Five Smooth Stones

 1 Samuel 17:38-40

38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. 

As I was reading this passage, this thought came into my mind. “Sometimes we waist so much time putting on our armor, that we miss out on opportunities”. After David put on Saul’s armor he knew it was not right. He did not waist time trying to figure it out or work with it to make it fit his need. He took it off and went right back to what he knew. Which was a sling and some stones. Armor was made with the intention of protecting what is important. Now, I have never tried on armor, but I can only image how heavy it is to wear, how hard it is to walk around in, and not to mention the smell. Just think about the helmet for a second, it says David put on Saul’s bronze helmet. When I read that I began to think about the limited view he might have had with that helmet on. If I am in battle I am going to want to see in every direction. I would be like David and say “No Thank You!” I will take my chances and not use the helmet. But back to the original thought. What I mean by we waist so much time putting on armor. I know for me personally before I make any decision, I want to make sure everything will work out, that everything is in the right place and then move forward. I will come up with scenarios in my head of how things might play out and I will have several plans as backups. When sometime God just ask us to go. Don’t think about it just have FAITH. David tried the armor on, and realized pretty quickly that, that wasn’t going to work. He made the decision to trust God and have faith. 

I am not saying that armor is wrong, in Ephesians the Bible tells us to put on the whole armor of God. I think this is very important for us to do, as Christians we are attacked from every angle. We need to be prepared and ready for whatever we might face during the day. But for those planners out there like me, maybe its time to surrender our plans. Gather our five smooth stones and have faith to do what God has called us to do.