Does Kingdom work sometimes seem daunting to you? How to talk to others about Christ, how to tell of His glory to people who don’t want to listen? What do I say? What do I do? How do I do it? Who do I talk to? How do I talk to them? It’s sometimes tough to think that our soul mission on this earth is to reach other people for Christ and just not knowing what to do, how to do it, when to do it.
We all roughly know the story of David and Goliath. David a boy of 16-19 years old, hit a man nine feet tall with a stone and dropped him. In a nutshell, that’s how the story goes, right?
Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was a giant of a man, measuring over nine feet tall! He wore a bronze helmet and a coat of mail that weighed 125 pounds. He also wore bronze leggings, and he slung a bronze javelin over his back. The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s bean, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed fifteen pounds. An armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a huge shield. 1 Samuel 17:4-7
Goliath was one huge dude. It’s hard to even imagine what he looked like. He was intimidating. He was also confident, full of himself. Twice a day for 40 days (sounds like the wilderness again, doesn’t it?) Goliath would come out and taunt the Israelites. They were scared to death. But it took something very small in the hands of someone very faithful to remedy the situation. One stone. Not a rock, or a boulder, but a small stone.
The Lord involves ordinary people when he does extraordinary things. David, powered by God felled Goliath with just one stone. The stone, without the power of God would never have sufficed. You see, it wasn’t the stone. It was the power of God through David. Just like when Moses led the people to the sea, it wasn’t the staff that parted the waters. It was the power of God through Moses. Over and over in the scriptures – I feel like I say that a lot, but it’s true – The Lord gives us examples of His mighty power at work through us. He worked through David. He worked through Moses.
One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart and she accepted what Paul was saying. Acts 16:14
He worked through Paul. Paul was the messenger, but the Lord did the work.
“When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me by Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must all come true.” Then he opened their minds to understand these many Scriptures. “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah must suffer and die and rise again for the dead on the third day. With my authority, take this message of repentance to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem. There is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to me.”
Luke 24:44-45
It happened again. The scriptures of old gave the message, but Jesus did the work. He opened the minds of the disciples to understand the scriptures. Had he not done so, the scriptures would have just been words on a scroll, nice stories, history.
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns! Isaiah 52:7
It happened again. The feet on the mountain brought the news, but Jesus did the work. Isaiah foretold of the deliverance to come. He became sin who was sinless in our place so that we may be saved. Hallelujah! That’s good news those feet were taking everywhere. We are to be tellers of the peace, salvation and deliverance that has come!
The smallest tract may be the stone in David’s sling.
In the hands of Christ, it may bring down a giant soul.
Robert Murray McCheyne
That’s how it will work with us as well. The smallest word. The smallest gift. The smallest gesture. The smallest act. All may bring down a giant soul. Not a comparable sized giant, not an expert sling shot operator, but a faithful shepherd stepping up and allowing Jesus to d the work in and through him. Not because of what we do, but because of who He is. We speak only to the ear but God speaks to the heart.