Slaying Giants with Sling-stones

‘Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.’ ~ Exodus 4:2

If the vision you believe God has given you is something within your ability to accomplish, then I doubt that it is from God. God always delights in giving us vision way beyond our ability. Whether it was Moses and the task of leading Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land, or David and the task of slaying Goliath, God  often seems to  call us to do things that are far beyond us.

In the face of the big vision God has given us, we may find ourselves feeling like Solomon felt when he was called to fill the oversized shoes of his father, the great king David. Solomon said ‘But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties’ (1 Kings 3:7)

Often our sense of inadequacy stems from the fact that what we seem to have at our disposal does not look anything like what it would take to do what we are called to do. This is why the word God gave to the children of Israel in Zechariah 9:15, is so encouraging;

‘…and the LORD Almighty will shield them. They will destroy and overcome with sling-stones. They will drink and roar as with wine; they will be full like a bowl used for sprinkling the corners of the altar’

God was speaking of the mighty things he was going to do through his people. He was going to use them to conquer and destroy all the mighty nations that had oppressed them in the past and he was going to restore their land to them. But did you notice what weapons God said they were going to use to accomplish this great feat? ‘They will destroy and overcome with sling-stones’. Sling-stones are not serious weapons one uses for defeating armies that have chariots and horses. But sling-stones were all that the people had with them, and God said that was what he was going to use!

Now let this exciting truth dawn upon your spirit. Not only does God delight to give us seemingly impossible tasks, he also delights to use the seemingly foolish and little things that we have in our hand to accomplish them! We see this truth all over the Scriptures, whether it is the rod of Moses or the sling of David. God delights to use insignificant instruments to do significant things.

I want to encourage you not to despise the little strength that you have. But rather to identify the ‘sling-stones’ that are yours and do what Solomon did with his. Faced with the huge task of replacing his father, Solomon knew he didn’t have the fearsome courage, physical strength, military prowess, or any of the other great attributes that David had. But he did not focus on what he didn’t have. He identified what he had and asked God to use it. You see, before Solomon asked God for ‘a discerning heart to govern the people’ (1 Kings 3:9), he had already been showing signs of wisdom.  In 1 Kings 2:9 David had said of him ‘You are a man of wisdom’. Wisdom was his own sling-stone. So when Solomon asked God for a discerning heart that can lead the people, he was not so much asking for a new gift as much as for a divine touch on the little sling-stone that he had.

So what is the vision or task that God has given you? I challenge you to identify the sling-stones you already have and submit them to God to anoint and use. And then go out in faith and begin to use those sling-stones; for it is through those sling-stones that God will give you the land.