1 Samuel 17:34-36 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went out after him and [a]attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and [b]struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has [c]killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.”
I recently found this picture of me with this Kenyan Maasai in my photo archives and the Lord piqued my curiosity. In the few minutes I interacted and stood to pose with this tall human, I felt nervously awkward and ungainly.
Maasai warriors have been known for centuries as fearsome hunters and warriors, and considered one of the tallest people in the world.
When I met them for the first time, the person I remembered was David in the Bible. “Could he have been a Maasai warrior?” was my question, but I definitely know David couldn’t be this tall.
In decades past, young Maasai men proved themselves as warriors with the ritual killing of a lion. Does that story about David ring a bell?
Could killing the lion and the bear be a rite of passage for David to prove his bravery as a young man?
That encounter gave him the courage and confidence to jump life’s hurdles. It also proved to be his preparation to battle Goliath in the future.
I have faced seasons in my life where I would describe the challenges as seemingly overwhelming enough to entreat God to carry it away. My mom always commiserates with me when life hits me hard as she adoringly says, – “Jasmin, that’s a beautiful story you’re writing about yourself. Don’t drop the pen yet!”.
Looking back today, I can almost tell the complete story.
God chooses His ‘stars’ by literally using their lives to act out a script.
Do not despise the training grounds. That pain you’re going through is a script you’re acting out for God to show you off someday. God is interested in you. Consider yourself blessed to be chosen of the Lord. For some reason, He chooses the biggest battles for His favorite children.
Even Jesus, at a point couldn’t take it any longer.
Matthew 26:39 Going a little farther, He fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
I don’t know who has to hear this today-
Your background may not give you an advantage over others , but you have a God who is able to merge His story with yours to build a GREATER STORY. Allow yourself to be pruned and admonished. That to me is preparation.
Your lifting is in your STORY. For this reason, do not despise the storms that hit you along the way. They go a long way to enrich the story.
More grace to you as you accept the call of ‘suffering’ to qualify you as favored of God. You are a ‘type of Christ’ whose account has been chosen to bring redemption to others.
Stay safe!
Jasmin Zubida writes…
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