Playing Through the Pain: Dressed for Battle

Scriptures: Jeremiah 1:4-5, Judges 6:12, Colossians 1:16, Ecclesiastes 3:1

It takes time. 

Development takes time. 

There are so many forces at work during our most crucial development periods of life, that we have GOT TO DECIDE who we are in the dark before anyone knows our name. 

There is a preparation that happens in the midst of crucial development periods that only the most aware individuals will acknowledge and submit to. A lot of kids play football in high school and college, but so few actually make it to the PROs.  Have you ever wondered why that is?  I know I have.

Two years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Israel. I went there with the Israel Collective Group sponsored by Coach Tony Dungy. I noticed while I was there that in the geographic region of what is now modern-day Israel, the main livelihood is either fishing or shepherding. In David’s time as well, shepherds were a dime a dozen. A lot of kids cared for the flocks that belonged to their family, but so few would ever see that preparation all the way through to the battlefield, and much less to the palace. Have you ever heard the saying, “That person (fill in the blank) is the exception, not the rule?” That was David. He was unique and special not only because he was called by God, but also because he answered God’s call AND submitted to the required process.

As a child I would often tell God,  “I want to know you in a special way.” I’ve since learned that we have got to be careful, because we don’t know how long those prayers last. The development process that I thought I was going through in my youth, wasn’t what I believe to have been the answer to that prayer.

• When I arrived on the scene at Alternative School after making a number of mistakes, I sat down at my desk and self-reflected in a new way, realizing  my decisions up to this point were not in alignment with who I believed I was meant to be, and ultimately who I wanted to become someday.. 
• When I fought hard on the field with grit and grind for my first starting position in high school, I was simultaneously trying to fight  for the kind of young man that I knew I needed to  be.
• When I was working through the recruiting process in high school, trying to determine whether I would commit to the University of Oklahoma or another Division 1 academic Institution.   
• When I was chosen in the first round by the Chicago Bears  trying to manage a type of hype I have never before experienced while simultaneously trying to hone genuine humility.

In hindsight, I don’t recall a more crucial developmental period than the time I endured preparation after losing my wife in 2012.  Mustering the courage, fight, tenacity, and desire to press forward daily after enduring that loss forced me to employ serious self reflection about my belief in God. It was at that moment with tear filled eyes and a heavy heart that I asked myself, “Is your faith prepared for this? Tommie, are you developed enough to survive this?”

In considering those crucial development moments for me, I invite you to self-reflect: Have you ever had to ask yourself, “Is my faith prepared for this? 

Am I developed enough? Have I studied enough? Have I prayed enough?” If we’re being incredibly honest here, “Will my faith sustain me to survive this?”

We’ve often heard it said that ‘God will not put more on you than you can handle,’  but that isn’t true. In fact, that direct quote is not stated in the bible at all. It’s a sort of ‘euphemism’ that is intended to encourage believers in the worst of their long-suffering, but it isn’t biblically accurate on its face. It’s our job as believers to take a deeper dive into that ‘saying’ to better understand what God might have actually said in the bible along these lines.  

He’s saying: He won’t let you go through anything you can’t handle without HIS HELP.

Jesus says in Matthew 19:26: “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”

So, with HIS HELP in mind, ask yourself the question again: Is my faith prepared for this? Am I developed enough?

Scriptures: Joshua 1:6-9, Psalms 90:17, Deuteronomy 6:4-6

1 Samuel Chapter 17 gives us an incredible bird’s eye view of David’s life leading up to the epic moment, when he fought with one of the land’s giants, the Philistine’s champion named Goliath, and won. 

I want to challenge you today to listen instead of reading. Just click the speaker button at the top right-hand side of your YouVersion app, and it will read today’s devotion to you while you sit back, pause the hustle and bustle of ‘doing’, and allow yourself to ‘be still’, and listen.  

Imagine, for a few seconds, that the scene is playing out right in front of you. Every moment and detail counts. Take it all in. Notice everything.

After the day that Samuel visited Jesse’s home and anointed David, everything shifted for David, and then strangely, nothing changed.

He was anointed and chosen for an incredible leadership appointment that would someday come to pass; however, in that moment, and for some time, David’s directive was to return to the field and remain busy with his current assignment. There was quite a bit of time between the ‘anointing’… of David as king… and the manifested ‘appointing’ of David to his throne. Sure, he experienced a preview of his rightful future assignment, when invited to the palace to play his harp for King Saul. But we also note that just as quickly as that began, it came to an end. Once again, everything seemed to be the same. Saul & the army went to war and David went back to the field. That is until the fateful day when David heard his father’s voice saying;

“David, take this basket of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and carry them quickly to your brothers. And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along, and bring back a report on how they are doing.” (1 Samuel 17:17-18)

Even after David had been ‘chosen’ for the palace, he took his responsibility for the sheep seriously. In fact, he took this assignment so seriously that when his future called him, he went the extra mile to make sure he first appointed another competent shepherd in his stead, and only then was he in a position to head to the battlefield as his father had instructed.

Notice: The same way you leave something is how you will start  something new.

Can you remember a time when something big happened that you had been waiting for or praying for, and then,  just as quickly as it shifted everything, nothing seemed to change?

So then, David set out early the next morning, when the dew was still on the grass, to take the food and gifts to his brothers and their captain.

When the young David arrived on the scene, he immediately experienced two things. He saw before him a ‘flock’ of men who were cowering on a hillside, and he saw a bear of a man, the enemy who was hurling insults and challenges at the ‘sheep.’

Pause this story just for a second and consider the difference between David and the ‘flock’ of Israelite soldiers standing on the hillside. Notice how David saw his past experience, as a solution to the present challenge. He saw a flock of sheep in need of a shepherd instead of a group of soldiers terrified at the thought of fighting the battle set before them.

I am curious. When you look at your current situation, do you only see the challenge, or do you choose to see that God has prepared you with the solution?

Take a minute to ask God what solutions you carry within, for challenges you find yourself facing. Everything you need is already within you.

Scriptures: John 15:16, 1 Peter 2:9, Romans 8:14

Have you ever considered how committed the caterpillar must be to the growth process? Before they ever even enter into the cocoon, they choose to grow ‘through’ their current state. Then, in their miraculous time of transformation, they become beautiful butterflies.

Transformation is inseparable from surrender. The degree to which we grow and transform is rooted, in the degree that our minds are prepared for the challenges we are faced with. Growth and transformation are both rooted in our mental preparation. You’ve got to establish the belief within yourself that what is behind you DOES NOT have the power to keep you stuck. You must allow yourself to release the previous season to move fully into the next one.

David ‘was’ just a shepherd boy from Bethlehem…

I ‘was’ just a preacher’s kid from Killeen, Texas…

Who ‘were’ you?

I remember it like it was yesterday, walking through campus with my mother and father, exploring the University of Oklahoma campus right before beginning my freshman year of college. At that moment, I can hear my mother’s voice saying repeatedly to me, “Tommie, don’t mess this up.” And then hearing my father  eclipsed in amazement at OU’s immaculate architecture on campus, saying, “Man, these are some huge buildings!” Their reflections were a humble reminder of how far I had come and confirmed that they had done their part in preparing me for where I knew I wanted to be. I just chuckled and said softly to myself, “Yeah, … I am the first generation of something.”

I want to encourage you to remind yourself that you are not who you were. Your situation’s circumstances do not have to define who you can become or what you can achieve. ‘You are, and can continue to be in more ways than one, the first generation of something.’

Let’s get back to David’s story.

After David had successfully delivered the food to his brothers and the gifts to their captain on the battlefield, he inquired of the men standing there, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26)

Two things happened when David engaged in this confident line of questioning. First, his oldest brother scolded him and told him to go home where he belonged. Second, and possibly only out of curiosity, King Saul summoned David to inquire about whether he was worthy to fight Goliath even though he, and his brothers in this case, believed that he was not worthy of such a colossal feat. 

Here, notice two things about your story: 

1. The people who knew you back then, will likely limit your potential based on who they have always perceived you to be. 
2. The people who are not meant to fight your battle will usually be the ones who tell you that you aren’t qualified for it either.

David persisted beyond the doubts of the haters. David remained faithful in the belief that he was worthy and qualified to take on this giant who stood as a threat to many in the Valley of Elah, defying the armies of the living God. He recounted for King Saul how he had protected his father’s sheep since he was young. There had been other bears, lions, and beasts of the field that he had chosen to fight and kill to protect his family’s flock.

So, Saul offered his armor to the young boy in an effort to clothe him with the physical covering he believed to be necessary to take on and defeat a giant of Goliath’s stature. King Saul was known for being head and shoulders taller than any man, and David was still just a boy (probably only 13 or 14 years old). Although David did not believe he needed Saul’s armor, he honored the King and tried it on to test its suitability and size.  As was to be expected, Saul’s armor did not fit. 

“I can’t go in these…” David must have said. There had been no armor in the field protecting his father’s sheep. So he took off the king’s armor and went without it.

Like the caterpillar who CHOOSES to grow ‘through’, you and I must CHOOSE…

…Choose to grow through our crucial developmental periods to mentally prepare us for the battles ahead, knowing that once we face those battles, the only armor that will be suitable for the fight is the armor God has designed and equipped us to wear. 

Are you ready to grow through?

Scriptures: Acts 27:13-26, James 1:2-4, 1 John 4:17

One of the lessons I learned while playing in the NFL was that when I finished first down, no matter how hard I played or how hard my opponent played against me, second down is still coming. It’s true for you too. Whatever you’re facing is not the only difficult thing that you’ll ever find yourself  up against. The good news is, there is, what I like to call, ‘a trick play’ in 1 Samuel chapter 17 that is guaranteed to work against any opponent.

Are you ready for this? Listen closely.

David picked up FIVE smooth stones, because Goliath was not the ONLY giant. 

Goliath was the champion, the strongest or the largest maybe, but he wasn’t the only one. Take another look at 1 Samuel 17:4-6 once more.

Then David left King Saul’s tent without the armor that Saul had tried to outfit him with. Instead, he went to the battlefield that day with only what he had brought with him from his father’s field. On his way to face the champion, he stopped by the brook, knelt down and picked up FIVE smooth stones.

Yep, you read that right, “FIVE” smooth stones. Why did he do this, you might ask?

Well, God had prepared David for this moment. The time when David had chased after a bear to save his father’s sheep from their mouth, God was preparing him. All the times when his brothers had ridiculed him, God was preparing him. The time when his father didn’t invite him to the family banquet with Samuel, God was preparing him. Every time he had extended his small teenage arm to grab a lion by its beard to kill it with his knife, God was preparing him.

While God was preparing David… David was preparing for this moment.

The trick play is that David used what I call, ‘faithful preparation.’ It’s not something that you ask for and it certainly isn’t anything for which you can plan. As we submit ourselves to God, He is faithful to divinely and faithfully prepare us.

David’s preparation was one that occurred physically, mentally, emotionally, and most significantly – spiritually. God was always at work for David, and God is always at work for you. Consider going to YouTube or wherever you listen to music right now and listen to the popular Christian song, “Way Maker”.  

Even when I don’t see it, You’re working

Even when I don’t feel it, You’re working

You never stop, You never stop working

You never stop, You never stop working

David went to the brook, knelt down and purposefully chose FIVE smooth stones for at least five giants. Getting FIVE stones didn’t mean that David lacked the faith for the ONE, it meant that he was ready (prepared) for the other FOUR. It was faithful preparation. If we stay ready, we never have to ‘get’ ready.

Could it be that the victory you’ve been waiting for is on the other side of your faithful preparation through the difficult moments that you’re walking through presently?

The fact that David was willing to fight Goliath at all is, in and of itself, amazing; however, consider the giants David had defeated before he even made it to the point where he could select the stones. He learned in those seasons how to be thoughtful in preparation for the challenge he faced.

Could it be that his faith to pick up the stones is what actually won the battle?

Will you step forward into faithful preparation even if it is difficult? What about the last battle prepared you for the current battle? What thoughtful preparation techniques did God want you to acquire?

David had every outside influence that could have given him an excuse to believe he wasn’t qualified.  He had every reason to walk away from this opportunity before having ever even approached it. Ultimately his belief in his God and in His God working through him, is what propelled David to press forward no matter how seemingly tough the situation.

David made it personal. I invite you to do the same. You have to make it personal.  Will your belief in YOUR God and in YOUR God’s divine ability through you be enough? 

Will you decide today to move in faithful preparation?

The choice is yours.

Scriptures: Ephesians 6:10-18, Hebrews 6:1-3, 1 Peter 1:13

When I first made it to the pros, one of the things that surprised me most was that so few of my teammates knew how to get dressed. What I mean by this is that they knew how to put on their pads and their helmets, but so few knew how to put on a suit. 

I don’t know about you, but I learned how to tie a Single Windsor before I could read… haha. My father was a military man and a preacher, and he had been diligent in teaching me. I learned in my upbringing that it was not only WHAT you wore but HOW you wore it, and even more importantly, IN WHAT ORDER you put it on. 

Every time I wear a suit, I hear my father’s deep voice still resounding in my ears, saying, 

“Son, every man must know how to get dressed. When you get out of the shower, first you put on your underwear, then your socks, your pants next, then your shoes, and lastly you put on your shirt. When your shirt is buttoned and properly tucked in, then you put on your belt, your tie, and your jacket.”

Some will wrongly put on their shirt too soon, and then when they bend over to put on their shoes, their shirt gets wrinkled.  You must be able to dress for the part you want to have in the right way, in the right order.

In Ephesians 6, Paul talks to us about dressing for the part to which our Father has called us. 

David’s resistance to putting on King Saul’s armor in 1 Samuel chapter 17 should not communicate to us that he didn’t have any armor on. The battle waiting for the young shepherd boy in the Valley of Elah was no different from the battles he had already fought and won. He was pre-prepared. His FATHER, not Jesse, had been training him since before he could read. 

Listen to Paul’s words in Ephesians 6:10 and consider that God had spoken similarly to David while he was being prepared in the field with the sheep. “A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” 

Remember that our FATHER has promised that He won’t let you go through anything you are incapable of  handling alone, without full access to  HIS HELP. Luke 18:27 (NLT) says, “What is impossible for people is possible with God.” 

When you have been prepared by the FATHER, equipped with your unique gifting and those solutions that have been instilled in you by past experiences, then you will be ready for the battle ahead.

Are you ready to trust the FATHER for his advancement?  Are you Dressed for Battle?