David strapped Saul's sword over the armour and tried to walk, but he couldn't because he wasn't used to wearing them. "I can't fight with all this," he said to Saul. "I'm not used to it." So he took it all off.
1 Samuel 17:39
DAVID'S BATTLE
David, a mere shepherd boy sent to the front lines to carry food for his brothers, moves into centre in Israel. He does it with flair, with pizzazz and the assurance that God is with him.
We know the story. David slays the Philistine giant Goliath and saves the Israelite nation. He does it with a sling shot and a sharp stone which fells the mighty warrior in his tracks and enables David to slice off his head.
But before the climax of the story, there is another subplot. After David accepted Goliath's challenge, King Saul tried to make him look and act like a soldier. He tried to dress him in armour and give him a sword and shield. But David was a mere boy, a young shepherd. The sword was too big. The armour was too heavy. David could not even walk in this stuff let alone fight in it.
He took off the clumsy soldiers armour and went to the find things that were more familiar to him. "He took his shepherd's stick and then picked up five smooth stones from the stream and put them in his bag. With his sling ready, he went out to meet Goliath." (1 Sam. 12:40) The rest is history.
David was given all of the things that a soldier needed to defeat Goliath. But David wasn't a soldier. He was a shepherd. He didn't fit into soldier's clothing. They simply weren't who he was. He was a shepherd and, if he was going to win the battle, it would have to be as a shepherd. David wore what fit him and he succeeded.
There is, perhaps, a lesson here for us. Maybe it goes something like this. If we want to fulfill God's purpose for our lives, then we should wear the clothes that God provides for us. We should be the people whom God had called us to be.
CLARK'S BATTLE
Clark sits in his dressing room, alone. As much as he would like to be able to settle down, he still finds in hard to relax. The excitement of the last two hours has left him dizzy. Yet, somehow, with a lot of hard work and a great deal of prayer, he had pulled it off. It had been a wonderful experience, one that he will never forget.
All of the hours of practicing, all of the money spent on music lessons, all of the dedication and sacrifice had brought him to this point in his career - to be the guest soloist with the Toronto Symphony at Roy Thompson Hall. With knees shaking, he had walked out on stage to the polite applause of the capacity audience. With quivering hands, he had raised the polished silvery flute to his lips, all the while wondering if he would make it through or pass out right there on the spot.
Thanks be to God. All of his nerves vanished in the middle of the first note. It came out clean and clear, a long sustained high D which seemed to hang ripe in the air to be plucked and enjoyed. From then on he had lost himself in the music, barely hearing the orchestra as it played behind him.
When it was all over, the audience had erupted in applause. "Bravo! Bravo!" they had shouted. Then someone stood near the front. And another raised from her chair. Soon, there were people standing all over the concert hall. It was a moment, it was unanimous. "Bravo!" they shouted. "Encore!"
He sits in his chair in the dressing room, savouring the memory. As he sits, he also waits. His father told him that he would meet him back stage after the performance. His father. His biggest critic. His toughest fan.
This was the man who had fought him over this career. His father, a successful business operator who had worked his way up through sweat and toil to the top rungs of industry.
In his mind, Clark recalls a particular encounter between father and son. It had happened when he was a young man of nineteen years. He had stood there before his father, in his study and, for the first time, had felt fear. His father, a man who was used to getting his own way, had stared him down with fire in his eyes. The anger in the room was intense. Clark had never before seen him like this. All he could do was stare back, mouth agog, face white, his whole body shaking like a leaf.
He can still hear Father's voice as it thundered across the room at him: "What do you mean you've decided not to attend Queen's University next year? You've been offered a full scholarship in the business programme. That could take you a long way, my boy. It could open a lot of doors for you. Can't you see that? Can't you see the opportunity that this is for you? There are women and men your age who would give their eye teeth for this opportunity. And you want to throw it all away.
"For what? To go to some highbrow music school to study the flute? The only place that will take you is the unemployment line? What am I supposed to do, support you for the rest of your life?
"And what kind of man plays a sissy instrument like the flute anyway? I always thought that you'd grow out of this. I'm sorry now that I ever bought you that silly, glorified whistle. Come on Clark. It's time to grow up. It's time to be a man and earn your keep. My advice to you is to forget about this flute craze and settle down. This business that I've built up will be yours someday if you want it. Don't throw it all away chasing a dream that will never come true."
