What are the Odds?

The story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel is well known and has been used for all sorts of scenarios

It says in 1 Samuel 17:20 that when David arrived at the Israelite camp in the Valley of Elah that “he reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.” Despite this attempt to get psyched up by shouting / chanting their war cry as they went the atmosphere in the camp was one of hopelessness and fear.

It is into this atmosphere that David arrives and he is surprised at their state of mind and spirit and asks what will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel. He is not traumatised by the sight and sound of Goliath as the rest of the Israelites were and is in a way angered and annoyed by the impact Goliath is having on the Israelite Army. His dismissal of Goliath angers his brother Eliab who responds to David with belittling accusations. Even that does not dissuade David and instead of shrinking back or getting into a defensive argument with Eliab he turns aside to continue his enquiry.

We know how this story ends and many messages, inspirational talks and other stories have been based around this defeat of the giant Goliath by the shepherd boy David.

What is interesting to me is how the “odds” changed when David arrived in the Israelite camp. His unwavering belief and security in the fact that his God would deliver him from the giant is an attitude that we should be emulating. We as individuals as well as our corporate gatherings carry the Presence of the Living God and therefore the odd should change when encounter negative circumstances and situations in life. As with the Goliath scenario - Sickness, Infirmity, Poverty, Hopelessness and Loneliness should all be “disarmed” when a believer in Jesus Christ enters the fray but do we as “believers” have an assuredness as David did?

Another thing is, how often we see that when an individual or a group of people begin to rise up in that spirit of belief and trust in God that another member or group of the faith reacts with negative comments and even make it their “project” to bring belittling and slander.

Often the same response that Eliab had is displayed because the comfort zones are challenged by a lifestyle of somebody with unwavering belief and security. It brings out all the insecurities and wobbles in lives and then a defensive reaction is produced instead of allowing inspiration and encouragement to be imparted and the odds over lives to shift.

Let us be a spiritual generation of Odds Changes regardless of age, gender or nationality and see Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven.