This Uncircumcised Philistine Will be Like one of Them

Recently God asked me to chase after something that I totally lacked the relational clout and resources to rightfully possess. This kind of thing used to trigger feelings of inadequacy and insecurity in me. I would tend to measure my personal worth against the success or failure of the endeavor. It used to feel like writing a $10,000 check when you’re pretty sure you only have $1,000 in your account and hoping it all works out. But there’s something about God asking you to do something that cancels all that junk out and stirs up faith. I think it’s because God’s prompting (his Word to us) carries with it inherent permission and authority to write checks on His account and expect they won’t bounce. That’s called faith. And faith is a funny thing.

People sometimes think faith is a blind and desperately optimistic step off the cliff. But faith in a biblical sense is always tied to memory. Moses believes God and goes back to Egypt because he saw a burning bush and saw a rod turn into a serpent. Peter tries walking on water because he saw Jesus do the same thing. David goes against Goliath because God had given him power to kill a lion and a bear. He doesn’t work himself into a faith frenzy with religious language to go against the giant. He calmly reasons from his history and makes a small intuitive leap. God had given him supernatural power to overcome a lion and a bear. Therefore he figures, “This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them.”

So I was facing this little risk the other day, but I went ahead and wrote the “check” on God’s account. It’s not because I have tons of courage. It’s actually because I remembered this one time I was running late for a flight and God whispered in my ear, “don’t worry I’ve delayed the flight for you.” And sure enough, even though I arrived at the airport 45 minutes after the flight was supposed to leave, and the screens at the airport indicated the flight had left on schedule... I casually walked to the gate and found the flight HAD been delayed and I had just enough time to get in line and board. I reasoned that if God was willing to delay a hundred passengers just to show me His love and power, surely he could come through for me in this little step of faith with a moderate risk of humiliation.

I actually found that as I contemplated what God was asking me to do, these words came into my mind like a sledgehammer and I felt the Holy Spirit as though he was boiling in my esophogus as I said them out loud: “this Philistine will be like one of them.” Saying those words out loud caused this outrageous outburst of joy in me. So I said them again and again and felt the pure, savage delight of God.

This year, I’m in a season of growing faith. I think the name of the game is making those tiny intuitive leaps based my history. If God could do that... I bet he could do this. As my faith grows, I find I feel the permission and authority to actually ask God for some bigger things... many of them are things I’ve asked for before but without much confidance that God could and/or wanted to do that thing (“Sir, you have no bucket and the well is deep!”). But now I’m surprised to find that as I’m asking God for bigger things, I feel the Holy Spirit reverberating inside me with the Father’s delight in giving good gifts.

Huh...!