This morning, at the nursing home, where I am playing the piano accompaniment to the hymns some Sundays this summer, the sermon by old friend Dean was about the Biblical hero, David.
I was thought-provoked.
We've all heard the story of David and Goliath a million times. I have a love/hate attitude toward David, for good reason. He's a paradox, an irritant, an inspiration, a hero.
Actually, he's like most of us in many respects: a sinner with weaknesses and a love for God.
And God saw that love and commended it, especially in Hebrews.
I read the Psalms, and my heart echos David's in all of my love for God and pleading for help. I am glad he wrote those words, because I can pray them and sing them with understanding. His Psalms speak to me. Jesus quoted them, too, even in his last moments.
I love that a young shepherd boy came to a battle with advanced war tactics, defeated a formidable enemy, and then parlayed his way through difficult relationships to become king with God's anointing.
I am irritated that he struggled with his relationships with women.
But no one's perfect, including David.
I should take comfort in that, as it sets a precedent for most marriages. There's give and take, difficulties, annoyances, moments of sin, failures. Most marriages are like that, if we are truthful.
I like a good, old-fashioned Jane Austen romance as much as anyone: Perfect spunky heroine, perfect dashing hero, perfect relationship; happily ever after!
Oh, sure, I'm betting there are marriages out there where everything is done perfectly, total congruence, rightly measured affection, good relationship! There is forgiveness and ease in the give and take.
But I'm betting there are more marriages where the struggles are real, and forgiveness and patience are daily practiced, often.
It's a two-way street. It's never a one-sided problem. It takes two...
David's weakness and consequent God-given victory over Goliath was an incredible lesson for life early on. If he had applied his knowledge of being weak and relying on God's strength in his relationships with women he may have succeeded there, too. But he ended up failing miserably.
Come on, we have to admit it. For me, this inability of his to manage marriage has always ruined him for me. In my own failures I looked to this "man after God's heart" to be an example. He isn't.
But what a picture of God's grace! David loved God. He loved God more than He loved his wives. God recognized that. God forgave him. God made him a picture of Christ, an integral part of Christ's lineage. Nothing David did stopped him from being used by God. God's grace extended beyond David's sin.
When I look at marriage, and all of its joys and sorrows, I see a relationship that is ordained by God. I see a difficult path that is full of unexpected turns and bumps, mountains to navigate, valleys to forge through. There are the cool springs of good rapport and love, but there are the deserts of problems as well. There are the pinnacles of success and happiness, but also the bogs of relentless commitment to a vow made through sickness or perhaps infidelity----until death.
When I am weak, He is strong. That is a true picture of marriage, and every difficulty we encounter within that relationship.
David and Goliath. We face a formidable foe every day.
What is your Goliath?
Have you thought of these things being giant issues:
Comparing your own relationships with other people's relationships?
(You do know that you probably only ever see the positive aspects of most relationships.)
Comparing yourself to a standard laid out by some preacher or teacher you (mostly) admire?
(These are standards to strive for, to keep before one's eyes, but let's be real! We all fall short of the mark!)
Comparing yourself to the perfection of God's standards?
(You've already failed!)
Expecting something remarkable from a (sinful) human being?
After almost 30 years of marriage I confess that these battles of strength and weakness still wage war in my own mind. I am daily evaluating my own behavior and working to forgive those that I must, others including my own long-suffering husband!
I fight those standards and those examples that "live inside my head rent free."
I must always remember that God uses these weaknesses of mine to demonstrate HIS STRENGTH.
I am not living the life I pictured for myself in my teens and early twenties, but who does, really?
I can take the many good things and rejoice with thankfulness at God's abundant blessings, and they are truly magnificent, or I can bring myself to a place of bitterness at all of my failures and lost dreams. Being real is seeing God's strength in my own weakness.
Okay! I love David! I can't wait to meet him in heaven. He was an animal lover, probably good looking, musical, smart, and he had incredible passion for God. He's my kind of guy.
It was probably a real disappointment to be married to him, but now he's perfect---with the LORD.
