1 Sam 17:32-33, 37, 40-51 / Mk 3:1-6
The world is full of nay sayers, people who say it can’t be done, it’ll never work, we’re too small, they’re too powerful, and on and on. These are the people who let fear conquer them and dominate their sorry lives, and who seem to want the same for others. To the very end, Saul was one of those sadly fearful characters, and in today’s Old Testament reading, he attempts to draw David into his near-sighted world view. “You are only a youth, David, while Goliath was a warrior from his youth.”
It’s decision time for David and he bases his judgment upon what his experience of the Lord has already taught him. “The Lord, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine.” David was young, but he knew where all power and life and strength come from, the Lord. And he trusted that the Lord would guide his hand, if he let his hand be guided. He finished off the giant with a single stone.
In our own spheres, we face “giants” at times, and they can be mightily unnerving. Will we have the moral courage to face them down, calmly and wisely, or will we panic and abandon the field? It all depends on the bridge that only faith can build.
So how is your faith in the Lord who gives you life and breath? Do you really trust him?
