Day Fifty-Eight: Do You See What I See?
34But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.” (1 Samuel 17:34-37, NIV)
Yesterday, we talked about the correlation between boldness and faith. Today, we need to notice a similar relationship between boldness and perspective. When David faced Goliath, he had a view objectively different than all the Israelites, even King Saul. The question we have to ask is, “Why?” For days, the Israelites had been tormented by the threats of Goliath and the Philistines. David had not. David was thriving in an environment that facilitated and rewarded boldness while a climate of fear and control had stifled the Israelites. Thus, we understand and must recognize that the environment in which you reside determines whether or not boldness grows or wanes.
When he arrived on the scene of the battle, he saw the landscape and conflict through the eyes of faith. What we learn from the above verses is that your perspective is only as healthy and full of confidence as your environment. So, if your environmental setting is not feeding boldness within you to obey God, then ask God to reveal in you what needs to change. Or, be open to the fact that maybe God wants to change your environment.
Oh, one final thought to consider. When Saul recognized David’s boldness, he supported David’s perspective.
Blessings,
Andy Smith