The Kind of People God Uses
The Crisis of Conventionality and the Call to Consecration The valley of Elah was silent with the sound of fear. For forty days, a massive Philistine champion, Goliath —a literal monument to human strength—defied the armies of the living God ( 1 Samuel 17 ). Israel, under King Saul , was paralyzed, having prioritized human conventionality (heavy armor, military numbers) over Divine strength. This was more than a military crisis; it was a profound theological scandal. Then stepped forward David , a young, ruddy shepherd boy. He was outside the institution, unqualified by military standards, yet appalled that an “uncircumcised Philistine” should be allowed to defy the Lord. David’s entrance signals the first critical lesson for the consecrated believer: The person God uses operates outside the fear-based status quo of man’s wisdom. Rejecting the Ill-Fitting Armor of Worldly Power Before facing the giant, David faced a test of conformity far more subtle than Goliath’s spear: the offer of...