Win One For ____________
And you get to fill in the blank… Some may say “Gipper“, or “Freddie Steinmark” – it all depends on you, where you come from, and who you are in the fight for.
Have you ever gone into a game in the name or memory of someone who is unable to participate? Maybe they had a strong opportunity of helping to pull out another win, or championship title. Maybe some crippling disease keeps them on the sidelines and unable to participate. Depending on who they are and what they mean for the team, or the game, then you give it your all to claim the victory in the name of this person.
I can honestly say I’ve never been on a team, worked for an organization, or felt the need to stand up and declare victory in the name or memory of someone else. But when I read journals and stories that show how a person had such an impact on a team, then I comprehend how others feel and why they felt the need to give 110% effort, above and beyond.
Still, we all know of companies, schools and churches who are built around the personality of those who fostered the ground floor opening of what the future will look like for these institutions. Founders. Ground breakers. Inventive personalities who get the ball rolling for future generations.
When I think of the automobile industry I cannot help but think of Henry Ford, and an Apple makes me remember Steve Jobs, or with any other technological marvel then I think of Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Michael Dell. Consider electricity as we know it and Thomas Edison comes to mind. Alexander Graham Bell helped us to have instant communications over previously unheard of distances.
This list is endless.
But when I go to my pulpit to preach, or my blog to write, there is always someone in the back of my mind that prompts me to think broader than myself. So often, I write to bring others to light. It’s not for myself. It’s not for them. It’s for all of us. So that we can experience a winning thought about learning and knowing something bigger and more important than ourselves.
A few days ago I was thinking how so many are pounded into losing positions and there is no champion for them. It brings to mind that age old story of a young shepherd boy who went to the battle lines to give sustenance to his brothers. As he approached he could hear a challenger in the distance throwing down the gauntlet.
You know the story. Or at least the gist of it. Why is no one standing up to this challenger? Because Goliath was huge! (1 Samuel 17:4) A bigger opponent than they had ever faced. Some measurements put him upwards of 9 feet tall! He was intimidating. “Have you seen him?” was the common rejoinder to David’s question, “Why is no one accepting the challenge?”
Well, I slew a bear and a lion, what do I have to worry about this overgrown man?
There was something about David’s confidence factor that we could easily say, “He’s just a young man. He’s not seasoned. He has no clue what war is like.” You know. Teenagers know it all and are over confident in their youthful vim and vigor!
They loaded David down with the kings armor. But he was such a smaller person the armor swallowed him up! Instead, he took the things he was familiar with. His staff used while handling his father’s sheep. Shrugged on his shepherd’s bag that probably hung at his waist (what they did for wallet’s before there was a back pocket!). Gathered five new stones from the local brook. And approached the challenger.
There is nothing in the language of scripture that states his awareness of size differential, nor fear of a first battle, or how the potential loss would devastate Israel. It was a “winner take all” contest.
Goliath despised and scorned him and Israel. “Is this all you’ve got?” But then he took it a step too far. He cursed David by his own gods. This had to get to David. Perhaps it was the cap of fluid that spilled over into action.
Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give you into our hands.” (1 Samuel 17:45-47 NKJV)
In the analysis of his statement, please take notice:
- He never mentioned his own name or identity.
- He never bragged about his wins.
- He never compared the size of Goliath over the size of himself.
- He gives all credit to God, and none to his own king, brothers or other fighters.
- He declares what will happen in the next few minutes.
- He declares victory before the battle in the name of his God!
- And God does not need his puny little sling or 5 stones to win over Goliath.
God will win the Victory!
As Goliath drew near to David, scripture tells us that David ran quickly to the enemy, to the challenger, to the one who was going to lose. No fear, hesitation or feeling of trepidation. No change of heart. Let’s go!
Do your part, and God always does his! You are part and parcel in lockstep with God because you rose to the challenge. I do not see David praying before he ran at Goliath. No. All his praying had been done long before the start of the challenge.
This is critical and key to our wins. Prepare long before the challenger is before you. Prepare everyday because you never know when a simple delivery action becomes a battle action. Keep your wits about you because you have God on your side. It is he that will fight the battle. It is he that will win…
Let’s win one for God! Let’s win one for us…