The View From Down Here

*I'm currently doing a study of David and want to share with you what I learn along the way! Today we're in 1 Samuel 17. Again. See the first post here!*

David, who was talking to the men standing around him, asked... “Who does he think he is, anyway, this uncircumcised Philistine, taunting the armies of God-Alive?”
1 Samuel 17:26 MSG

Today, let’s back up a little bit. Let’s go back to before the fight.

David isn’t even supposed to be there. I mean, obviously God sends him there to kill Goliath, but David wasn’t already at the battleground. David is not a part of the army. He’s a shepherd who also works part time as the palace musician and Saul’s armor bearer (1 Samuel 17:15). The reason he’s even at the battleground is because his dad sent him to take some food to his brothers who were in the army.

David was just being obedient and going on an errand. He had no idea that errand would change his life.

After David gets there, Goliath comes out tormenting the Israelites (God’s people, the side David is on) and calling for someone to come fight him. Back in these days, sometimes armies would put forth two of their best warriors and let them fight each other. Whoever won got to claim victory for their side. This prevented major bloodshed and loss of life.

So Goliath is out there yelling “FIGHT ME!” and he’s been doing this for FORTY DAYS. And no one has stepped up to fight him yet. Because, oh yeah, he’s NINE FOOT NINE and his armor alone weighs 125 POUNDS. When he comes out, the Israelites are so scared they run away! (1 Samuel 17:24)

But not David. Because David has a secret weapon. It’s not his slingshot. He doesn’t have any superhero powers like invisibility or super strength. The kid doesn’t even have any armor. But what he DOES have is God on his side.

When David sees Goliath, he asks, “Who does he think he is, anyway, this uncircumcised Philistine, taunting the armies of God-Alive?” (1 Samuel 17:26)

While everyone else saw a giant, David saw a mortal man defying his God. And he knew that, with God on his side, Goliath wasn’t a threat.

If David had looked at the situation from a human point of view, it would have been intimidating. David was shorter than Goliath. He had to look UP to Goliath. When a problem seems bigger than us… that’s scary. But David looked at the situation from God’s point of view, and from God’s view, Goliath was just like anyone else. He wasn’t intimidating. Because nothing and no one can intimidate God.

When faced with a situation that seems impossible, we need to be like David instead of the Israelites. The Israelites were afraid of the giant, but David found boldness in the Lord to fight. When we view impossible situations from God’s point of view, our giant doesn’t seem so big anymore.

And that’s when we find the courage to say, “I’ll go fight!”

Height Doesn't Matter

*I'm currently doing a study of David and want to share with you what I learn along the way! Today we're in 1 Samuel 17*

David and Goliath. One is a giant. One… not so much.

Thing is, we don’t really know how tall David was. I was reading 1 Samuel 17 and wondered how much taller Goliath was than David. Goliath is said to be nine foot nine. When David is described, the Bible doesn’t bother to mention his height. I guess it wasn’t important enough to note.

David’s height didn’t matter anyway. He had God on his side.

It didn’t matter how tall he was. It didn’t matter how young he was. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t equipped with armor or a sword or a shield. God was enough.

By human standards, David wasn’t qualified to go out and face Goliath. The boy wasn’t even in the army! He was a shepherd and a musician. An animal-loving harpist does NOT seem like the best guy for the job. And actually… he wasn’t the best guy for the job. There’s someone already there on the battlefield who is very skilled, has tons of experience, and… is tall. That someone is King Saul.

When we meet King Saul in 1 Samuel he’s described as “a head taller than anyone else” (1 Samuel 9:2). In fact, the Bible mentions his height a few times. I guess Saul’s height WAS important enough to note.

So if Saul is the tallest one there, it would seem as though he would be the most capable man for the job, right? But Saul was not called to kill Goliath. God had chosen David.

When God calls us to do something for Him, He gives us what we need—not what we THINK we need. David didn’t need a sword or a shield or a few more feet of height to conquer Goliath. He used what he already had—a slingshot. He already had what he needed.

You may feel like the least capable person for the job. You might be looking at Saul and thinking, “He’s way more capable! He has experience! He has a sword! He’s tall!” Stop comparing yourself to others’ talents, abilities, and experience. If God has called you, then you can rest assured that He has already given you what you need.

You may feel unequipped for what God has called you to do. You might be looking at your slingshot and wishing you had a sword. Just like David’s height, what you don’t have isn’t worth noting. With the Lord on your side, you have everything you need. So go fight your giant.

Life from my iPhone

I am currently in the courtyard at the Courtyard Cafe, enjoying writing blog posts and just being out of the house. I just took the above photo of my apple caramel latte and it. is. AMAZING. The perfect fall drink. (Though Casey would argue that their pumpkin spice latte is better. I'm just not much of a pumpkin fan myself.) I was pretty excited that I got the Charizard table marker.

(This photo is from the last time I was here... last week.)

I got in the mood to blog and dug through my photos on my computer only to remember that I've not been carrying my DSLR around much, so... I've got nada. But I have a ton of photos on my phone! They may not be high quality photos, but they are high quality memories. (Yes, I'm aware of how lame that was to say.) So here's my life lately from my iPhone camera!

After living with my mom for several years, I'm so excited to finally have a home of my own again! We're renting an old house, and my decor style fits with it perfectly! I have a ton of antique pieces passed down from my family and they fit perfectly in this cute old house. This dresser was my great-grandmother's which my mom painted. It currently stores a portion of my cookie making supplies. The clock is an antique as well and doesn't work but it's so cute. Honestly I just took this photo because I was excited about my new pink plant!

This is my favorite spot in our house. The papasan chair is so cozy and comfy. I always hated that green color but it works so beautifully here that I've decided I like it! The yellow pops in the pillows look perfect with the vintage yellow chair on the other side of the living room, and Casey loves that it correlates to our yellow bathroom. (I love it too.)

