1 Samuel 17:38-40 “Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.” David and Goliath has become so familiar to us that even people who don’t read the Bible know the basics; it is used as a metaphor when contrasting an insurmountable obstacle with the hope of overcoming it. But there are some interesting things about this account that the LORD decided to include in scripture. Why wouldn’t David choose the conventional weapons and armor of his day – man made forged, hammered, “standard” instruments for battle? The key word is “TESTED”… in Hebrew it is ‘naw-saw’ and almost every time it is used in the Old Testament, it means ‘to put to the test, to prove, attempt to learn the true nature of something’. David had not put these to use in real life circumstances; he didn’t know how they would perform… HOWEVER, he KNEW where to find tested, tried and true weapons that had been tested; HE WENT TO THE BROOK! Let’s bring this home; where does Jesus go to get people He KNOWS He can use? Does He go to the “wise”, the “powerful”, the “noble”, the “approved-by-humans” methods? I remember reading that “God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised…” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31). Where are you right now? Are you in a brook? Have you been there for a while? Take heart! Be encouraged! The brook is a place to FORM YOU INTO A SMOOTH STONE! Those waters of affliction relentlessly cascading over every square inch of your life are forging you into a weapon that God will use! You may have been kicked into the brook; someone nonchalantly left you there and went on their merry way. Remember this: the Lord is the one who sees everything; you are not forgotten! When it has done its work, He will pick you up out of the brook and put you with some other smooth stones and SLING YOU INTO YOUR DESTINY! He won’t go the rock quarry – He needs aerodynamic proven stones! Listen to this quote from Michelangelo: “In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.” What does God see in you? More than you or anybody else does. Be encouraged in that! Father help me to wait on you and allow you to change me – even when it seems like a slow process and it is uncomfortable. Thank you that you haven’t forgotten me! You are the ‘God of hope’… in Jesus’ name. Amen