What If He Would Have Said No

David was the youngest son. David’s three oldest brothers stayed with Saul’s army, ¹⁵ but David went back and forth so he could help his father with the sheep in Bethlehem.  1 Samuel 17:15-16

The story of David and Goliath usually starts with David taking bread and cheese to his brothers on the battle front in the Valley of Elah. But a few verses before, we see that David often made that trip to take supplies and to get a report for his father.

But what if on any of those days he would have said no. Perhaps this famous story of good over evil may never have happened. The day David challenged Goliath came after him visiting the Battlefront many times where he would see and hear things that he would then take back and meditate on while tending the sheep. Like so may other days, He would spend the time talking with the Lord. And unlike us many times, David actually listened when God talked to him. They actually had a conversation, that apparently developed and strenthen and encouraged David. So much so, that on that fateful day David had heard enough from Goliath and decided God was calling him to put an end to this madness. He called Goliath out and the rest is history, he took his sling and stone and killed Goliath.

But what if David wouldn’t have obeyed his father any of those times? What if he would have been offended that his brothers were on the Battlefield, but he had to tend sheep and run errands. What if he would have decided I’m tired of being used as a go-for, I’m better than this? What if every time before the challenge David heard or saw something that deveilped him into the teenage warriror he became? What if every time he went back to the sheep it was a time of spiritual growth and trust in God? It begs the question, are we missing the purpose in what we see as a delay? Are we sometimes so busy telling God how tired we are of waiting that we’re missing important information we need to complete a mission for him? What if we’d stop playing armchair coach and become an obedient servant with a hearing and listening heart? Maybe we should be a little more like David and we could kill more Giants in our way.