Sticks & Stones

1 Samuel 17:43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

Do you remember when you were a child running around the playground, swinging on the tall wooden seat swing, climbing on the jungle gym, playing hopscotch and four square, kick ball, and dodge ball? Those were great times, weren’t they? Well, for most of us, we survived without too many permanent disabilities.
But for some, the wounds inflicted went beyond the physical scrapes and bruises. These wounds were often the words that were spoken, the whispering and laughter that headed our direction. We tried to head of the hurt of the words by chanting “Sticks and stones may break my bones….”
This name calling is not a new thing. It has been happening for thousands of years. And not just with children!
Many of us know the account of David and Goliath, the shepherd and the giant warrior. Through a set of God ordained circumstances David meets Goliath on the battlefield on behalf of their respective nations. It was a fight between the two so that the whole armies didn’t have to fight. Whoever won this one on one battle, that nation would be the victor and the other the new defeated nation, subject to the whims and subjugation by the victors.
So much was at stake when these two took to the field of battle. The future of these nations hung in the balance, and the balance was stacked heavily in favor of Goliath, the warrior from the Philistines. He was the one every bookie would have been put 1000 to 1 odds on. David didn’t stand a chance in anyone’s eyes.
So Goliath starts the fight by throwing names. Guess what, that really was the best he could do! How can I say that? It was Goliath against the LORD, not against David. David just slung the stone; the LORD brought the victory.
Goliath wanted hand to hand combat. David would have been squished like a bug. David wasn’t a hand to hand expert. Though he had wrestled a lion and a bear and had come out on top, Goliath’s strength and size was so much greater that a lion or a bear.
Is there a battle in your life that is so much bigger than you, that it is a God-sized battle? Do what David did. He relied on the LORD. He knew his limits and simply trusted that the LORD who had been faithful to him in the past.
Are you going to trust Him?