WHO IS THIS UNCIRCUMCISED PHILISTINE, WHO DARES DEFY THE ARMIES OF THE LIVING GOD?

You are not God.

Maybe you don’t need to hear that, but I need repeated reminders.

You are not God, and that is okay because you’d make a lousy one compared to the God who is!

Here’s another truth I need to tape to my mirror:

You are not every part of the Body of Christ.

You are one part.

The whole work and calling of the church includes you, but it does not rest on you alone. 

We’re facing it right now, aren’t we loved ones?

Trouble arriving from every direction – fire, flood, wind, storm, quakes, rumors of war, conflict at home, threats from abroad, division, hostility, and all this served alongside the personal ongoing challenges we each were already facing.

If you don’t feel small and limited, you’re just not paying attention.

That’s where I found myself mired this week, reflecting too much on the shortness of my faith compared to all the giants calling out the armies of God.

Then, David’s words came to my mind. “who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 1 Samuel 17:26b

David’s faith and audacity made me smile, reminded me there’s no shame in being small.

And didn’t our God create the wind, rain, fire, quakes, and storm?

And didn’t He say there would be signs in the sky, disruptions, eruptions, earth bursts?

And didn’t He warn us there would be wars, conflicts, threats, divisions, and persecutions?

And didn’t He tell us He will never leave us?

And didn’t He say He’s given us everything we need for life and godliness?

I don’t need to be big enough. I just need to remember I belong to Him.

In fact, when I feel small, He says, YES! At last! Someone I can work with (though I imagine He uses proper grammar.)

And the whole world is not my concern alone. This is my Father’s world.

His church covers the earth.  I may be cowed by the giants barreling in from sea, from air, from foreign tyrants, and cancerous cells, through hateful words and treacherous cruelty, but to Him, there is nothing here to fear. He is God and there is no other like Him.

In fact, He pointed that out centuries ago when the Israelites quaked in their sandals at the trouble that swarmed like locusts. God pointed out, that while other nations carried their Gods around when they were on the move; He carries His people.

There is no God like Jehovah. He carries us. When the winds blow, the missiles launch, and cruel words fly remember there is no shame in being small, for that is how we were designed. All of this trouble will fall with a single stone aimed squarely at its forehead.

These storms are uncircumcised Philistines – no match for the armies of the Lord.

These times are uncircumcised Philistines – we will stand even as they fall.

These wars, diseases, divisions, and dreads are uncircumcised Philistines and they do not recognize that behind these tiny warriors stands a God like no other who has already claimed their defeat.

So, break away from the news coverage today to meditate on our Great God.

“Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb;

Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.

“To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike? Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship!

They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble.

“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old;for I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’”

Isaiah 46:3-10 ESV

Praying today for all who feel small in the face of giants. Shout with me, will you? Into the wind, the rain, the quaking earth, the threats from abroad, the fights from within, to disease, to death, to division, to pain, stand your ground and shout with me, ““who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

It is the giants whose time has come. Ours is eternal.

“Who is this uncircumcised Philistine who dares defy the armies of the living God!” https://t.co/EV3ynzJSJx #Irma2017 #wildfires #Jesus

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) September 9, 2017