He Picked Me

Good morning friends.

      Today we're in 1 Samuel 17 and its famous for David and Goliath.

But this morning I wasn't focused on the giant.

I was focused on David.

     David wasn't at the battlefield because he was important. He wasn't there because he was a soldier. He wasn't there because anyone expected him to save Israel. He was just there delivering lunch.

                                That's it.

    His father told him to take food to his brothers, and David simply obeyed. And I couldn't help but think how often God works through simple faithfulness. Of course we want the giant slaying moments. But God is often watching how we handle the lunch deliveries.

We want the platform but God is looking at our obedience first. We want the victory but God is watching our faithfulness.

    David wasn't looking to slay a giant. He was just being faithful with the assignment right in front of him.

                  And then he heard Goliath.

For forty days the entire army had listened to the giant's threats. For forty days fear had kept them frozen. Even Saul, the tallest man in Israel, wouldn't move.

    But David saw something everybody else missed. While everyone else was measuring the size of Goliath, David was measuring the size of God.

That's the difference right there.

Fear measures the giant.

Faith measures God.

    That's why I love David's story so much. David wasn't the obvious choice. Just yesterday we read that he wasn't even invited when Samuel came looking for the next king. And now he's standing on a battlefield where nobody thinks he belongs.

I think alot of us can relate to that. I definitely do.

    I've never felt like the obvious choice. I've spent much of my life feeling overlooked, underestimated, and sometimes forgotten.

But this chapter encouraged me in a deeply personal way today.

     Lately I've felt a little worn. A little empty. A little too aware of all the reasons the world says I can't. Too old. Too female. Too inexperienced. Too overlooked. Not connected enough. Not influential enough.

You know the list. Im sure you have one of your own.

    But as I read this chapter, something stirred in my spirit again.

                        God picked David.

    He didnt pick him because he was the obvious choice. Nope. It wasnt because he looked the part, far from it.And it certainly wasn't because everyone believed in him because most days they didn't even know he was there. But God Picked Him!

 And as i read these scriptures this morning I felt the Lord gently reminding me, He picked me too.

    I have never been the obvious choice. I'm definitely not the most qualified. And I could never earn it. But he picked me simply because he saw something in me others couldn't see.

The people saw a shepherd boy.

God saw a king.

The people saw someone delivering lunch.

God saw someone prepared for the battle.

     That's an encouragement for all of us today.

When God calls you, you don't have to spend your life proving why you belong. You just have to trust the One who called you.

   David's confidence wasn't in himself. It was in God. That's why he could say "The battle is the Lord's."

    That's renewed my spirit this morning.

I don't have to carry every battle.

I don't have to prove every critic wrong.

I don't have to convince everyone else that God can use me.

God already decided that when He called me.

The battle belongs to Him.

And if God can use an overlooked shepherd boy standing on a battlefield...

He can use us too. 

Love Pastor Mandy 

Ark of Hope Ministry 

Daily Reading 1 Samuel 17