When Heather’s job took her to Tim’s house to deliver his take-out meal, he asked her to help him untie the knot in the food bag. Tim had suffered a stroke a few years prior and no longer had the ability to untie the knot himself. Heather cheerfully obliged. Throughout the rest of her day, Heather’s thoughts frequently returned to Tim and she was inspired to assemble a care package for him. When Tim later found the hot cocoa and red blanket she’d left at his door with an encouraging note, he was moved to tears.
Heather’s delivery became much more significant than she originally anticipated. The same was true when Jesse sent his young son David to supply his brothers with food when the Israelites “drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines” (1 Samuel 17:2). When David arrived with the bread and cheese, he learned Goliath had been instilling fear in God’s people with his daily taunting (vv. 8-10, 16, 24). David was incensed by Goliath’s defiance of “the armies of the living God” (v. 26 ) and was moved to respond, saying to King Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him” (v. 32).
God sometimes uses the circumstances of our daily lives to put us in places where He wants to use us. Let’s keep our eyes (and hearts!) open to see where and how He might want us to serve someone.
By Kirsten Holmberg
REFLECT & PRAY
When has God supplied your needs through another person? How might He want to use you today in the life of another?
Father, please open my eyes to see where You might use me today.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The Israelites and the Philistines agreed that their battle was to be decided by two representative warriors (1 Samuel 17:8-11). Goliath was a fearsome Philistine champion, nine feet nine inches tall and heavily armoured (vv. 4-7). He dwarfed Saul, who “was a head taller than anyone else” in Israel (9:2), possibly six feet tall. For forty days, no Israelites answered Goliath’s challenge (17:16 ) until David was providentially sent to the battlefront on a food run for his three brothers (vv. 17-19). With no military experience or armour, David slayed Goliath with a sling and a stone in the name of the God of Israel (vv. 45-50).
K. T. Sim
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