Risk Takers For God
Who Dares Wins
1 Sam 17:28-49
Have you ever taken a risk for God? Maybe done something that you wouldn’t otherwise done except that you knew God wanted you to do it.
Can you remember what your worries were?
· What would people say?
· Who am I to put myself forward like this?
· What if I fail? Will God come through?
Never tell anyone it can’t be done … God may have been waiting for centuries for somebody ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing.
David wasn’t ignorant, but he was convinced that being a servant of God meant something - it sometimes meant sticking your neck out … taking a risk … because that is what God is asking you to do.
Look Beyond
How Others View You
Looked beyond how others saw him to how God saw him.
David encountered two criticisms which we may also face:
1. People may question your abilities:
Eliab had heard David say to some men “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
His reaction?
When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert?
Did you see what he was saying? “Who do you think you are? You’ve got nothing to offer us here!” You don’t have any ability in this area. Your ability and place in life is looking after a few mouldy sheep in the backblocks somewhere - this is all you will ever be good for … this is your place in life so get back there.
2. People may question your motives.
I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."
The only reason you’re here is so that you can come and laugh at us while we get munted by the other guys. You’re not here to take this situation seriously … you are just here for the entertainment value.
Maybe some of you here tonight have been in a similar position. Maybe you have always been put down by people around you, maybe even by your family. And so taking a risk by obeying God fully is something that is hard to do.
Have a friend in David … I think that David had been put down all his life by brothers.
You get the feeling that his brothers had put David down for years - you can hear it in his exasperated reply:
29 "Now what have I done?" said David. "Can't I even speak?"
Can I encourage you to start to do what David did?
At some stage in his life, David must have decided that his worth and ability was not found in what others thought of him, but in what God thought of him. So in verse 30 here, we see he isn’t put off by all the agro of his brother.
His focus was on God’s opinions, not on those of others.
Only God can see all that he has made you to be, and all that you can become if you give your life wholly to him. When others see your life in black and white, God sees it in vibrant colours.
What is the step that God is wanting you to take?
· at school, talking to someone about Jesus - maybe inviting them to church or
How Others View Your Resources
I used to love watching McGyver when it was on TV. I remember watching it for the very first time and thinking this is so cool. Picture the scene - a nuclear bomb is just about to blow up - people are running everywhere and McGyver just stands there and starts patting his pockets and finds …. Ah chewing gum!… and a toothpick!!! - all I need to defuse the bomb!
I used to love watching McGyver because he wasn’t afraid to tackle a problem simply by using what he had - even if it seemed insignificant.
But you may think, what have I got to offer God?
David was in exactly the same position
What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."
David was in the same position that many of us feel at times
Two Resources that you may also share:
1. A history of depending on God
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 delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
God had shown David he could be trusted.
David had developed the habit of relying on God in every single ordinary day.
Look at what Jesus said: "His master replied, `Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. (Matt 25:21)
The ordinary is the training ground for the extraordinary
Is God so much a part of your every day that … turning to him becomes a habit?
Qualified to be a risk-taker for God
2. Your God-given abilities:
Arnold Swarzenigger … total recall
Surely this was the type of man …
Saul dressed David in his armour …. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
Did God zap?? NO … God used David as he was. He used the abilities that David already had.
David was a shepherd. His ability was in using the staff and the slingshot and not the sword.
Trying to copy someone else’s method didn’t work for David - he had to rely on the unique abilities that God had given him.
The same with us.
But … you have got to offer these abilities to God.
Mother Teresa once said: “I am like a little pencil in God’s hand. He does the thinking. He does the writing. The pencil has only to be allowed to be used”.
How Others View Your task
1. Get God’s Perspective
Guys coming out of their rooms into a long dark corridor - ATTITUDE!
You don’t have to be the strongest; You don’t have to be the fastest; You don’t even have to play the game.
You Know The Odds, Now Beat Them
What odds would TAB have placed on David doing over Goliath? 100 to 1? 1000 to 1?
Goliath thought so:
42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"
Did David say?
"You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you with a sling shot and five rounds of ammunition”?
No. He said
I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
One person plus God is a majority
I encourage you to be a risk-taker for God and do it … but only if it’s motivated by one purpose.
David’s purpose:
2. Aim For God’s glory
the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's,
DC TALK: Hey You! I’m into Jesus!
Who Dares Wins, but only when we step out in obedience to God trusting in a God who is faithful who will never ever leave you nor forsake you.
What step is God wanting you to take? Is it
· a step of baptism?
· asking Jesus to take your life and change it and rule in it?
· sharing Jesus with someone at school or at work?
· going to someone who you have hurt and asking for forgiveness?
· getting involved in a ministry even though you don’t feel completely confident.
Hey You! I’m into Jesus!
Look beyond how others view you
Look beyond how others view your resources
Look beyond how others view the task