider God taking the top of a ceder and planting it down in the ground to grow something new, I think of the continual emergance of Christ centered spirituality in the world. In our various practices, denominations, and orders we have a multitude of different traditions, yet in the end we are pressing for the same goal. These practices have emerged from various backgrounds and for various reasons. Mainly because what one group was focusing on others found to be dry and dead. For them to stay doing the same thing they were faced with spiritual dry rot. Their lives looked good to everyone around them yet inside under the facade they are filled with dust that is barely holding together. God needs to bring new life into the dry tree. At times in history we see movements rise up quickly and the fall away almost as quickly. In those cases God may have needed to dry out the green tree because it had gotten off track or possibly the world was not yet ready for that type of expression in the mainstream.
The point is that God wants you to have a growing, green spiritual life that will grow branches to provide comfort and saftey to others, and bear fruit. You may be feeling a bit dry in your walk right now, this may not mean that you are doing anything wrong, but it may also mean it is tim to look for a different way to encourage spiritual growth. It may not be anything more than trying out a different type of music for a while, or maybe incorpating excersise, gardening, or art into your prayer life. You may find that your traditional style is right where you need to be and go back, you may also find that there was something detrimental to growth in the faith community you were in. As a disciple of Christ our goal should be to continuously grow into His likeness. I encourageyou to explore some of the various methods used throughout Christianity. If you are unsure or unaware of other aspects of spiritual practices there are people that are eager to help you explore. Many of the are members of Spiritual Directors International, which is a group dedicated to help people like you and me deepen our spiritual lives.
I personally have spent time exploring many aspects of prayer and discipline, some of them I have added to my own spirtual journey others I have found little growth with but the experience was intresting and enriching. I have also spent time consulting a spiritual director to assist me in my own personal walk. To prevent dry rot in your spiritual lives be adventurous. The journey should be challenging, trying, and fun but ultimately it will help you find who you were meant to be.