Find your passion and you've found your path to greatness

1 Samuel 17:34-37 - But 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, ³⁵ I 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. ³⁶ Your 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. ³⁷ The 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.”  

I like to imagine that a part of David was completely suprised and a little in shock at the words that were coming out of his mouth. After all, Here was David, a young scrawny boy, a Sheep Herder standing among Israelite Soldiers. A group of brawny men who were supposed to be the bravest of the brave. Yet on that day, they were all cowering in fear while David was ready to go toe to toe with Goliath. On this day, David stood the mightiest among a group of man who were called mighty. On this day, David stepped into greatness.

 David was a lowly Shepherd , the last child of eight, and the only vote of confidence given to him was by a prophet named Samuel who told him he was to be King over all of Israel. Can you imagine what David must have felt? Day after day of tending sheep and catering to his older brothers, all the while remembering the day when some guy came out of nowhere and anointed him to be King. King over those sheep, his brothers, and the entire nation. As the days, months and years passed after he had been anointed though, I can only imagine that he had a slight feeling of "my circumstances are not lining up with what I've been told." I think we've all felt that a time or two. Many of us might be feeling that way right now. You know God has spoken promises into your life, he has spoken into your future and has given you a picture of who you would become and what you would do for him but your life looks nothing like that. 

  

As we read the story of David, we can obviously see that he did eventually come into the realization of what was spoken to him. He became the greatest King Israel Israel ever had.

So, How did that happen?

 How did David go from Sheep herder to King? Well, most of us would say it was because he slayed the Giant Goliath and became the hero and successor to the throne. That's not entirely true though. Yes, David slayed the giant. Think about this, though - If slaying the giant was the moment that catapulted David into his destiny, you once again have to ask yourself...

So, how did that happen?

How in the world did David have the courage to stand up to this giant when all of the bigger, stronger and seemingly way more qualified soldiers were trembling in fear? I'll tell you how - 

Passion.

Yes, that's right. It was his passion.

  While all the other Soldiers saw sure defeat and death when they thought about taking on this giant, David's passion allowed him to look past all of that. I imagine you're asking yourself "Passion for what?" "what was David so passionate about that gave him the courage to defeat Goliath?"

  Well, the funny thing about being a Shepherd is that your entire job is risking your life to protect creatures that are completely helpless, vulnerable and a prime target for pretty much any other creature. In other words, Sheep are right there near the bottom of the food chain. In 1 Samuel 17, David tells King Saul " your 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. The 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.”

 You see, I don't think David fully realized until that day that the whole time he was doing the lowly job of Shepherding sheep and wondering when he would be king, God was developing in him the passion that would create the path to the greatness that God had in store for his life.

  Through the job of Shepherding, David developed a strong passion for defending the defenseless and protecting the sheep, who were smaller and helpless, from the "bullies" who looked to take advantage of the smaller and weaker species. So after years of Shepherding, wouldn't you know that God has David walk right into the midst of a situation that was exactly like what he'd seen everyday for the past however many years!

  David's passion for defending the weak allows him to see Goliath not as a mighty Giant whom he should cower in fear from, but instead, as a bully who is taunting the weaker and smaller Israelite soldiers to come and face him one on one. David's passion propels him into action and the smallest man on the field that day took down the biggest. 

  God used David's passion to put him on the path to the greatness that he had for him. The whole while David was tending sheep and being passionate in his care and defense of them-he was on his path to greatness and he didn't even realize it.

  Always remember that God uses your passion, to make a difference in an area, as the path to the greatness that he has for you. So if you know God has told you that you are going to do great things in this world for him, look for the areas in your life where he has planted seeds of passion. If they're aren't any there yet- don't get discouraged. God started whispering to my spirit that I was going to do great things for his Kingdom long before he ever placed the passion for a specific cause in my heart. Remember, David was anointed king while he was still tending sheep. Can you imagine how many times he must of thought, How in the world am I going to end up being King? All David knew was that God had told him that he was destined for greatness one day.

  Many times, after God convinces your heart and mind that he wants to use you in a great way, he will ask you to have patience so that he can grow you, then he will give you your one great passion, and finally, he will give you the plan to put that Passion into action. God's plan for David was defeating Goliath.

                           

                             He has a passion and a plan for you as well, just be patient.