Friday, May 14, 2010

May 14, 2010

"David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” I Samuel 17:43-45
When I went to my first church as a young fellow fresh out of school I was told by the pastor whom I was succeeding, "You will never grow a church with these people."
I was well aware that I couldn't but I was sure God could - and He did!
What was the difference? Perspective!
Perspective is how you see what you see. It is how you feel about what you see. It is what you think about the way you see and feel. Perspective is the fourth stone we will talk about this week as we talk about killing giants.
So far we have considered the stones of purpose, passion and plan.
When young David showed up at the camp of the Israelites that morning bringing supplies to his brothers, he found a bunch of fearful, frustrated and intimidated soldiers. They were being challenged by a very arrogant and extremely large warrior named Goliath. From their perspective he was too big to mess with. But somehow when David heard his threats and saw his size he thought that Goliath was too big to miss!
What's the difference in these opinions? Perspective!
So, why did the soldiers see things so much differently than the shepherd boy?
I'm sure thare are many reasons but let me suggest a few:
Fresh eyes. These weary soldiers had heard the taunts and stared at the behemoth every day for weeks and hadn't responded. As they became more discouraged Goliath became more formidable.
Obstacles are like that, the longer we try to ignore them or avoid them the bigger they get! Every day we fail to act or hesitate to confront them the more power they gain over us.
That is what happened with my pastor friend while I was coming to the scene with fresh eyes.
Faith eyes. David was seeing Goliath from the perspective of faith confident that God would use him to take down the giant. However, they had become fearful in their perspective and were convinced they couldn't win.
Faithful eyes. Unlike the soldiers, David was not content to stare at the giant and listen to his smack talk, he had to do something. He took responsibility for the problem. The leader in him emerged.
Focused eyes. When he looked at Goliath he saw a bullseye painted right on the side of his head. Looking at the giant reminded him that he had been attacked by a lion and slain it. A bear had threatened his sheep and he killed it. The same God who was faithful against those enemies would not fail him this time.
Fanatic eyes. David was a fanatic! Why do we shy away from that term? We are quick to identify ourselves as a Redskins "fan", or a Hokie "fan", or a UVA "fan", but cringe at the thought of being a "religious fanatic". Do you have a problem with being a "fan" of God? Does it bother you to be a "fan" of Jesus? If so, why? It didn't bother David to be a surrendered, sold out, stand up and be counted fanatic for God! Perhaps, that reason more than any other is why he had a different perspective from the others.
The same reasons that David became a giant-killer are the same reasons he was able to become a king! He looked at life through the lens of a faith perspective. His focus was on loving and serving God and he let God worry about everything else.
How is your perspective heading into this day? Are their some giants that need to fall?
Focus your faith fully on your Father. Concentrate on loving Him and serving Him and pleasing Him and let Him worry about the giants. Spend some time gazing on Him until He gives you fresh eyes - faith eyes! Suddenly the giant will change from a big threat to a big target.
My guess is the giant is beginning to shrink already!