Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, greetings in the mighty and most wonderful name Jesus Christ. In this globe we come across heaps of people, there are some people who appear to be more powerful, more knowledgeable than you. When we consider such people we tend to imagine that we are frail, we are a failure and we could not accomplish anything, but behold the great Lord who made the universe is with you. What qualification does our God require from us to make us victorious? Does He expect the same as the world? His word clearly explains in 1 Corinthians 1:26, 27 "Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standard; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong."
We were not according to worldly standards “But God picked out”. Just imagine the great God, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Lord of heaven and earth chose you, loved you and gave his life for you just to hold an everlasting relationship with you. The pick of the most Supreme one will never go wrong!!
Let us take an example from Bible to answer the question “what criteria does God need from us to make us victorious?” Let me set that model as a one liner “Who was David when he defeated Goliath?” Was David according to the standards the world expects in order to be a soldier? The answer is absolutely NO. He was a young shepherd. He was the youngest and his three elder brothers were in the army. This clearly demonstrates that his age was not so old that he could link up in the army and when he attempted to cloth himself with Saul’s army dress, but as he could not walk with them so he got it away. On the other hand, Goliath was a mighty warrior 1 Samuel 17:5-7 says "He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with the coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. And he had a bronze armor on his legs and bronze javelin between his shoulders. Now the staff of his spear was like weaver’s beam and his iron spearhead weighted six hundred shekels; and a shield bearer went before him."
Later on reading this anyone could suppose that he is a mighty soldier. Even Saul says in 1Samuel 17:33 “You are a youth but he is a man of war from his youth”. At least David was permitted to enter the battlefield as a shepherd boy with staff and five smooth stones inside the shepherd's bag clothing himself in shepherd’s dress. We are cognizant of the incident David’s victory over Goliath, in less than a minute. The man equipped with standard weapons who yelled out loud with pride in the battleground day and night for forty whole days fell down within a moment.
How did David achieve this triumph? What was his standard when he defeated Goliath? We could not even guess the height of David when compared to Goliath but David says in v46 “I will strike you and take your head from you”. He had a deep faith in God. His zeal for God is revealed in v45 "Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”"
He bore a firm desire for God and faith in God, before which all the world’s weapons are nothing. Before winning over Goliath, David says in v47 "Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands." David never said to Goliath that he was the next anointed king, His desire for God is more while comparing to the desire for kingship. He understood that above all worldly desires his heart should be set on the creator. Allow your desire for God be increased when compared to the desire of worldly affairs. Matthew 6:33 says "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
As David states in Psalm 16:8 “I have set the Lord constantly before me.”, whatever may be the situation “Set the Lord constantly before you”. The word of the Lord clearly states in John 15:5 “For without me you can do nothing.” And Philippians 4:13 says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. We still stand today only by his grace. The bible says in James 4:6 “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” Only humble ones can set the Lord before them always, because they will be damn sure that it’s not by their might nor by their strength but by His spirit.
When life throws a situation you may believe that it is unacceptable for you to proceed on as your standards are not up to worldly expectation, if you set the Lord always before you and if you hold a firm desire to show the world whom you are serving, God assures that the triumph is yours no matter what. “For this God is our God forever and ever, He will be our guide even to the end.” (Psalm 48:14). Amen!!
