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Because simple daily Christian living is never what we thought it would be
What have I done to really set a David level example? Have I taken a risk so wonderfully amazing that those around me saw the very hand of God in the successful defeat? Have I humbled myself prostate before the Lord publicly so that all-the-world knew it was Him…and, that I, above everyone else, was quite aware of that. Have I done anything worthy of my God that my children and the children of my siblings should imitate? Does my family sit around the supper table telling about my great faith and courage…and how God used me to really change the direction in this war against evil giants?
Facing Giants and Imitating the Uncles
Facing Giants and Imitating the Uncles
Do you know the story of Jonathan? Not the story of Saul’s son and David’s best friend; the story of young Jonathan, the son of Shimei? Actually it is not much of a story. He gets about two lines in the second book of Samuel. Yet, when reading those two lines a story played out in my head like a novel of maturing and intertwining characters. And, at the end of that daydreamed plot, the Lord asked me a question. He wanted to know what example I am leaving for my nieces and nephews.
We all know the story of David. Probably in fact, we know many stories of David. How can we not study the one of whom God was so fond? It is certainly my craving that God feel about me the way He felt about David. And the excitement of the stories of David starts with the segment of him and Goliath the giant. How intriguing to think of the event…where a very young shepherd boy, with no military armor or weapon, challenges logic… and by shear will, determination, and faith…kills an aggressive warrior several times his size. The story motivates little boys and girls in Sunday school classes to accept challenges, to be bold for Christ, and to have that kind of pure and innocent faith. And this story still motivates me. So many times in life everything…simply everything…faces me like that giant. And, in my smallness, I seek the Lord for greater strength. Then I (sort of) courageously set out to defend God and what I believe needs defending.
This story of David also motivated Jonathan, the son of Shimei. David and Shimei were brothers, which makes this young Jonathan, David’s nephew. Now you and I both know that the Old Testament families are filled with cross-over names. Everyone seems to have been named for someone…or several someones. Have you ever caught yourself reading right along and then stopping only to remark to yourself that you thought “he” was dead? Well, I do. But there is a purpose in this duplicate naming…honor. And with a name like Jonathan…spelled like David’s best friend, a thought of curiosity crosses over me about the possibility of real closeness between David and Shimei. However, what we do not have to speculate about is that the son of Shimei was influenced by the story of his uncle David and the slaying of that giant named Goliath.
Can’t you just picture how the little tike was told the stories of his family around the supper table? Can’t you see the excitement in his eyes as he asks for the “Giant Story” to be told again? Can’t you see his little mind whirl as the story is repeated and he sees himself playing the part of the hero? Don’t you just know that he told the story along with the teller and made sure that all the words and all sound effects were added at just the right times. Don’t you know that he saw the pride on his father’s face as Shimei told the grand story of how his little brother David had stood up in front of the army of the Philistines and faced the giant that no one wanted to face. Can you hear the little Jonathan hold his breath until the giant falls? Can’t you just see him draw the giant’s sword and destroy Goliath in the same motion that David destroyed him that day on the battle field? And in finale, Jonathan helps to end the story by whispering along with the telling of the words, “David destroyed Goliath with nothing except determination and a shepherd’s stone and his belief in a God who saves us.”
Oh, I can see it. I can see how Shimei and his wife felt. I can see how the mother adored her son’s reactions as she saw the connection between father and son…the common pride that helped melt the family together. I can even see the wink that Shimei threw to his adoring wife over the approval of their son’s development. And, I can feel the parental expectations that transpired because of the whole elevating experience of the story. I believe that those parents wanted to teach their son through that story and expected God to also use him in just such a significant way.
And He did. Little Jonathan had been primed for the task. So when a giant challenged the God of his story…the God of his uncle, the God of his family, the God of his people…Jonathan knew just what to do, He was ingrained in the power of success. He had been taught to believe just like his uncle believed…that God would deliver the righteous and defeat the evil enemy…even if it was a giant of a situation. So when the man “Of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot” came to take a stand against God and the armies of Israel that day at Gath…well, Jonathan slew him.
What have I done to really set a David level example? Have I taken a risk so wonderfully amazing that those around me saw the very hand of God in the successful defeat? Have I humbled myself prostate before the Lord publicly so that all-the-world knew it was Him…and, that I, above everyone else, was quite aware of that. Have I done anything worthy of my God that my children and the children of my siblings should imitate? Does my family sit around the supper table telling about my great faith and courage…and how God used me to really change the direction in this war against evil giants?
At the very least Lord, do I prepare the next generation for the challenges that they will face by telling and retelling the stories of Your great faithfulness? Do I do everything within my simple power to prime them for the task? Lord, I am Your servant. Whether I am called to be a slayer of giants by the sword or by the ingraining of others in the power of success…prepare me for battle so that those who come after me will be ready to imitate the uncles.
In obedience
Rhonda D. Loucks
What can you expect? Straight talk, laughable humor, real truth, simple living, and passionate yearning...
all regarding the God that still involves Himself in the details of the lives of His people