Hi Folks:

I'm glad finally to be back for a while. I've travelled four weeks this summer. Three weeks of vacation, and another week for our Atlantic Baptist assembly in Moncton. In only 10 days the boys will be back in school. Another summer is almost over. I think next year I'd like to do things a little differently so that we get to experiece more summer at home. We have a year to think about it, at least.

We came home to find the cats had fleas. Not fun. Our cats pretty much have the run of the house, so everything has needed to be cleaned. This too, as they say, will pass.

We are looking at David and Goliath today. Take the time to read the whole story. I thought I had the details down, but was surprised as I read it again.

Troy

---------------------------------------------

1 Samuel 17:1-58*

Teens can be both delightful and frustrating. Not yet adults, but no longer children, they are caught in the nether regions of development.

Growing up means learning the "rules" of life. Because teens are still learning, they constantly push up against the limits, sometimes crossing the line of what is reasonable. Parents, teachers and youth leaders can be frustrated by this.

There are times, however, when teens surprise us by doing something we (as adults) think is not possible. They didn’t know they couldn’t do it, and so they did, kind of like those Looney Toons cartoon characters who fly until they remember that they can’t.

When we started a youth band in my first church, we needed a drum kit but didn’t have any money in the budget for it. Without my knowing it, several band members went shopping at a local music store and found a good set, even beating down the price. By the time I found out about it, all they needed was the money. I told them there wasn’t any in the budget. "That’s OK," they said. "We’ll raise it." They organized a fund raiser which was a great success. The adults supported their initiative and soon the drums were sitting in church.

David was a teen who didn’t yet know the "rules." He didn’t know that a young man couldn’t defeat a hardened warrior in battle. He didn’t know he was small, young and inexperienced. He didn’t know that he needed battle armour for protection or he would die. The adults tried to tell him all these things. They tried to educate him about the way life "really works." I’m sure that when they couldn’t convince him, they were praying he could at least run fast to get away.

David’s reaction showed that he didn’t understand the "rules" because he knew the Ruler. "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." (1 Samuel 17:37)

The adults in David’s life were jaded by life’s experiences and had a small view of God. They were limited by invisible walls and held in place by boundaries of the mind. How many times have we imagined a new possibility, only to say to ourselves, "We can’t do that."

Bill Hybels, pastor of the large Willow Creek church in Chicago, uses a tool to remind people not to get caught in this kind of "you can’t do that" trap. He calls it the "umbrella of mercy." When people have new ideas but fear others might find fault with them before hearing the details, they can call for the "umbrella of mercy." The umbrella guarantees that the ideas will be heard without someone saying, "Yeah, but what about...." The umbrella buys time to get past the rules so that they might uncover a new idea. Every church, every home, should have an "umbrella of mercy" so that we can see past the rules to what the Ruler wants.

David didn’t change his mind when he faced Goliath. How many times have I backed down from what looked like a good idea when I saw all the obstacles in the way. The rules of the battlefield said that size and strength mattered, and so David should have felt doom in his heart as he faced the nine-foot obstacle named Goliath.

David knew the Ruler and not the rules. "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." 1 Samuel 17:45

David had eyes of faith to see beyond the limitations of human possibility. We need the same kind of eyes, which are colour-blind to the shades of "we can’t do that," but see the vibrant colours of "in Christ all things are possible."

Hope this helps. Be On Fire

Troy

ON FIRE is a weekly letter of encouragement by Troy Dennis. This letter published August 29, 2005. www.onfireletter.com