27 Jul Expect The Unexpected

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT)

I was reminded of the above passage recently while reading one of my morning devotionals. The author pointed out something that I had never noticed before in the story of David and Goliath. Many of us are familiar with the story. Shepherd boy David goes to the front line of the battle with the Philistines and ends up killing the 9-foot-tall, taunting Philistine soldier Goliath.

David tells King Saul that he cannot use the king’s battle equipment because it is heavy and unfamiliar to him. Many of us then know that David slays Goliath with a single stone from a slingshot. But my devotional pointed out something I had missed completely. I will let you read about it before I share it:

“I can’t go in these,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off again. 40 He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine. 41 Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, 42 sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. 43 “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. 44 “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled. 1 Samuel 17:39-44 (NLT)

David had his shepherd’s staff with him. It’s very possible that Goliath assumed that’s what David was going to use to attack him: “Am I a dog…that you come at me with a stick?” That’s not what happened. David dropped the staff and used his slingshot. Perhaps Goliath was so caught off guard by locking in on that staff that he literally didn’t know what hit him. When I read that in the devotional, I got to thinking about the passage from Isaiah above.

If that’s the case, David thought he knew the plan, but God quickly showed him a new one. What does this mean for us? Do we trust God to deliver us, but don’t trust Him with the design of the delivery system? I must confess I am often guilty of this.

God recently answered my prayers for someone at Samaritan’s Heart Mission Church. The result was what I prayed for, but how God got there was not at all what I expected.  That includes God using me in one way to get the result when I thought He was going to use me in a very different way. I am thankful that when I realized I had forgotten “His ways are far beyond anything I can imagine,” I got out of His way. Now, that person is entering a new season of growing closer to God. What’s in all this for you and me?

1. Expect the unexpected when it comes to God’s Word. Even if it’s a passage as familiar as the story of David and Goliath, He can always show us something new.
2. Expect the unexpected when it comes to how God is going to move in your life or in the life of someone you’ve been praying for.

Keep your mind focused on the reality that His ways are far beyond anything we could imagine, and watch God do amazing things in your life!

Pastor Jerry Bader