Using what you have

Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. – 1 Samuel 17v40

I preached on this passage not too long ago and first time I wondered what Saul was up to when he offered David his armour. I wonder if this was the first step in what was going to be a long term conflict between then.

No one was willing to fight the giant except David so he was sent to the king to plead his case. Saul told him he was too young and inexperienced to do it. Still David persisted, so Saul dressed the lad in his own armour. Now remember, Saul was a tall man, head and shoulders above all the rest of the men. Why would he put armour on David that he knew would not fit. Was he mocking him or just trying to teach him how silly it was to think he could deal with giant. Either way it was quickly obvious that this was not going to work.

So David laid all that aside. He took his shepherds staff, five stones in a bag, and his sling and went out to face Goliath.

It certainly did not look like a fair match, but there is a lesson here. David used the things that he was used to. He used the tools and the talents that he was familiar with. It did not suit him to do it any other way.

There are plenty of Christian ‘superstars’ out there. We can look at them and think that if we do things just like they do we will surely succeed like them. We read their books, watch their videos, go to their seminars, and try to do things just like them. Some parts of the Body try to produce cookie cutter Christians so everyone does it just the right way. Conformity to the chosen way seems to be the goal of many.

In reality we all have tools and skills that God gives us. We don’t have to do it someone else’s way. Like David we need to use what we know to serve Him.

Lets develop our own skill and abilities and use the tools God gives is as we head out to face our giants today.