A Rock in my Pocket
By R. J. Gunter
I carry a small rock in my pocket, everywhere I go. It’s not a gemstone, a fossil, or precious metal, such as gold or silver. It’s just a common polished rock that has little to no monetary value. It is not a good luck charm or anything to do with superstition.
“So what is it for,” you may ask.
If I had to describe it in one word, I guess I would say that it is ammunition. I use it as a weapon of war—a projectile, in my fight against Satan.
“I’d get a bigger rock if I were you,” may be what some of you are thinking.
Getting a bigger rock would be following the world’s conventional wisdom. On the other hand, I really don’t know how big a rock would have to be to kill Satan. I don’t think that throwing rocks would be the best way to fight him, since it is a spiritual battle. So, how does my rock work?
I use my rock to help me remember a story, so that it will be recalled to mind every single day. It is the story that is told in 1 Samuel 17, about a shepherd boy named David who killed a giant named Goliath.
David went to battle against the giant armed with nothing more than a staff and a sling with five smooth stones for ammunition. However, he carried something else with him that day that was mightier than his weapons—his faith that his God would deliver him. When David approached Goliath in the valley, he didn’t brag about how good of a shot he was with that sling. Instead he said, “…You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you” (1 Sam. 17:45-46 NKJV).
Another thing I find interesting about the story is that the scriptures have no mention of God speaking to David and asking him to do what he did. David saw that his God and his nation were being defied by an enemy and no one else was doing anything about it. In the eyes of the world, David was probably the person least likely to be a job fit for the position of Israel’s champion. He could have hung his head and said, “I’m just a boy. I have no training or experience as a soldier. What good can I do? Send someone else.”
His lack of experience didn’t stop him. He stepped up to the plate when all the other were afraid. It wasn’t because he was leaning on his own strengths, but he knew that he would win with the help of the Lord. He did it so that, “…all the earth may know there is a God. Then the assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with the sword and spear; for the battle is the Lords…” (1 Sam 17:46-47).
There are many times in our lives that we face challenges that are beyond our own natural ability to solve them. I know that I have been given assignments at work that I did not have the required IQ or skill level, but God has always helped me find the answers or give the extra wisdom I needed. I have fought other battles in my personal life that I was not equipped to handle on my own. I have gotten through these battles because I faced them, even when I doubted my own abilities or did not know which path I should take.
Every morning when I am getting dressed, I look at the pile of change on the dresser top from my pocket the day before. That little rock is always in the pile. I take it in my hand and think of the trials that await me that day.
Satan will always come against us and tell us we are weak, dumb, or not good enough to face the battles we find ourselves in. He will try to tell us not to attempt anything beyond our physical abilities. There have been times in the past that I listened to the evil one and did not win the battle. If we believe the devil when he tells we will fail, then we surely will.
If we only have faith in what we know we can already do, then that is not faith in God. We do not truly trust the Lord to step in and fight the battle for us until we stretch ourselves to try something greater that we ever have before.
So, I use my little rock to remind me not to listen to the lies of Satan. This little rock reminds every day, that with the helping of the Lord, I can win my battles. For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).
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