CONTINUE PREPARING YOURSELF FOR THE FUTURE
And Saul said to David, thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. And David said unto Saul, thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: and I went out after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defiled the armies of the living God (1 Samuel 17:33-36).
Continue preparing yourself for the future. Progress in this life is progressive; is time bound and usually based on past experience! Consider the growth of a human being: it takes time for a human embryo to grow from a small mass of cells to a big human being. During the process, the embryo is subject to challenges but immunity is built with time to surmount greater challenges that come.
1 Samuel 17, describes a very unpleasant situation that confronted the people of Israel when Saul was the King. There was war between the Philistines and the people of Israel. The Philistines were led by Goliath of Gath. Bible describes Goliath as a stout and tall man, very experienced in war since his youth. His physical outlook alone was so intimidating that “all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid” (1 Samuel 17:24). Saul who was the king of Israel at that time also gave up on the matter. A leader of a group must always be able to stand and lead irrespective of how the situation is intimidating. For Saul in particular, although God specially chose him to be the first king of Israel (because he was capable of leading the people of God) he could not stand the Philistines because of fear.
David who was not part of the army of Israel but was sent by his father to deliver food to some of the soldiers happened to witness the war scene and was motivated to fight for the Israelites. Every Israelites soldier could not stand the sight of Goliath but David, a civilian, was motivated to fight for the Israelites mainly because of his confidence and allegiance to God. Secondly, David was angry that Goliath was ‘defying the armies of the living God’ and he purposed to fight Goliath. In addition, David had trained himself for situations like this. His testimony to Saul was that, he had had fierce encounters with bears and lions and emerged victorious. These encounters confirmed God’s word in his life; developed resilience and more confidence in him to surmount every challenge that came his way. David fought Goliath and killed him (1 Samuel 17: 50-51). Continue preparing yourself for the future and fear will have no place in you.
A few additional lessons for us to learn from this story: how prepared are you to surmount the challenges of this world? If you are preparing to write and pass an examination that will propel you to the next level of advancement, how successful have you been with previous examinations? If you are applying for a bigger job now, how have you been diligent and successful in your current job(s) or previous job(s)? Progress in life usually does not happen by chance. As the good book says, you reap what you sow (Galatians 6:7). Therefore, to see ourselves in greater positions tomorrow and provide premium service(s) to the world depends on how we prepare ourselves today. Be diligent with God and the Holy Spirit; learn from your mentors; give off your best in every situation; learn from good books and from past experience(s) and always see your glorious future ahead of you with your spiritual eyes.
