Monday Meditation: God's Training Ground

This morning I have a simple thought. One that could revolutionize how I look at God's assignments. The pastor taught on David yesterday. He taught out of I Samuel 17. As he started talking about David listing why he could take on Goliath in verses 34-37, something hit me -- it was in the job that nobody wanted, that God trained David.

As a shepherd, he took on a lion and a bear. It was because of his experience there that he had the faith to take on Goliath. 

³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine. 

It reminds me of Joshua's training to have the faith to lead the Israelites. Not only did he experience the miracles of God, he also spent concentrated time in God's presence in the Tent of Meeting. When Moses would leave, Joshua stayed behind. 


How would our perspective change if we understood that the things we do now are training grounds for future battles. God sees the big picture, but are we willing to trust Him when today isn't so clear?