Clark can still hear the words ringing in his ears. They had cut him like a knife. But he had stood firm. For the firsttime in his life, he had stood where he wanted to stand. His territory had been carved out and he was determined to defend it against all threats.
The word slowly came to him lips: "I'm sorry Dad. I've made up my mind. I don't want to be a businessman. I don't want to run your company. It's your dream, not mine. Try as I might - and you can be sure that I've tried - I just can't fit into the suit that you've prepared for me. It's not me. I can't wear it. It's too heavy. It's too restrictive. And, if I try to be the person whom you want me to be, I'll suffocate and die.
"All I'm asking Dad is that you let me be what I feel called to be. Don't try to make me live your dreams. Allow me the freedom to live my own life the way that I feel God calling me to live it."
It had taken eons for the two of them to get over that night. For the longest time, they had spoken hardly a civil word to one another.
What would his father say now? How would he react to his son's success? Only time would tell. Clark sits in silence and waits.
MAKING CHOICES
Each of us is called by our Creator God to fulfill our purpose in life. Each of us is given gifts and talents to use for the glory of God. Yet, how many of us are tempted to wear life-clothes that we know won't fit.
A mother tries to encourage her daughter to wear a stethoscope because being a physician has excellent career opportunities. "Look at the prestige and security of graduating from medical school," she says. "You've got the brains so make the best of them." But what the daughter would really like to try on is the Speedo of an competitive Olympic swimmer.
A father goes out and buys his son a complete set of hockey equipment from skates to helmet. "You'd make a great hockey player, son. Why, when I was your age, I wish that I'd had the chances that you have." But the son really isn't interested in wearing a hockey jersey. What he'd really like to wear is an actors costume on stage in the musical that the school is putting on. This, however, is not part of his father's dream.
A husband want his wife to wear an apron and stay in the kitchen. Isn't that, after all, where women belong? Their job is to look after the kids and clean the house. She doesn't know how to tell him that what she would like to do is go back to school part time to study theology. She feels called to ministry and what she would really like to wear is a preaching stole.
A wife wants her husband to wear a business suit and move up the corporate ladder. She knows that he has the potential so she pushes him up one wrung at time no matter how much overtime it takes. But what he really feels called to do is work with the children of his community. He'd like to be able to take off his business suit after a long day at the office and put on a Scouting leader's uniform. That is what he really feels called to do.
Society tells it's citizens through advertising and the mass media that we are all supposed to wear the clothing of successful people. We are supposed to make lots of money and buy lots of possessions. But most people with whom I speak are less concerned about wearing success then they are about wearing a smile. Wouldn't it be wonderful if more people could be simply content and happy with their lives and families? Wouldn't the world be a very different place if we took off the trappings of success and put more value on a happy face.
God wants us to be happy and the only way to be truly content in life is to live the life that God would have us live, to wear the clothes that God would have us wear and do the things that God would have us do.
GIVING THE GIFT
Clark sits in his room and waits for his Father's knock at the door. When it finally comes, it still surprises him.
Clark gets up and opens the door. His Father is standing on the others side. For the first time in Clark's life, his resilient Father seems somewhat tentative. Without a word, he walks into the room and closes the door behind himself. "Well done, Clark," he says, "I have a gift for you." In his hand is a small package wrapped up in plain royal blue wrapping paper.
Clark accepts it. "Thanks Dad," is all that he says.
He has no idea what to expect from his Father. He's never been one much for buying presents. He always just gave money. But this was a present. What could it be?
Clark carefully takes the wrapping away and discovers a box. He opens it and, to his surprise, finds a sling shot andfive smooth stones.
"Ah, it's interesting, Dad, but what's the purpose of this," asks Clark.
His Dad replies, "It's like this, Son. Just as David who slew Goliath, you had your own giant to slay. I'm sorry to say that I was that giant. I was the one who tried to get in your way. I was the one who tried to force you to be something that you were not. The day that you defied me and went to music school instead of business school, it was like to hit me between the eyes with this sharp stone. But you had to do it. And look at where you have come. I'm proud of you Son."
There are always people who will want to tell us what we should do with our live and how we should live. Often those people are the very ones who are closest to us. In the end, however, we will only follow our true path by listening to God's voice and wearing the clothes that God lays out for us.
