Wonders For You!

Have you ever waited for something to happen? And then the wait seems so long and painful, and you feel giddy with the questions and doubts swirling in your mind? You feel distraught, you feel you can’t do anything else, in fact you feel so terrible you want to scream!

Two armies faced each other. They were camped in an odd way. Both could see each other as they were on the opposite sides of a steep valley. Each waited for the other to attack first. The disadvantage was horrifying. One army, heavily clad with armour would take a long time to climb the steep slope, and huge rocks would be rolled down from the opponents. The other army only had a few swords! Their bows and arrows were no match for this armoured lot. So there was a stinging stalemate. Each waiting for the other’s move!

But there’s more! Everyday a huge giant of a man would come out and challenge the Israelite army. This man was over nine feet tall, heavily armoured and arrogant as a field rat. His baritone voice would boom and echo within the valley as he looked up to the Israelite camp, showing his fist and flailing his arms challenging any man for a face to face encounter. The Israelites were terrified. Who could face this giant, with his sword, armour, shield and spear? This is heavy stuff. No one dared!

And this went on for forty days.

Forty days is a long time. Especially when you are involved in it yourself. You’re just waiting for something to happen and expecting for some ‘miracle’ to occur. Superstitions reign supreme at this stage. Negative thoughts and feelings don’t seem to leave the recesses of your mind. You suddenly start to envision the inevitable! I think we are all humans…and we all have our ‘giants’ showing their fists to us with different voices. And we are terrified! And then it takes so long!

I’ve been there before myself. So I know just how it feels.

Then as the story goes, one day when the giant came down for his daily rant, a man suddenly comes on the scene. No! Not a man…a young lad! He clambers down the slope, and runs to the nearby stream, picking out stones. The lad walks up to the giant, looks into his face…and a strong verbal confrontation takes place. The giant abuses and belittles him, laughing all the time. The lad prophesies and promises. Then suddenly whips out his sling and in a split second the stone from the whirling sling hits the giant between the eyes with deadly force and amazing accuracy. He’s down! The silence of the valley suddenly reverberates with the sound of the sickening thud he fell with. He’s out for the count. Gone. Finished!

The lad runs up to this fallen giant, pulls out the heavy sword from the giant’s bloodstained scabbard and with one powerful swing separates the giant’s head from his body. As he holds the head up in his hand, the roar and din of the Israelites running down the valley was deafening. They came screaming victory. They came with a gusto they never had for forty days! The other army took to their heels and ran. Their champion was dead! They would be too if they didn’t take flight.

What a gory sight! Surely not for you and me.

But I’ve learned lessons in life. The Bible is real. And the people in it are real. Just like you and me. We see their flaws, failures, their warts and moles. Yet…they saw and tasted victory through simple principles that work even today. Look beyond this story!

Here are some for today…

• The stinging stalemate with your enemy cannot go on for long. It must end! Someone will suddenly come on the scene.
• Don’t just cower down in fear and trepidation…stand up! Your victory is sure.
• One small stone can bring a huge giant down! Look for those small stones in the streams of your life’s past experiences. God has been faithful in the past…He will be faithful today.
• If a lad could destroy a giant…what’s wrong with you!

And lastly…start prophesying the promises of God! They can work wonders for you.