It’s a funny thing how we trivialize the monumental and build monuments to the trivial.
“this man has accepted Jesus as LORD and Savior.”
What is the typical response?
“that’s neat.” Or “cool.” And if you are old-school enough you’ll bust out an “Amen.”
Contrast this with: “this brownie is Awesome!”
This person was transferred from darkness to light, set free from the chains of sin and alive to God – neat.
But - this brownie - awesome.
Hmm.
We play epic, powerful music to our sports highlights all the while the real big stuff of life like the boy who daily picks up his bible so that he can know God, goes unsung and unheralded. The real epic moments of life are when a lad decides to choose righteousness over instant gratification, or when a young girl decides she will be modest because she wants to honor her God more than she wants to catch the gaze of boys.
A cheese-ball “Hip Hip Huzzah” should at least be in order right?
But no. Moments like these fade with no instant replay, no trading cards, and no (visible) crowd cheering on to victory.
I have frequently read that kids usually say their heroes in life are actors (paid pretenders), musicians (paid entertainers), and athletes (paid game players). Is that the stuff of a hero or is that just a person with a sweet job?
What’s going on here?
Shouldn’t the Christian be asking: Who are the men and women that God would exalt? Who are those that God would play the epic music to? Turn to Hebrews 11. Look through the pages of church history.
I think it will be a grand day when someone says to me their hero is Ulrich Zwingli! Or Irenaeus! Or how about my boy Athanasius! Ha.
(I use some names that are sadly obscure to many but they were incredible servants of God; men who stood against the popular trend; men who stood in the gap and gave no ground. Guys worth getting to know!)
In pondering this whole issue I keep returning to this thought: The world exalts events. God exalts faithfulness.
From the perspective of the world David was a random boy plucked out of obscurity and put on display in the battle with a giant. To God David was no obscure child. He was well known and loved, personally, by God. God used the boy (David) because God knew that he would use the platform to draw attention to God. David thought of himself as nothing and God as everything. David knew the faithfulness of God to him before the encounter with Goliath – this is the very reason why David was willing to fight on that famous morning. David had heard the mighty stories of God and His deliverance granted to the people Israel, and he had seen that faithfulness on display in his own experience. He heard of the past, lived it out in the present and this enabled him to walk by faith with his future.
The story of David and Goliath is peppered with samplings of the faithfulness of David, to God and people – and the two go together, just as love for God and man go together.
The moral of the story: David was faithful, so God used him. David was faithful in little, so God used him in much. People have since immortalized David for his stance on the battlefield that day. They built monuments and sang songs. People esteemed him greatly after that. But God esteemed him greatly back in that shepherd’s field - where everyone thought very little of him.
Stop trying to shake the world and start trying to be faithful in the minute details of the daily “grind.” Who knows, as you are faithful, he just might use you in a mighty way. He might put you in a position where everyone else buckles and you must stand alone with the opportunity to do something that will make the sighted world* tremble, like our boy David.
*sighted world = those who live by sight
