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"Help me, Jesus!" she screamed even louder as she trembled with fear.
"Hold still," Abel whispered as softly as he could. "It's zeroing in on your movements."
Then he did what his parents taught him to do when a maiden was in distress. He jumped between her and the dangerous beast. To be sure it saw him, he waved his arms and yelled, "Hey, you big dummy, you want a piece of me? I'm right here, so come and get me."
The robot seemed to have an evil smirk as it turned toward him. As the bot closed in on Abel, its welding arm swung violently. White-hot sparks danced at the end of it's lumbering limb. Abel hastily came up with a plan. He'd have to move as quickly as his daughter's cat if he was going to live through this. He took a deep breath and leaned to his right, then at the last moment he turned and dove to the left.
With a whoosh, the Turbo Weld 3000 swung its massive arm and just missed his head. Abel ducked under the heavy limb, and found himself behind the beast. Before the bot could turn around on Abel, he flipped the control switch on its back. The power to the beast was cut and the sound from its motors slowly died out.
Abel's nerves were a wreck as he sat panting on the floor. He was glad he'd watched all those silly Kung Fu movies. Nope, not even Jackie Chan couldn't have done it any better.
As the lab fell quiet Shirley was still shaking from the ordeal. She finally called out, "Is it all over?"
"Sure thing," Abel replied. Then he added, "My but that was fun!"
"Are you crazy?" she said as she crawled out from her hiding place and dried her tears. "That thing could have taken your fool head clean off."
Abel thought about it and said, "You're right. But it didn't." Shirley shook her head as she looked around. "Can you believe this mess?" she asked.
"Don't you worry about it, I'll get the repair crew to clean this up," Abel replied. |
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As our hero, Dr. Solomon Abel, faced the Turbo Weld 3000 he must have felt like the young boy in the Bible who found the courage to battle a giant. Most people can easily see the surface meaning to that story; With God's help the little guy can come out on top and beat the big guy. But, if we dig a little deeper we find an even more valuable and relevant meaning.
As we know the story of David and Goliath is a story about extraordinary courage. But knowing that only raises the question; Why would this lad have such colossal courage that he alone would dare step out onto the battlefield?
As we peal away the layers of the story we discover the buried nugget of truth that makes it relevant for our lives today. Young David knew he couldn't lose because God had already done the math! In fact, this intriguing story is about more than courage, it's really about munitions, aerodynamics and the sovereignty of God.
For a moment, let's not focus on young David's courage, or his fearsome opponent, Goliath. Let's not even focus on the thousands of anxious soldiers on either side of the raucous combat zone. Instead, let's look at the battlefield itself. A fair piece of land with a gentle babbling brook running through the middle of the valley. That little creek formed a natural break in the landscape as if to purposely create a boundary line.
Let's zoom in on that little brook. Closer. Covering the bottom of this quiet stream were thousands upon thousands of small rocks. I imagine them to be about the size of a golf ball, but flatter. Yes, smooth and flat. Each rock in that creek had been shaped and polished by years, decades, and centuries of continuous water flow as it daily tumbled over them. God knew from the day He created the earth that there was to be a battle near that creek. He knew that a skinny little brother named, David, would be bringing lunch to the soldiers up on the hillside. More importantly, God knew that this lad would boldly step out and trust him. He wasn't about to let that boy and his faith fall to defeat. Our all-knowing God was sure that young David would need the perfect ammunition to fit his crude weapon. With that foreknowledge, God began working to fashion the perfect ammunition from the foundation of the World. Then, when the time came for David to reach his hand into the brook, each stone he touched would be the right size, shape, and density, to take down his colossal opponent.
Think about it. a lighter stone would have bounced off Goliath's forehead and done little more than enrage the nasty giant. A heavier stone would have fallen short of the intended target. A stone with the wrong shape would have sliced like it came off my 9-iron, missing completely. But that's not what happened because God knew the distance. God knew the trajectory. God knew the wind speed and direction, barometric pressure and humidity for that specific day in the future. God even knew the speed of David's sling's rotation and the strength of his boyish arm. With all these facts at his disposal, God did the math. With those precise calculations, God used the water in that benign brook to whittle down the rocks to make them the perfect ammunition for a young boy to take down a 9' 6" giant.
- Can you think of any other stories where the little guy comes out victorious?
- Are you facing any "giants" in your life right now?
- What "rocks" have you tried using already?
- Can you trust God, like David did, to help you defeat a giant in your life? If not, why not?
We learn a very important truth when we read Acts 10:34 "Then Peter began to speak; "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism," through that promise we too can have confidence that God knows the giants each of us will be facing both now and in the future. Therefore, this story is in the Bible so that we too can be assured that He's already done the math; He's creating the perfect ammunition for our use as well. All that is left to do is put our faith in Him and boldly step out to face our oversized foes. Let us fearlessly reach down into the brook, confident that He knows what we need. Let us join David in proclaiming, "The battle is the Lord's". The rest is up to Him.
Suggested Prayer:
Lord, your Word promises that you do not show favoritism and therefore, what you've done for David, you'll also do for me. You know the giants that stand defiantly in my path. I ask that you fan the flames of my faith so that I too will be unmoved. Give me strength and courage each day to boldly walk out to face my opponents. You said that you would never leave me, nor forsake me. With that promise I know I can do all things through Christ Jesus, my Savior. Amen
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