All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. 1 Samuel 17:24 WEBWhen Goliath walked out onto the battlefield, all the men of Israel fled from before him. Not even King Saul would face this nine-foot tall giant. For forty days this taunting continued on until a young shepherd boy named David came to deliver some supplies to his brothers, and he heard Goliath insulting them.
David had been spending time alone with God in the fields while tending sheep. It was a boring job. David learned to play a harp quite well and began to write psalms. He practiced with a sling, and when lions or bears came, he defended his flock from them. David came to know the Lord in a deeper way than the others did.
When David heard Goliath speaking, the Holy Spirit urged him to go out there and face him, but David had to make that choice. In the same way, God's door of promotion is often behind that scary circumstance in your life. Fear is the guardian. If you are strong enough to open it, you get the prize inside. David faced the giant and it was a turning point in his life. It began his journey to become the next king of Israel.
In the late 80s / early 90s, I worked on computers after work as a hobby. One day an insurance company called me and they had twelve computers networked together running DOS. One of them had lost connection with the others, and they wanted me to come look at it. A software company from out of state had originally come in and set up the network for them, but now they were unreachable.
In the rural area where I lived, no one had Internet. There was no way to research anything, no books to be had, and no one to call for advice. I grew up on a farm and had never seen a computer network before, but they had gotten my number from someone else and called me out of desperation. I explained that I didn't work on computer networks, but they would not take no for an answer. I started to say: 'I can't help you with that' but I felt the Holy Spirit urging me quietly with: 'Go and I will go with you' so I agreed to go look at it.
It was about a twenty-five minute drive and I prayed all the way there. 'Lord I can't do this without You, please help me!' I thought 'I am going to look like a fool. What am I doing! Turn around!' Then I quoted Moses: 'If Your presence does not go with me, don't send me up from here' (Exodus 33:15). All the while, He was quiet while I wrestled with the fear inside myself.
I arrived at their office and met the owner. He showed me the computer that was broken and we walked around the office and finally stopped at a filing cabinet to talk. I was already out of ideas, my heart was racing, and I was ready to tell him 'I can't help you' when a flashing box on top of the filing cabinet I was standing by caught my attention. As the manager talked on, I rested my hand on top of the flashing box, and another light came on. When I picked up my hand, the light went out.
After closer inspection, I found that a wire had worked itself loose on the back of the hub. That was the entire problem. I fixed the network cable, the computer came back online, and they thought that I was a genius. They became a regular client for the next seventeen years. Things like that began to happen every day.
That was a long time ago and today networks are everywhere. All of this is now common knowledge, but at that time I had never seen a network hub or network cable or even read about one in my life. Yet, I had the Holy Spirit within me and that is all that it took. 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me' (Philippians 4:13). That literally means all things that He gives you to do.
The Lord gently pushed me into my own computer business and it seemed that I could do no wrong. He carried me daily. Soon I had over fifty regular clients. The same type of story happened repeatedly in my life at accountant's offices, lawyer offices, doctor's offices, banks, and more. What seemed to be an impossible task was trivial.
The problems grew more and more complex and today I deal with load balancing Linux mail server clusters on a daily basis, but through the Holy Spirit, I have always managed to fix the problem. Still today, someone can call me over the phone with a computer problem and while they are talking with me, it will often fix itself.
God does not call the equipped. He equips the called and He will provide all that they need to do what He gives them to do. Like David, if you will step out when He calls you to do something, He will back you up, and the giant will go down. The water became solid when Peter stepped out on it, but when he was overcome with fear, he began to sink. Fear is the guardian that you must face in order to get the treasure waiting behind it.
Prayer: Heavenly Father I thank You for bringing me this far and I am excited at what you are doing on the earth. Make me a part of it! Use me Lord. Speak to me and through me. Put me where I need to be, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.Note: For those interested in capturing or viewing photos of God's creation, here is this week's theme message from Creation Photographers: 1 Corinthians 1:27 "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." This week our fun theme will be 'Upside Down Kingdom' and is wide open for interpretation so let's get creative if possible! You are also encouraged to post anything else that inspires you as well. My photos this week once again reflect the joy we have in seeing our granddaughter be blessed by living her dream'she is so little, looks so weak, but God has put a big dream in her heart and motivation to make it happen! May your upside down be right side up and may you always walk in God's Love and Light. God bless! Here is the link to participate in this group:
Creation Photographers group > You can subscribe to our daily devotional here <
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Amen
Amen Lord
Use me Lord. Speak to me and through me. Put me where I need to be, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
Amen! Father, please help each person to realize the gift you have put inside of them! We each have a gift, mine is fixing things. God has allowed me to find the most redickulas problems with broken things!
That is a highly useful gift, Jim :)!
Amen!
Thank you Pastor Todd. God put us where you want us and please be with my wife today. Amen
Continuing to pray for Dianna.
Thank you Lynn. God bless you.
Amen Father!
Your will be done in my life, Amen.
Heavenly Father, release my fears and show me the way to confront the enemy. Lead me and I will follow. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Amen
Amen! "Bloom where you are planted!" I never thought that I'd be doing Home Health Care taking care of the disabled, elderly, shut-in's, etc. however the Lord had his plans for my life all along. I had been a Consumer Banker, etc., for a bank for almost 30 years. Then my Mother overseas got very ill, I retired early and spent a lot of time overseas to help my Dad to take care of her, being the eldest of 4 children, everyone had different views what to do with my Mom. She has passed away in the meantime, but when I returned to join the work force for financial reasons my entire focus and out look had changed. The Lord molding and shaping me, still being a work in progress, I rely on Him daily to be my strength and shield, to keep me going, despite of additional difficulties, severe family health problems, etc... Every day I'm astonished to see how He enables me to keep me going! Praising the Lord with all my heart and soul, for He alone is worthy of praise!!!
Thank you!
Amen!
Amen...
Hallelujah!!
Amen. Praise God! Thanks Pastor Todd! Heavenly Father I thank You for bringing me this far and I am excited at what you are doing on the earth. Make me a part of it! Use me Lord. Speak to me and through me. Put me where I need to be, in the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.