“Five Smooth Stones” (1 Sam.Ch.17)

Now David had his five smooth stones
With which to whack Goliath’s bones;
Just one for man both big and tall,
Four for his brothers – “Get them all”.

So maybe that is good for me –
For five small tabs on page I see;
Each guides me from before this date,
Some insight with gestationed weight.

And that is good – Dave’s stones were smooth;
Brook washed and tumbled, made them cool
As weapons in his brief campaign,
As I, as well – mine’s much the same.

Lord, in this piece I hear five stones –
Five brothers – concepts – not alone
Is my big giant – there are more
Which must be vanquished – five’s the score.

1. One bro is fat with massive walls –
Six silent rounds before it falls
With shouts, and horns, and pitchers smashed –
When walls fall down hopes raised they’d smashed.

2. The second bro is quite disbursed,
With multi-parts to hopeful purse;
This stone slays dissipation’s lure,
Lets us key Scripture-texts procure.

3. Third brother is the drive for speed
To plant, grow up, crop food we need;
Along with passive’s, “Just let go
To harvest – says we all must sow”.

4. Fourth brother is “We all can see
With scope and scale of what we need;
Our time-spans vary – “All the same”
Simplistic is – “Four” is his name.

5. Fifth brother claims permission’s king –
Says they permit what we can bring
To bear on life – “Authority
Is lodged in personality.”

But in behind this strange pretense,
Reality makes good defense;
The Spirit guides, empowers, informs,
Our actions both in calm and storms.

“I laid it down”, Christ said of life;
“I took it up just after strife;
Authority to do both acts –
From God it comes – and that’s a fact.”

So which of these five bro’s is best?
Which one’s Goliath – is my test?

It’s not the walls of Jericho;
Or dissipation broadened row;
It’s not the lure of speedy crop;
Or single scale as all we’ve got.

For those four brothers dwarf before
Big bro, Goliath, at my door;
For he usurps God’s place in life,
Denies the Scripture’s holy light –

The light in darkness for today,
Since God’s the one we should obey –
“Let go; take up; let go again”
God’s Spirit’s guidance is quite plain.

A dog will chase a stick when thrown;
Obedience is not so known –
You throw, it sits, waits your command,
“Go fetch” – for that it understands –

But even then, say, “Drop” – it stops,
And drops to ground, though keen its watch –
Then “Go” – it leaps to carry through
The task you trained that dog to do.

So why is that so critical?
Because a passing car can kill;
A single-minded, lock-on task
Can end in failure when God asks –

Without a say in later acts –
Like Fail-Safe in one past attack
Of US in a fiction-yarn –
No way to stop it – did great harm.

So what’s Goliath here to me?
To some extent, I’ll wait and see;
My guess? It ties to letting go –
In past, that part I’ve come to know.

But now, as I take up some task
At God’s behest, when He shall ask,
This thought abides within my mind –
“Now inter-act, and you will find –

A middle way – but on your way
A dance unfolds – with Spirit’s sway;
For in your active willingness
It’s inter-actions which will bless –

And as you take your gift-box home,
Unpack it, pull away the foam,
Assemble, learn how it is used –
You’ll find your ministry re-newed.

And that is how church is renewed –
Not program-wise, but giving food
To hungry feeders of the flock,
Through actions, tools, supportive talk.

So old Goliath, forehead wide,
Is like a barn with massive side –
How can you miss that target bright?
Abide in me – it comes out right.

Lord, lions, bears, and sundry foe,
Have in the past to sling-shot’s throw
Dropped, slain – again do this today –
Bring victory to us, we pray.

Thanks Lord for this.

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