When you think you’ve been counted out…

When I started my study, I was just going to talk about the great battle of David and Goliath. However, the Lord had a different direction for me to go. I started reading about the life of David. Now David is known as a man after God’s own heart. Acts 13:22 says “After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.” NASB

When you start getting into the life of David he has a lot of mess going on in his latter days, but one thing for sure… is that He loved the Lord. I don’t want to focus on the latter, but rather on the youthful years of David. He was the youngest of eight and was always in the shadow of his brothers. He was known to be in the field making sure that the sheep were taken care of. He was the shepherd of the family. He put his heart into making sure that the sheep were being kept safe and away from harm.

Saul was king during this time, but he disobeyed God. In his disobedience, God rejected Saul as King over Israel and told Samuel “… Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have selected a king from his sons.” 1 Sam 16:1 HCSB.

Samuel gets to Jesse’s house and goes through the sons one by one, and none of the seven did God choose to anoint. Samuel even thought one of the sons would be king because he “looked” the part, but nope! God didn’t choose him. In fact, the scripture says “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Man does not see what the LORD sees, for man sees what is visible, but the LORD sees the heart.” 1 Sam 16:7 HCSB. The seven sons pass by, and Samuel asks are there any other sons? He tells him about David, who is of course outside with the sheep. They call David in and can you guess what happens next?! God tells Samuel to anoint David; he is the one!

Now to the good stuff; I know I had to lay a lot of foundation, but I needed to so that you can really see the heart of God and see the heart of man. David was out in the field minding his business, keeping the sheep, doing what he does. When God told Samuel to go, He told him SPECIFICALLY where to go too. He didn’t say throw a competition and see who wins. He chose David, before David knew who he was going to be. God chose him because of his heart. He knew that David would follow him and do the will of the Father.

Many times we may allow negative thoughts to run through your mind, that you’re not good enough, or why does that person get this, and that person gets that, or why do they have such a grand life, and you suffer? Or have many difficulties or don’t have it as easy as someone else does. Either way, I’m sure David felt some of these things being in the shadow of his brothers and him always being out in the field keeping the sheep.

But, God did not forget about David. He sent someone on a mission for him and him only. If you read on, you read about David being the underdog and defeating the giant that everyone was afraid of. He didn’t need any battle armor; he defeated the giant with his sling and five smooth stones. Saul told David that he couldn’t fight him because he was young. I love David’s response to him. I had to re-read it over and over again because it just gave me so much life!

1 Samuel 17:34:-37 “But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.” NIV

This shows David’s FAITH in God. David fought lions and bears and had no fear. He knew who was on his team, and he knew that His God would not fail him. I don’t know about you, but I can’t say I will go and chase a lion or a bear and think I can defeat it. I would run the other direction in fact. However, David knew where his strength came from, and it wasn’t his own strength, it was God’s strength that gave him the power to defeat the giant.

I say all of this to say… DO NOT COUNT YOURSELF OUT!!!! Just because man, you may think are not good enough does not mean that God doesn’t have great and mighty plans for your life. It may not be your time yet. But, if you stay faithful to the course and keep your focus on God and the things of God, watch God send someone to go and meet you right where you are and anoint you to make a difference in life.

David didn’t have to go anywhere, God came and met him! All David had to do was have a heart after God’s heart and do the work of God. Keeping God’s sheep comes with a price but… It has great rewards!

So, don’t be discouraged, because you think you’ve been counted out. That can change from one day to the next. Keep your heart pure and watch God work. Just think about it like this… Your David moment can come at any moment!!!