Look Back At Your Stick

At Vanguard our logo is a phrase that I’ve been thinking about lately, it says “Your Story Matters”. So this indicates that all of us have our own, unique identifying story. So let’s look at David’s story for a little but, I want to approach it with a fresh new perspective. let's look at David's battle with Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:34-37 also verses 40-43. They talk about how David was explaining to King Saul that he had killed a lion and bear that have come against his sheep. In Verses 40-43, Goliath is mocking David asking him why he came with a stick.

Now to further understand this, you have to see the place in which this battle took place. It is called the Elah Valley (pictured below). David had to go into a valley to face a giant. But before, David was reminding Saul of God's faithfulness to him. How? he used his stick.

One thing we have to understand about the Israelite people is that they were a nomadic people; meaning that they moved around many times. Also, another thing to know is that every male (especially shepherds) carried a walking stick.But something awesome that they would do, even before having paper and pen, these males would carve their family history on their sticks. So when David went to show King Saul about his battles, He was able to look and point to the writing on his stick and show God's faithful record. But notice what was supposed to kill David did not kill him. What about those moments in which you thought "Lord this is it; i'm done", or those suicidal thoughts through the night, or maybe those nights where you had to cry yourself to sleep. But you woke up the next day because God's grace.

David took that same stick with him down to the valley to face a 10 foot giant named Goliath. But David knew that God was going to allow him to also write “today I slew a 10 foot giant” on his stick. But when we read Goliath's response, it seems to be that he saw this stick as a weak weapon; but boy was he wrong. David, in the valley had the audacity to call God his protector; why? be cause he had his stick at hand. This same stick even became a spiritual weapon. and it teaches us something today.

When we take time to look back at our lives and see how God has protected, guided, transformed, delivered, and healed us it causes this crazy confidence to rise up inside us to look at the giants we face and say "if God id it back then, He can do it again". Crazy enough, David ends up killing not just Goliath, but 4 other giants later. But imagine when he faced the others, he looked back at his stick and saw "I killed the giant Goliath" written. So for us now, what has God done for us in the past that we can stop what we are doing just to say "Thank You God"? If you do not know what to thank God for; take a look back at your stick (your life) and see what is written on it. There is always something to be grateful for. Happy Thanksgiving.