Who We Are Intended to Be

Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 17:38-39, So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.

David is now preparing to do battle with Goliath. However, we see that Saul, still in his carnal thinking, assumes that David’s victory will be dependent upon the armor supplied to him by man, rather than by the power of God. Saul is trying to turn David into a warrior who can stand up against Goliath, when the only one who can do that is God. David, on the other hand, stands his ground, after allowing Saul to dress him in battle armor, refuses to utilize it for this giant challenge. Sometimes, in certain circumstances, our biggest challenge is not the circumstance itself, but what people expect of us. It may even be our own expectation and aspirations that stand in the way of us becoming who we are intended to be in life and any given situation. The greatest battle is often fought in our own mind as to who we think we are supposed to be (or would like to be), who others expect us to be, and who God intends us to be. David’s focus was on taking down this uncircumcised Philistines who was insulting God, and he refused to used carnal means to engage and win a spiritual battle. Far too often we allow our own desires and goals to supersede what God’s will and plan is for our lives. We often care far more about people’s opinions about how we should live life or handle a situation, rather than focus on the Lord and what He is calling us to do. In this case David had to choose between his faith in God’s ability to deliver Goliath into his hands, and Saul’s opinion about how David should fight this giant. Psalm 118:8-9 clearly says, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.” Psalm 20:7-8 also says, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. 8 They have bowed down and fallen; but we have risen and stand upright.” Saul and Israel were trusting in their armor, weapons, and own abilities to go up against Goliath and the Philistines; yet, all they were left with was fear and cowardice. David, on the other hand, put his trust in the Lord, and the result was that he went forward into battle to face an enemy that was far greater than he was, with confidence. He did not need Saul’s armor or weapons to become the man God intended for him to be. He knew that his faith in the Lord and his humble approach as a lowly shepherd boy was all he needed for God to give him the victory. It was this kind of faith and surrender that allowed God to turn David into who the Lord intended him to be, one of the greatest kings we read about in the Word of God. The king from whose lineage the King of kings and the Lord of lords would come from, and who would be the Savior of the universe, Jesus Christ. There was nothing that Saul could offer David that would bring forth these kinds of results or lead David down the path that would make him who God intended for him to be. As my wife and I watched a movie last night, one of the characters in the movie said this, “It’s time for me to be who I am rather than who I’m supposed to be.” This can be both right and wrong. Some of us need to stop being who others think we are supposed to be, and just be who we are in Christ. Some of us also need to stop being who we are right now (based on other people’s opinions and our own selfish desires), and allow God to do the work in us, through the Holy Spirit, to make us who we are supposed to be for His glory. We need to stop fighting life’s battles with carnal minds and carnal weapons, and put on our spiritual armor with faith and prayer, trusting the LORD to supply us with the strength we need in Christ Jesus. Ultimately, it is God’s battle and this is all about Him, not us.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).