(Also look at 1 Samuel 17: 32, 48-49)
There has been much preaching on the subject of faithfulness. There have been times, though, when we have used "faithfulness" as an excuse for being unproductive. We try to "spiritualize" our lack of results. And while we have excused inaction and ineffectiveness in this manner, there IS much that can be positively stated about being FAITHFUL.
We must remember that Galatians 5 teaches us that "faith" or "faithfulness" is one of the fruit of the Spirit. Faithfulness is one of the elements that the Spirit of God is at work cultivating in our lives. Or at least, He should be. And He will be if we let Him. He wants us full of faith - faithful - and then He wants us to live out what we possess on the inside.
The life of faith is often not an easy task. To live by faith is to, sometimes, not have a clear picture of what is coming, where you are going, or what is happening at the time - yet having a deep conviction that God is in control!
For some, faith is receiving a word from God, a promise, and then having to enter a period of delay, or waiting, for the promise to be performed. Just ask Abraham and Sarah. It is easy to see that those seasons are very difficult and trying times. And really, that’s the season that David is experiencing in this text. He has already been anointed to be king of Israel, but he had not yet ascended the throne.
The Bible says, though, that from the day of his being anointed by Samuel, "the Spirit of the Lord came upon him." I believe with all of my heart that the anointing he received was not for a later time, but was for right then! I believe that it helped him through the WAITING PERIOD. (Going to the mall, or Wal-mart, or to the drive-through window can teach you that sometimes you have to be anointed to wait!)
But God had not forgotten David, but He was, in fact, grooming him for something greater. God has a way of getting you where you need to be. And a situation had risen in the nation of Israel that God was going to use to promote David, bringing him a little closer to the fulfillment of his promised kingship. Israel was in a standoff with the Philistines. And there was a giant of Gath named Goliath, who cam out and taunted them daily. He challenged the army of Israel, which was terrified and faithless, and was therefore "stuck in a battle."
Many of God’s people are in similar battles. All of us have opposing giants. All of us have opponents of various degrees, which stand to hinder our progress, and bring us into defeat. Giants come to resist us when it’s time for us to enter the Promises of God. Remember Israel coming into Canaan? It was their fear of giants there that kept a whole entire generation from entering the Promise Land. And unless WE learn something from them, we may die in a wilderness ourselves, and never see God’s promises fulfilled in our lives!
The Bible says that "perilous times shall come." One translation says, "Times of great stress and trouble, hard to deal with and hard to bear."(2 Timothy 3:1). That reveals that we’re probably not going to "cruise into Canaan!" Days will not be easy. And if we are going to achieve any rate of victory, we’re going to have to fight for it! There are some things that you will never get unless you’ve got some fight in you!
And often times, the force of the enemy’s attack can overwhelm us. Like the waves of an ocean in a storm. The waves come in rapid succession, one right after another. And as soon as you think you can get up, here comes another one. And soon, you hear this voice in your head, saying, "Here comes another wave."
Life is the same way. One wave of struggle ends, and here comes another one. And the enemy begins to taunt you, and tries to convince you that you will never stand, never overcome, and never get out. And soon it brings you into a cycle of defeat. *LISTEN: THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO ARE DEFEATED BY THE INTIMIDATION OF THE BATTLE, AND NOT THE ENGAGEMENT IN THE BATTLE.
That’s what was defeating Israel. Goliath got in their heads, into their mind, their thought process. He never threw a spear, never shot an arrow, never waved a sword - but he intimidated then through mind games. Israel was, as many people are, DEFEATED BY COWARDICE, AND NOT CONFLICT. Afraid to confront issues of bondage. And their real bondage is not the "giant" but their own cowardice, or being afraid to confront the issue!
And it shows us that, if the devil can mess up your thinking, he can control your actions. He can even move you to inaction. And so, if you’re going to overcome in your life, you’ve got to develop and maintain the right attitude. Israel was afraid, and not one soldier would go out and fight. The odd thing is, that, every day they went out in battle array, in their "military fatigues," but they never fouhgt a battle. They were at a standoff with an enemy that they were afraid to deal with.
Why do we have giants in life? Giants do serve a purpose. One way we benefit from them is: THEY INTRODUCE US TO OURSELVES. *A lot of people can do anything, until they have to! They run when a challenge comes their way. We’ll sing a song, like, "I Went To The Enemy’s Camp," but I have to wonder how many times it’s actually happened. There comes a time when you have to quit shouting about going, and get up and go, lay hands on what is yours, and say, "I’ll take that in the name of the Lord!"
When we face giants, we begin to see who and what we really are. *Notice how people handle their giants, and you’ll see what they’re really made of.
Notice something else about giants. *THEY RARELY REPRESENT ONLY THEMSELVES. The Philistines knew that once Goliath was dead, they would have no chance of defeating Israel. That teaches us that: When you kill giants, other things begin to fall in line! Some problems and hindrances are only affecting us because they are attached to bigger issues. If we deal with the giant issue, the other problems will fall in line.
But lastly, notice this, for this is the point of the message. Out of an entire army - trained and conditioned for fighting - not one soldier would fight. But a shepherd boy, named David, whom God was grooming for the throne, happened to be there during the time Goliath came out and taunted Israel.
Why was he there? What caused him to be positioned to be used by God in this way? Here it is: He was on assignment of his father, Jesse. He had sent David to carry CHEESE to his brothers! David was anointed to be king, yet was sent back to tend sheep. he should have been in the king’s court, but instead he’s carrying cheese!
That seems like such a menial mission, doesn’t it? Carrying cheese? A king-to-be, carrying cheese? Yet, that’s what happened. And listen what happened. God used David’s FAITHFULNESS to raise him to another level! We all know David fought Goliath and killed him, but don’t miss this point: He was not there to fight the giant. Had David not learned the fruit of faithfulness, he would not have been there!
David learned how to tote the cheese. And that tells me that: FAITHFULNESS IS GOD’S AVENUE FOR PROMOTION. if you ever hope kill a giant, to do something great for God, learn how to be faithful where you are. Be faithful there, and God will promote you. If you find yourself at a place right now that doesn’t match where you think you could be, or where God said you would be, don’t miss the lesson of that place.
God has a purpose for delay. He wants you to develop the fruit of faithfulness. He wants you to LEARN TO TOTE THE CHEESE!
