Thought for September 30

 History:

• 1659: Robinson Crusoe ship wrecked [according to the book]
• 1791: "Magic Flute" by Mozart premiers in Vienna
• 1888: Jack the Ripper kills two more women
• 1929: 1st manned rocket plane flight
• 1935: Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" premiers
• 1935: Boulder Dam [Hoover Dam] dedicated
• 1939: First televised college football game--Fordham beats Waynesburg
• 1941: Over 33,000 Jews shot by Nazis near Kiev
• 1947: First televised World Series game--Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers
• 1950: Grand Ole Opry on TV for the first time
• 1950: WSM TV begins broadcasting
• 1953: Earl Warren appointed Chief Justice
• 1955: James Dean killed in car wreck
• 1960: The Flintstones premiers
• 1984: Murder She Wrote premiers
• 1993: Colin Powell retires
• 2019: Large iceberg calves from Amery ice shelf [315 billion tons]
• Born: William Wrigley, Hans Geiger [Geiger counter], Robert Lightfoot [theologist], Buddy Rich, Deborah Kerr, Truman Capote, Elie Wiesel, Angie Dickinson, Johnny Mathis, Jim Sasser, Marilyn McCoo [5th Dimension], Fran Drescher, Marty Stuart, Jenna Elfman, Marion Cotillard, Martina Hingis, 
• Died: Saint Jerome [translated Greek to Latin Bible/Vulgate], George Whitefield [evangelist], Edith Roosevelt, Edgar Bergen, Mary Ford [Les Paul & Mary Ford], Monty Hall, Jessye Norman

Thought:

Now everybody like's 1 Samuel 17--David and Goliath. I have loved this story since childhood. We recall the picture:

• Goliath--10 feet tall, huge head covered by a bronze helmet, 125 pounds of armor, armed with a javelin and a spear [the head weighed 15 pounds]
• David--5 rocks and a sling

This picture alone should cause me to trust God, rely on His strength, walk in His ways. What do you think the odds in Vegas were on this fight. Let your mind think about the greatest upsets in history for a moment--Chaminade beats the Virginia basketball team and Ralph Samson or Marshall beats Notre Dame earlier this month. Maybe you think of the Miracle on Ice. Golfers may recall Jack Fleck winning the US Open after only being a full-time golfer for 6 months then beating Ben Hogan in a play-off. All of us have watched "Hoosiers." Only a few will remember Rulon Gardner in the 2000 Olympics. He was a Greco-Roman wrestler. His opponent, Alexander Kerelin, had not lost a bout in 13 years and had won 3 Olympic Golds, but the unknown guy from Wyoming won. 

What should I learn from just the picture of the two combatants:

• Faith is the substance of things unseen. If the battle between David and Goliath was to be decided based upon what I saw, there was no chance. This is often the case in life---do I rely on my senses or trust in the Lord. Every time I catch myself saying I can't to the Lord, I should think about David and Goliath. The truth is I can't, but He can. I can't teach, lead, serve, witness, love, be patient, forgive, forget---But He can--Christ in me, my hope of glory.
• God uses the weak of this world to demonstrate His power and authority. God gets glory when those the world sees as weak or insignificant are used by God in amazing and awesome ways. 
• A rock guided by the hand of the Lord is more powerful than a guided missile. Ours is a spiritual battle and God provides spiritual weapons divinely designed and divinely powered to destroy all those evil strongholds. 

What giant are you facing today? Does he seem too powerful, too big, too strong? Think about David and read 17:45. You can say to that giant what David said to Goliath---I come in the name of the Lord of hosts. I come in His strength, with His wisdom, with His authority. I rely on His promises and His sufficiency. I come confident not in who I am but in who He is. He has already won the victory. 

Blessings

Larry