THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

October 2, 2024

LIFE IN THE FOLD

I recently listened to a friend's teaching on David, and he made a comment (that he had heard from someone else): The opposite of fear is not bravery; it's action. It's reacting to the fear, in a positive way, by doing something.

In 1 Kings chapter 17, we read the story of David and Goliath.

The story begins by describing Goliath as being a Philistine champion. He was over 9 feet tall; and a description is given of his armor. He stood and shouted a taunt across to the Israelites. "Why are you all coming out to fight? I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight me! If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!"

What was the response of Saul and the Israelite army? "They were terrified and deeply shaken." They allowed their fear to paralyze them. No one felt qualified to go fight this giant; who was also a seasoned champion of the Philistines.

David's father sent him to go check on his brothers and take food to them. David was to bring back a report on how they were doing. He arrived just as the Israelite army was leaving for the battlefield. Soon the Israelites and Philistine armies stood facing one another. Goliath came out from the ranks and shouted his usual taunt to the army of Israel. As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright.

I've heard it said that fear will cause a person to either react with fright or flight; meaning, they will either hide or they will run. Most often, they will try and run away from the thing that caused the fear.

I have had many dreams where someone is chasing me. It's different scenarios, but I'm being chased and I'm trying to run away and find a place of safety. Sometimes it's just me; other times, I'm trying to protect someone else. In the dream, I know that the person who is after me has evil intent to do harm. If they find me or are able to catch me, then I know that they will try to hurt me. But each time, I am either able to get away or find a safe place or I wake up. I've always been able to get away.

I believe that this is an example of Satan (the thief) coming to try to steal, kill and destroy us. But Jesus comes to give us abundant life. (John 10:10) Satan tries to steal life; Jesus came to give life! As long as we put our faith fully in God and trust Him, He will protect us and give us a way of escape. That doesn't mean that nothing bad will ever happen; but it does mean that God will never leave or forsake us -- never!

David has a conversation with Saul. He tells him, "Don't worry about this Philistine. I'll go fight him!" David was a shepherd, not a soldier. He didn't even have any armor or weapons in which to fight this giant.

Saul replied, "Don't be ridiculous! There's no way you can fight this Philistine and possible win! You're only a boy, and he's been a man of war since his youth." But David insisted.

David was confident! He told Saul, "I take care of my father's sheep and goats. When a lion or bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I've done this to both lions and bears, and I'll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he defies the armies of the living God! The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine." So Saul consented.

When Goliath saw David, he sneered in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. He cursed David by the names of his gods. He was just sure that he would defeat David and said that he would feed his flesh to the birds and wild animals.

Can you imagine how each army felt at this moment? I'm sure the Philistine army was feeling pretty confident and laughing at the audacity of the Israelites allowing this young boy to come face their champion. They could probably already imagine the Israelites becoming their slaves and making plans for that to take place.

On the other hand, the Israelites were likely fearful and feeling as if there was no way David could kill this huge champion of war. They were probably thinking, "Oh no! This is it! David is going to be killed, then we'll become slaves of these violent Philistine nation!!" David's brothers may have been thinking, "How are we going to go home and explain this to our father?!"

Remember the quote at the beginning of this devotional: "The opposite of fear is not bravery; it's action." This is clearly shown in this story.

David replied to Goliath, "You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven's Armies -- the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. Then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! This is the Lord's battle, and He will give you to us!"

David didn't move towards Goliath with fear and timidity. Scripture says that he quickly ran out to meet him. Reaching into his shepherd's bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground.

This time it was the Philistine's turn to be fearful! When they saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran. And this time, it was the Israelite army chasing them with shouts of triumph.

When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo were going to be thrown into the fiery furnace, because they refused to bow down to the golden image, they faced it with action. They saw the fire, they saw the men who were stoking the fire being burned up from the heat, yet they refused to back down. They didn't fight being thrown into the fire, but knew that whatever happened, God was with them. He was able to walk in the fire with them and protect them, or if not, they would be in heaven with Him. Either way, they won!

Saying that you aren't fearful or that you are brave is one thing; but it's your actions that prove the truth of that statement.

Jesus prayed, "Father, if it be Your will, let this cup pass from Me!" Yet when the time came when He was arrested, He didn't run away or plead with the Father to send angels to protect Him. He put one foot in front of the other and did the actions that were required of Him, in order to fulfill His reason for coming to earth.

Sometimes action may be required on our part, but we may also need to encourage someone who is fearful to act.

Just a simple example: I've mentioned numerous times that I get my nephew's two kids on the school bus in the mornings. Last year, on their first day of kindergarten, it was their first time to ever ride the bus. As we were waiting, my tiny little 5 year old niece grabbed onto my hand and was clinging to it. Honestly, I was almost in tears myself! It was hard putting those two little ones on that big bus and sending them off by themselves! She said, "Aunt Retta, I'm a little bit scared." I told her that it was okay -- that other kids were a little bit scared, too, because some of them had never ridden the bus before either.

It would have been so easy for me to pick her up and carry her to my car and say, "It's okay! You don't have to ride the bus; I'll take you!" But I knew that her parents wanted the kids to ride the bus that morning, so that they would know what to do that afternoon when it was time to go home. So I had to allow her to conquer her fear and walk onto that bus (the two kids sat together on the front seat), and I had to take action and allow myself to not give into her fear, so that she could do what was needed. The kids did great and loved riding the bus!

Whether it's in big or small things, don't allow fear to conquer you and entrap your mind in a place of constant worry and turmoil. We can only do so, when we are fully putting our faith and trust in God.

In closing, one more thing that my friend said during his teaching was that we're not riding the love boat, but we are on a warship. On the Love Boat TV show, everyone's story had a happy ending. All their needs were met while on the boat, and it was just love, happiness, and fun. That's often how we want life to be. We want our needs catered to, everything to be joy and laughter and fun times and love filled. But scripture says that we're going to face difficulties and have temptations and things are going to be hard at times. Really, it's more like being on a warship, then on the love boat. But we can rest assure that God is our commander in chief and that He will always take care of us and meet our needs and be with us.

Peace and protection come from being in the presence of God. When we begin to feel turmoil and worry is eating away at us and fear is encroaching our thoughts, then we need to spend time in the presence of our Father and allow Him to fill us with that peace that surpasses all understanding.

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

Goliath set an interesting set of terms for the champion battle. He said that if he was killed, they would all become slaves to the Israelites. But of course, Goliath wouldn't become a slave; he would be dead. But it doesn't seem like the Philistines objected to the terms, or they should have spoken up.

By allowing David to go, Saul was implying he was okay with the terms. That's a little more surprising to me. He was willing to risk slavery on the young David. The scripture doesn't really go into details about Saul's decision, so we can only speculate. But Saul was raised knowing the power and faithfulness of God, and raised to have faith in Him. So seeing someone so bold as to declare God was giving this battle to him might be rare, but probably refreshing and encouraging.

So when you hear someone speaking boldly, please resist the temptation to stifle them. If they are bold because God is on their side, join in. It's always better to end up on the winning side.

ON THE MENEWE:

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

Mix box of cake mix with can of pumpkin. Add chips, if desired.

Spoon into muffin cups.

Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

When Jon was a little boy he said that he wanted to be an "off-it-er" - meaning he wanted to take things apart (or off) and see how they work -- then someone else could be the "on-it-er" and put them back together (or on).

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

"Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey His commands, for this is everyone's duty.

God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad."

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org