Facing Giants #3 - Simplicity
| Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. (1Samuel17:38-40) |
- Claim to the kingship. By wearing the King's armour, David would, in the mind of the people, have a claim to royalty
- Look professional and take a shortcut to soldier status. David was too young to be a soldier, but if he looked like one and defeated the giant, it would be very hard to take the soldier status away
- To rely on external tools and gimmicks.
But Saul's armour hinders him - it is clutter that slows him down.
Is there clutter in your life?
- The temptation to grab at status?
- An overdeveloped image awareness?
- Too much reliance on tricks of the trade?
David ended up being true to himself and true to the path that God brought him on. God doesn't waste any of our life-experiences. We learn and grow from everything that happens to us. (Whether they be good experiences or bad ones...)
David could have been enamoured with the new and the fancy. He could have relied on looking impressive and relying on the weapons because they were Saul's. In the end he trusts his experiences and he remains true to himself.
We spend a lot of time trying to be impressive, to be like society's heroes and to rely on what is trendy or cool and to do what it takes to be taken seriously.
David realises these are not a true fit.
He realises he needs to be himself.
He goes back to basics. He stays true to himself and trusts the lessons he has learnt in the past.
So should we....
