FERTILE GROUND FOR GROWTH
A Vision of Heb 11:1,6 & 1 Samuel 17- David and Goliath
We must see the realization of our dreams and goals in the light of “desires” You use to create tension between “the now” and “the not yet”. This tension is the fertile ground for growth, the times of testing that develop the substance of the things hoped for and the evidence of the things not yet seen: the intangible, but very real thing we call FAITH. Faith, the thing, without which it is impossible to please You (Hebrews 11:1,6).
Using tangible things, such as financial independence, marriage, raising children or bettering the lives of our family and friends are ways You use to motivate us and build our faith. We see them used by You in the life of King David.
Samuel anoints David as the next king of Israel and within six months he faces Goliath. As he looks down in the valley where Goliath is taunting the army of Israel, striking fear into their hearts, a few soldiers turned to him and say, “ Have you heard, And it will be that the King will enrich the man who kills him with great rices and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free (from taxes) in Israel’ (1 Sam 17:25).
Then, David, a young man of true faith, does a very curious thing, “Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, ‘What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?’ The people answered him in accord with this word, saying, “Thus it will be done for the man who kills him.” He asked someone else to verify what he just heard to be sure he heard it accurately, with obvious personal interest in what he would get if he were to be that man, and the new soldiers repeated exactly what he heard the first time.
Was God, in fact, motivating David to accept this challenge to fight Goliath by offering riches, the King’s daughter and tax-free living for, not only him, but his entire family? Well, imagine if you were just anointed by the great prophet Samuel as the next King of Israel? If you were David, wouldn’t you conclude there was no way you were going to die by the hand of Goliath and not live to fulfill Samuel’s prophetic announcement? Yes, God had made it perfectly clear David was to live and be king, no matter what. And what better way for a young boy like David to see the pathway forward to kingship than to marry the King’s daughter? And it mattered to David, as it would you, that great riches would be his and his family would be far better off if he took on this challenge and won this fight?
Then, in the story, all doubt as to whether God was using material rewards as motivation for David, when David makes his next move, “Now Eliab, his oldest brother, heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? (In other words, You, David, are a nobody who will never accomplish anything great!) I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.” But David said, “What have I done now? Was it not just a question?” Then he turned away from him to another (soldier) and said the same thing (asked for a third time what will be done for the man who kills Goliath); and the people answered the same thing as before (riches, the king’s daughter and tax-free living for he and his family”(1 Sam 17:27).
Think about it, there is nothing wrong with you having desires for financial independence, love, a successful marriage or for bettering the lives of your family and others, so long as these desires are in the context of God’s calling on your life and come out of delighting yourself in Him (Ps 37:4).