When The Odds are Stacked Against You

           As I reflect on our trip to Israel, I am struck by the compassion of a very “just” God.  He understands us: his creation.  He wants a relationship with each of us which in our mere human minds, seems unfathomable.  Why would our Creator choose to love us so much?  We may never understand, but we can know he keeps his promises, even when we are unfaithful. 

            On our second day in Israel, among other places, we visited Independence Hall where we listened to a recording of David Ben-Gurion proclaiming Israel's independence, on May 14, 1948.   This is significant, because the Jewish people had been scattered to the corners of the earth.  They had rebelled against God time and again and with disobedience come consequences.  They had also been a persecuted people and nearly destroyed through a horrific black mark on history: the Holocaust.  Millions were killed out of hate.  Of the nine million Jews who lived in Europe at that time, two thirds where killed; including one million children.  Yet, there was a remnant that escaped. 

            God promised one day the Jews would reunite and once again become a nation.  The Jews were still His chosen people and Israel still His Holy land.  God keeps his promises and against all odds, Israel declared its Independence, knowing there would be battles ahead they would have to face.  God’s chosen people have not only won the battle, but are standing strong as promised in the last days.  

Ezek 37:21-22…...."I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms."

Independence Hall

At Independence Hall

We also visited the Elah valley.  This was an amazing place.  We walked up a hill to an observation point where we could see the valley where David killed Goliath.  We parked where the Philistines would have camped.  We could see the stream, albeit smaller and dryer than Biblical times, where David would have chosen the five stones he put in his pouch to face the giant.   As David, the young shepherd boy, placed the stone in his sling, he wasn’t fighting the battle alone, even though the odds looked stacked against him.  Goliath after all, at seven foot tall, towered over the lad.  But David knew something Goliath did not:  His God was greater than any height, any armor, any training or any army before him.  He faced the giant not alone, as eyes perceived, but with the army of God.

Goliath was sure his insults, threats and physical abilities would deter David.  He had after all, been successful up until this time to frighten every other soldier, even the entire army before him.  No man wanted to stand before this giant and become food for the birds and beasts of the field.  What made David so different?

David knew something had to be done, despite the heckling he faced, even from his own peers. He knew to obey God would bring a powerful conclusion to the stalemate between the armies and prove that His God was mightier than anything he faced as a human.  He believed in and placed his faith in a God with a plan and a purpose.  

Elah Valley

We, like David, face problems or situations everyday that seem greater than we can bear.  Perhaps if we stop, refocus by lifting our eyes to Jesus instead of looking at our self, we may see the answer as David did, and even as the Jewish people did before they began making their way back to their homeland, Israel.  Rather than staying stuck, or sinking deeper in our dreadful situation, we can remember God has a plan and a purpose.  Take courage, ask God for guidance; then follow God’s leading, even if it means stepping out in faith, when the odds are stacked against you.

1 Samuel 17:46   Today the LORD shall deliver you into my hand; I will strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will feed your dead body and the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field; thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God.

 The thin brown line between the trees in the foreground and the road in the background is the stream where David retrieved his stones.

The inscriptions on these "seats" are actually scripture.

 This picture is just for fun.  I caught a rather large lizard/iguana up a tree above the seats!