Oh, and that ladder! It's new. Well, new to us. We got it from an antique store a few weeks ago when we were enjoying a Saturday in Ponchatoula. I sure wasn't planning on buying a ladder that day but thankfully it fit in the car! I recently added a few tiny pumpkins to it to make it fall festive. Next to it is a vintage milk jug which wins all the heart eyes.

The lamp is from Target and I was so excited to find it. I've literally spent years looking for lamps I like and found two from Target recently! (The other one looks exactly like it but is a table lamp.)

We got a new oven recently and I've been doing more baking! Our kitchen gets so much natural light and it is positively dreamy. 

We got a new Indian restaurant in town and Casey and I go like every other week. It's inside a gas station. Like, literally. You go in to get a snack and are met with a buffet and tables. At first it seemed a little sketch, but the food is amazing and reminds us of Asia. (And makes us miss Asia!)

Casey loves golf and putt putt (on our honeymoon he got done playing a round of golf, saw a putt putt course on our way back to the AirBNB, and then we played a game of putt putt) and has been on a major putt putt kick lately. I'm terrible at it (and anything else that requires coordination) but still enjoy playing. Last week we went to Baton Rouge for the day to play a course and... it started raining. So we played in the rain. We had a blast.

After putt putt, we went to the Asian market! I was so excited to check it out. We got some snacks and drinks that are similar to things we had in Singapore, and I was thrilled to find... pandan leaves! I didn't know what they were, but knew they were used to make kaya, a traditional Singaporean coconut egg jam. I crave it like once a week and haven't been able to find any around here. So I bought some pandan leaves (which I learned is similar to vanilla) to make my own. As soon as I opened the package, the smell took me back to Toast Box where we love to have breakfast when we're in Singapore. I found a recipe for Hainanese kaya (caramel flavored kaya, like they have at Toast Box) and gave it a shot. Besides burning my finger terribly (don't put your hand in hot caramel, k? But you probably already knew better) it turned out amazing!!! 

You Aren't What You Look Like

*I'm currently doing a study of David and want to share with you what I learn along the way! Today we're in 1 Samuel 16. Again*

Last time I touched a little bit on David being anointed as the future king of Israel. Instead of moving forward, let’s hang out here a little longer.

This part of the story is one we cover a lot in kids ministry. We have a skit that we’ve done all around the world (literally—we did it in Singapore and probably Malaysia. I can’t remember) that shows the importance of this part right here.

I mean, obviously it’s important. It’s an extremely important part of Israel’s history—King David being anointed. But it doesn’t go quite how one would expect it to go.

As I mentioned last week, the prophet Samuel had to anoint David in secret so the bad King Saul wouldn’t be all, “I’m killing you for treason!” So when God told Samuel that he needed to go to Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse’s sons, Samuel told King Saul that he was going to make a sacrifice in Bethlehem. (Which he did, so he wasn’t lying.)

Samuel told Jesse to bring out his sons. He had bunches. Seven or eight of them. (Some of the wording in the Bible is confusing. I personally understand it to be eight sons, but some people say seven. Anyhoo, that’s just a side note and beside the point.)

So Jesse brings out his boys and Samuel looks at the first one, Eliab, and says (and I’m paraphrasing), “I know this has to be the guy God picked!”

But God says, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

Then this happens six more times. Samuel is all, “It’s gotta be this guy!” “Look how handsome this one is!” “Man, this one is strong.” “This guy won the superbowl three years in a row!” “This one is supahhh rich!” Or, ya know, something along those lines anyway. Each son that was put before Samuel LOOKED kingly but God was like, “Nuh uh.”

Finally, it comes down to the point where all the sons have gone before Samuel the prophet and there aren’t any left. So Samuel asks Jesse, “Um, is this all of them? You got any more kids?” And Jesse’s like, “Well… there’s the youngest. He keeps the sheep. But, I mean... he's just the baby.” (1 Samuel 16:11)

And Samuel says, “Go get him."

Okay, let’s pause. You read that right. David wasn’t even there. He wasn't invited to the party. He was still out with the sheep. His family didn’t even bother to go get him for the family meeting. He was literally an outcast in his own family.

Tradition says that David was an illegitimate child. I’m not going into details—you can look into that on your own. But it would sure make a lot of sense, huh? Let’s ban the illegitimate kid to working with the sheep. Keep him out of the way.

But he’s the one God picked.

Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” (1 Samuel 16:12)

Whoa, wait, what? You're picking the guy who is all stinky because he's been with the sheep all day? You're picking the illegitimate kid? It doesn't make sense!!

It all goes back to that earlier verse.

The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

God isn’t looking at your outward appearance, or how many degrees you have, or how much money is in your bank account, or how many Instagram followers you have. He looks inside. He looks at your heart. He looks at your character. He sees your potential (because He placed it inside of you). And the cool thing? He can see those good things even through the bad inside of you. In the future, David will commit adultery, yet he’s still called “a man after God’s own heart.” Thankfully, our sin doesn’t keep God away. He sees it and sees through it. He’s looking for a heart that desires him, even when that heart messes up and falls into sin.

David was the outcast. Who else knows what that feels like? (Hand lifted high. Actually I’m raising both hands.) I think everyone has felt like an outcast at some point.

God uses outcasts.

God doesn’t view us like the rest of the world does, but rather as something far greater. David will later be called a king, a warrior, a giant-killer. God saw that potential in him while he was still an outcast to the rest of the world. And God sees that potential in you, too.

What the world thinks of you doesn’t matter. God doesn’t look at you like the world does. He sees you as something far greater. He sees the giant-killer in you when everyone else just sees the keeper of the sheep.

So don’t let the world get you down. Because you aren’t what you look like.