There's Always Something Standing In The Way

There’s Always Something Standing In The Way

5/5/2002 NLF 1 Samuel 17:1-50

1 Sam 17:1-30 Hebrews 12:1-3 1 Samuel 17:1-50

It would be great in life if the only thing necessary for us to get things was to just show up. What would it be like to go to school and say “I want a diploma and they said okay and just gave it to you.” Or go to the Department of Motor Vehicles and say, “I want a driver’s license and they simply took your picture and gave it to you. Or go to the bank and say, “I found a million dollar home and I want you to give me a mortgage, and they said, simply sign your name.

Now in each of these situations, we know it’s not going to happen that way. We can get the various things we want, but we know there’s something standing in our way before it takes place, like 12 years of classes and exams, driving lessons and a test, and a very good job with very good credit.

God has a great plan for everybody’s life here today. Nothing would make us happier than what God wants to give us. But there are some things standing in our way to keep us from getting all that God wants us to have. David was a teenager whom God had anointed to one day become king. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him. But there were several things standing in David’s way that he did not even yet know about, but they were there waiting on his arrival. We do not make great spiritual leaps in our faith without having some things staring us in the face to see what we are really made of.

It’s interesting that after David was anointed with oil and God’s spirit of power came upon him, God still sent him back to take care of the sheep. David had some lessons to learn in the pasture before God could take him into the palace. Be willing to live for God where you are before asking Him to send you somewhere else. There were some things standing in his way of just doing a good job as a shepherd.

One day, this huge hungry bear came looking for a meal. He grabbed him a sheep. David went after him. Got the bear to drop it. That bear was so hungry and so upset, it forgot about the sheep and figured David would make just as good a meal. He came charging after David, not knowing the Spirit of God was on David. When the fight was over, David had all the bear meat he wanted for supper that night.

But his family didn’t know how God was at work in his life, and David did not go around bragging about it. To them he was just a shepherd boy, that Samuel had mistakenly thought hw was somebody special. They did not think much of this youngest of eight boys. All he had to do for them, was to take care of the family farm.

So many people have looked at you and underestimated the future God has for your life. But if you’re willing to accept God’s call on your life, your future is far brighter than you think for your circumstances. But what will you do with the things that either are or will be standing in your way?

Victory becomes ours when we think right about our problems, feel right about our problems, and then act right about our problems. We need more than just a positive mental attitude. We need a vision from Jesus Christ as to the direction that we must go.

David was going to one day become a king. But there was a problem called Goliath the giant that had other plans for his life. Problems in our lives are nothing more than walking giants. If we focus on the size of the giant or of the problem, rather than on God’s solution, we will want to quit before we get started.

David was going against a man over nine feet tall. The guy even made Shaquille O Neal look short. The man’s coat weighed 125 lbs. The head of the man’s spear weighed some 15 lbs by itself. Heaven knows how big his sword was. This giant was armed to the teeth, and everybody that he even tried to take out, was taken out. But David didn’t concentrate on what if he throws the javelin through me before I get close enough, or what if he grabs me in a a bear hug, or what if he starts just punching me.

We cannot afford to go through all the what if this happened and what if that happened? Just thinking about “what if” has kept many people from ever taking the first step in changing the course of their lives and going out after what they have the ability to receive. The only real issue is “did God call me to take on this problem and solve it.” David knew that he had to go and take a stand, and that because of the God he served, he had every intention of winning the fight with the giant. He knew what God had done for him in the past.