So much to learn from his life! I need to readjust my thoughts regarding him.
I was provoked today.
I was thought-provoked.
We've all heard the story of David and Goliath a million times. I have a love/hate attitude toward David, for good reason. He's a paradox, an irritant, an inspiration, a hero.
Actually, he's like most of us in many respects: a sinner with weaknesses and a love for God.
And God saw that love and commended it, especially in Hebrews.
I read the Psalms, and my heart echos David's in all of my love for God and pleading for help. I am glad he wrote those words, because I can pray them and sing them with understanding. His Psalms speak to me. Jesus quoted them, too, even in his last moments.
I love that a young shepherd boy came to a battle with advanced war tactics, defeated a formidable enemy, and then parlayed his way through difficult relationships to become king with God's anointing.
I am irritated that he struggled with his relationships with women.
But no one's perfect, including David.
I should take comfort in that, as it sets a precedent for most marriages. There's give and take, difficulties, annoyances, moments of sin, failures. Most marriages are like that, if we are truthful.
I like a good, old-fashioned Jane Austen romance as much as anyone: Perfect spunky heroine, perfect dashing hero, perfect relationship; happily ever after!
Oh, sure, I'm betting there are marriages out there where everything is done perfectly, total congruence, rightly measured affection, good relationship! There is forgiveness and ease in the give and take.
But I'm betting there are more marriages where the struggles are real, and forgiveness and patience are daily practiced, often.
It's a two-way street. It's never a one-sided problem. It takes two...
David's weakness and consequent God-given victory over Goliath was an incredible lesson for life early on. If he had applied his knowledge of being weak and relying on God's strength in his relationships with women he may have succeeded there, too. But he ended up failing miserably.
Come on, we have to admit it. For me, this inability of his to manage marriage has always ruined him for me. In my own failures I looked to this "man after God's heart" to be an example. He isn't.
But what a picture of God's grace! David loved God. He loved God more than He loved his wives. God recognized that. God forgave him. God made him a picture of Christ, an integral part of Christ's lineage. Nothing David did stopped him from being used by God. God's grace extended beyond David's sin.
When I look at marriage, and all of its joys and sorrows, I see a relationship that is ordained by God. I see a difficult path that is full of unexpected turns and bumps, mountains to navigate, valleys to forge through. There are the cool springs of good rapport and love, but there are the deserts of problems as well. There are the pinnacles of success and happiness, but also the bogs of relentless commitment to a vow made through sickness or perhaps infidelity----until death.
When I am weak, He is strong. That is a true picture of marriage, and every difficulty we encounter within that relationship.
David and Goliath. We face a formidable foe every day.
What is your Goliath?
Have you thought of these things being giant issues:
Comparing your own relationships with other people's relationships?
(You do know that you probably only ever see the positive aspects of most relationships.)
Comparing yourself to a standard laid out by some preacher or teacher you (mostly) admire?
(These are standards to strive for, to keep before one's eyes, but let's be real! We all fall short of the mark!)
Comparing yourself to the perfection of God's standards?
(You've already failed!)
Expecting something remarkable from a (sinful) human being?
After almost 30 years of marriage I confess that these battles of strength and weakness still wage war in my own mind. I am daily evaluating my own behavior and working to forgive those that I must, others including my own long-suffering husband!
I fight those standards and those examples that "live inside my head rent free."
I must always remember that God uses these weaknesses of mine to demonstrate HIS STRENGTH.
I am not living the life I pictured for myself in my teens and early twenties, but who does, really?
I can take the many good things and rejoice with thankfulness at God's abundant blessings, and they are truly magnificent, or I can bring myself to a place of bitterness at all of my failures and lost dreams. Being real is seeing God's strength in my own weakness.
Okay! I love David! I can't wait to meet him in heaven. He was an animal lover, probably good looking, musical, smart, and he had incredible passion for God. He's my kind of guy.
It was probably a real disappointment to be married to him, but now he's perfect---with the LORD.
So much to learn from his life! I need to readjust my thoughts regarding him.
I was provoked today.
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