Ordinary Time 
Pause
I wrote some of the worst poetry west from the Mississippi River, but I wrote. And I finally sometimes got it right.
Maya Angelou, civil rights activist,
poet, and award-winning author
Listen
“Don’t let anyone lose courage because of this Philistine!” David told Saul. “I, your servant, will go out and fight him!”
“You can’t go out and fight this Philistine,” Saul answered David. “You are still a boy. But he’s been a warrior since he was a boy!”
“Your servant has kept his father’s sheep,” David replied to Saul, “and if ever a lion or a bear came and carried off one of the flock, I would go after it, strike it, and rescue the animal from its mouth. If it turned on me, I would grab it at its jaw, strike it, and kill it. Your servant has fought both lions and bears. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them because he has insulted the army of the living God.
“The Lord,” David added, “who rescued me from the power of both lions and bears, will rescue me from the power of this Philistine.”
“Go!” Saul replied to David. “And may the Lord be with you!”
1 Samuel 17:32-37
Think
Do you identify more with David or Saul in this story? As a parent, I identify with Saul because my tendency is to protect and make sure that children are safe. Many of you may identify more with David. You feel confident in your abilities to solve a problem because you know you have the skills to do it.
Notice that God used both Saul and David, as they are, to write God’s story. Saul and David both made decisions based on what they know about themselves and about God. David was confident in his skills and his experience, having fought lions and bears. His confidence was also rooted in his faith in God. Saul, while initially skeptical that a little boy like David could defeat the Philistine, decided to give David his blessing. As a result of those decisions, God’s story of faithfulness unfolded.
What if we treat each decision we make in life as a way of working with God to make sure that each story leads us and others closer to God’s love, mercy, justice, and grace?
Shauw Chin Capps
Pray
Forgive me, Lord, for the times I doubt that my life and decisions are important enough to really matter. Give me the confidence of David and Saul to know that you are a God of possibilities! Amen.
Go
God’s grace offers us blank pages and invites us to continue to write our part in God’s story!
Have courage! Keep writing because we serve a faithful God who has the power to weave our story into God’s good plan for the world.
