This is Day # 21 and many of you have discovered the power of faithful  prayer as you have triumphed over, what may have seemed to be, a giant ready to defeat you.

If you have never read the account of David and Goliath I would ask that you turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 17 and read that account before you continue reading this final devotion.  Go ahead – I’ll wait for you.

 

 

 

Dr. Wesley Stafford is the President of Compassion International. It is a Christian organization that sponsors underprivileged children and gives them a chance to climb out of poverty and see the love of Jesus.

While we were driving to GA yesterday I had the chance to hear Dr Stafford on the radio while he was speaking at Moody Bible Institute.  He shared a story from his childhood.

Young Wess Stafford grew up as a missionary kid in the tribes of Africa on the Ivory Coast.  He shared how he was the only white kid out of all his friends and how he prayed to one day wake up and be black so he would not be different.  But every day he woke up white.  But that didn’t seem to matter to any of his friends.  They played together and hunted together and they learned the Bible together from his parents.

When Dr Stafford conveyed that they played together he told a story of all these young boys and their sling shots.  They carried them every where they went.  In these particular tribes in Africa, the sling shot is not just a toy, but it is also a weapon, a lifestyle, a lively hood.  You see it was with a sling shot that they defended themselves against  predators, killed animals for food as well as protected their crops from scavangers.  Those boys, out of shear repetition and necessity, became lethally accurate with their sling shots.

One morning Wess’ mother was sharing the story of David and Goliath and how David through great faith fought a giant and defeated him.  Dr. Stafford conveyed a different take on the story that he and his friends discussed after the Bible lesson was over.  You see, to them, it didn’t seem so much like a story of great faith but from their perspective it was actually a story of a very stupid giant, who wasn’t smart enough to stay a safe distance from a young boy and his slingshot.

I believe we need that kind of confidence against our enemy.  Through repetition, we can become so lethally accurate with the Word of God (our Slingshot), that the giants in our lives (the temptations of the evil one) will seem stupid for coming too close or they will flee with fear.

I pray, over the past 21 days, you have honed your skills in the Word and that only a stupid giant would dare come within range.

Come tonight to the Life Center at 6:30 and tell us about the giants you have slain over the past 21 days.

I’ll be there with my sling,

Pj