Fighters verses Flyers 3

Hello Everyone,

When all Israel’s trained warriors stood on the sidelines, God sent a small boy to do a man’s job.

1 Samuel 17:33-40 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.”

³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

³⁸ 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.

Saul provided David with reasons why the bold plan would not work. David was just a boy with no formal training, and Goliath was a professional fighter.

This should have been enough to keep David back in the fields, but God had a different plan.

I want to concentrate on his response to the battle, not his results.

Fatherhood is FRIGHTENING but FLEEING is not an option.

For Saul, becoming king had to be his greatest joy. But it quickly became his biggest challenge.

As moms and dads, the day we hold our kids for the first time is life’s greatest joy and from that moment forward, it becomes life’s greatest challenge and often presents the biggest of giants.

In response to such giants our choices are always to stand and fight or to flee in flight.

Sadly, that is the case of 24 million children in this country. Their dads have simply LEFT, opting for a life other than full-time care of the family they started.

Many of these kids have been fathered in the foundation of a family where the mother and father exchanged vows and made promises that are now broken.

Regardless of the situation, fatherhood can be frightening, but it must never be flown. Our responsibility is too great, and the stakes are too high.

Fatherhood is FRIGHTENING, but to do NOTHING is not an option.

David had already seen God’s hands in smaller successes. Now it was time to trust God for the ultimate. It was time to fight the biggest of foes.

It is not enough to be IN your home. You must LEAD your home. The soldiers in Saul’s army didn’t flee the scene of the battle, but none of them stepped forward either.

1 Samuel 17:16. For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.

For 40 days Goliath issued his challenge, taking a stand against the army of God. For 40 days, Saul and his army stood back and did nothing.

Jesse David’s father (vv. 17-19) assumed because his sons were there under the command of Saul that fighting was taking place. Little did he know that nothing was happening.

As a church, we cannot assume that just because a dad is in the home that he is being a dad. We cannot assume that his hand is on the heartbeat of his family.

The church’s role is to support and encourage and equip.

There is a difference between watching a battle on the front lines and fighting in one. There is a difference between front-row seats and playing in the game.

It is time to courageously fight for the lives of your wives and children!

There is a real giant out there demanding the surrender of our children.

It is popular culture and moral standards. It is sin, and, left unchallenged, it will bark at the door of your home and capture your children as its prize.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil