“We’re
all throwing rocks at the same giants.”
I
was at the Montgomery Job Corps center waiting to talk to the students on
behalf of SAYNO. The other end of the
conversation was staffer for MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). The students hadn’t arrived yet, but some of
the instructors, counselors, and administrators had all come in. The conversation between adults had turned to
the different kinds of red tape between public schools, non-profits, and
in–between groups like Job Corps.
It
was one of those I-can’t-do-this-but-you-can’t-do conversations.
The
words came from somewhere (rather, Some One) deeper than my brain.
I
said, “We’re in this together. We’re all
throwing rocks at the same giants.”
When
young David of Bethlehem killed the 9 foot tall champion of the Philistine army
it inspired the Israelite troops. After 40 days of being too scared to move,
they rushed the Philistines and beat them all the way back to Philistia. (1 Samuel 17)
But.
When
you knock down a giant problem, you soon realize that there are a lot more
where that came from. You can only wade
so far in the infinite tide of new giants before fatigue overwhelms you. You can get burned out.
It
happened to David.
When the Philistines were at war again with Israel,
David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines;
and David grew faint. (2 Samuel 21: 15)
You
can’t do it all. But guess what?
You
were never supposed to.
God
knew how many giants there were when sent you to take on the first one, and he
made arrangements for those problems to be solved as well.
See,
our job isn’t just to slay giants. It’s
to inspire, to instruct, and to connect with other giant-slayers.
The
Lord didn’t send David against Goliath just to remove that one big sweaty
obstacle. God sent David against Goliath
to teach Israel something they had forgotten since the days of Joshua and Caleb
(Joshua 14): Giants can be killed.
Eventually
David became king and commander of his own elite team of warriors---- a team of giant killers.
Then Ishbi-Benob, who was one of the sons of the
giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was
bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David. But Abishai the son of
Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him. ( 2
Samuel 21:16-17.)
David’s
men were so confident in their giant-slaying skills that they asked David to retire
from active combat and take a desk job.
Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “You
shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel( 2
Samuel 21: 17.)
David,
the monarch, agreed. He sat down, and
his men proceeded to continue kicking gigantic butt!
Now it happened afterward that there was again a
battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbechai the Hushathite killed
Saph, who was one of the sons of the giant.
(2 Samuel 21:18)
Yet
again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each
hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to
the giant. 21 So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s
brother, killed him(2 Samuel 21:20-21)
Seek
out and embrace others who fight as you fight, even if their agencies and
approaches are different. Don’t hog the
spotlight. Recognize. And celebrate victories in which you had no
part.
And
learn how to sit down and let somebody else do their thing.
After
all, we’re all throwing rocks at the same giants.
---Anderson T. Graves
II is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry,
and rural leadership development.
Rev.
Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield,
Alabama; executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking
Organization (SAYNO); and director of
rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).
Subscribe
to my personal blog www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
#Awordtothewise
You
can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button
on the right-hand sidebar.
Support
by check or money order may be mailed to
Miles
Chapel CME Church
P O
Box 132
Fairfield,
Al 35064
No comments:
Post a Comment