Wayne
Manning If you’re old enough to remember
Marlin Perkins and “Zoo Parade” you will remember the Prudential
Insurance Company slogan, “A Piece of the Rock.” It also became a joke
among seminary Bible students, where the Old Testament Israelite future
king, David, became the first insurance salesman…. he gave Goliath “a
piece of the rock!” It’s a bad joke, but a great image. There are
times when we need that rock to stand on. Who among us hasn’t had a life
situation loom like a giant, unfaceable and unconquerable? The loss of a
job, or worse, the loss of a loved one; a devastating medical verdict; a
broken relationship… Goliath experiences, every one. The story of David and Goliath has
some valuable lessons for us. I encourage you to read it for yourself in I
Samuel, chapter 17. Picture it as you read it. Watch in your mind’s eye
as young David tries to put on King Saul’s armor, only to find it so
heavy he cannot even move! And then realize the intent of this brief
moment of comic relief. Although we can help each other, and pray with and
for each other, we must each finally face our Goliaths with our own tools,
our own version of David’s five smooth stones. These stones have been the core of
many lessons, articles, and even books. Let’s examine them once again
and see what meaning they might have for us today as we seek to overcome
the obstacles in our lives. Let’s call the first one
COURAGE. We all have it; I’m convinced of that. In fact, we possess all
the qualities that these stones represent, given to us in that
“image and likeness” moment of creation. They are intrinsic in
our nature, however covered over and hidden. Our natural courage, some
psychologists say, is covered over with excuses. When we run out of
excuses, what we have left is fear. Courage is moving through the fear
anyway, with no more excuses. It has been helpful to me to see
examples of courage in others. What courage Alan Shepherd showed in
becoming the first American in space, riding a hopefully controlled
explosion to an uncertain destiny! You may not remember the name Louis
Waskansky, but most of you will remember Dr. Christian Barnard, the
patient and doctor respectively in the world’s first heart transplant,
an incredibly risky procedure that called on the deepest courage of both.
I am inspired daily by the courage displayed by some of the people in my
own life whose stories I know something about. The second stone is WILLINGNESS.
We must want what’s beyond the obstacle so much that we are willing to
go for it. David was willing! He also knew where his strength really lay.
He said, in effect, “It’s not me, it’s God!” We must be willing
even when we feel unable. Willingness can often go where ability cannot. IMAGINATION is the third stone.
Picture the obstacle overcome, see it as clearly as possible. Lots of
contemporaries of the Wright Brothers were trying to invent controlled
flight, but Orville and Wilbur were the ones who imagined that if the
wings were warped just so, the airplane would turn and bank and not fall
out of the sky. They could see the warped wing in their imaginations
before it was visible to others, and they brought it into visibility. The fourth stone is PERSISTENCE.
Don’t give up. Keep on keeping on. Who can forget the vivid lesson in
the advice, “It’s like eating an elephant… one bite at a time.” Or
the little train who could: “I think I can! I think I can! I think I
can!” Or Robert Schuller’s “Inch by inch, anything’s a cinch!”
Or Paul in Philippians, “…one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind
and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for
the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” If it sometimes
feels like you’re banging your head against a wall, remember that
you’re looking for loose stones and hidden gates. And lastly the fifth stone…
FAITH. Believe in your own possibilities. Know that God’s will for you
is good. Believe that the obstacle is there to be overcome. “Faith is
the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” the
writer of Hebrews teaches us. Read the story of the woman who touched the
hem of Jesus’ garment, in Mark 5:25 and following verses. Notice that
she not only had faith in Jesus, but a deep faith in her own conviction
that something wonderful was going to happen if she could just touch the
edge of his robe! Courage, Willingness, Imagination, Persistence, and Faith. These rocks are solid foundations upon which we can stand as we meet life challenges. Ultimately, of course, “rock” has long been a symbol for God. From Psalm 18: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge.” And Psalm 19: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Courage, willingness, imagination, persistence, and faith are but pieces of the One Rock that is God, the One Rock that stands at the center of our existence, the One Rock on which we truly stand.
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