SLAYING GOLIATHS
My friend, "The
Stick"
As a child growing up in Philadelphia, I remember my great
grandmother making homemade vanilla ice cream out of snow, ice cubes, sugar and vanilla.
I remember tugging on my mother's dress and begging her for "just a little
piece" of her hot and freshly baked pretzel covered in salt and thick mustard.
I remember getting so excited at my first baseball game, that I spilled my coke and
popcorn all over my "not too happy" and "I'm going-to-tan-that-hide"
uncle.
However, the one memory which stands out above all the rest was my
first friend, Ronnie Stickmeyer. Ronnie, by all standards, was a strange guy.
He was short. No, on second thought, compared to all of the other kids, he was a
midget. He wore thick eye glasses which looked like the bottoms of coke
bottles. He seemed to always suffer post-nasal drip, having to constantly wipe his
runny nose. He had bad breath and walked with a limp. And he was as skinny as
a toothpick--hence his nickname--"The Stick."
But other kids growing up on the dirty and dusty streets of
Philadelphia had given Ronnie cruel and vicious nicknames. They described my friend
as "goofy", "tuberculosis breath" and "one sandwich short of a
picnic". There were other names that they called Ronnie. But when I
repeated these names to my mother, her eyes got real big, her face got real red and my
behind got real sore.
They would never know
him
One evening, as Ronnie was leaving my home, I overheard my dad ask
my mom, "What does Mark see in that boy? He is really weird. He
stinks. And he will never amount to anything..."
As I went to bed that evening, tears filled my eyes and rolled down my
cheeks. I cried not only for Ronnie, not only for myself, but I cried for all those
people, including my dad, who didn't really know Ronnie. And I cried because it
seemed that they would never get to know him.
They didn't know that Ronnie "The Stick" Stickmeyer was a
genius. He was like a human computer--like his brain was plugged into the the
Encyclopedia Britannica. Ronnie could spell any word and solve any math problem.
Also, despite his size and overall awkwardness, Ronnie could pitch a baseball with
a violent velocity that literally left your glove "smoking".
Surprisingly, it was Ronnie's brain power and pitching ability that
actually saved our lives.
The day the earth
stood still
One day, for no apparent reason, Randall "The Tank"
Spears, our school's bully, decided it was time to have "punching bag" practice
with our bodies. Stalking us during recess, The Tank and his "army"
cornered Ronnie and I.
"I am going to tear your little punk heads off!" yelled The
Tank as the circle around us got tighter and tighter.
The blood in my veins turned to ice. I closed my eyes and held my
breath--I silently prayed for mercy from God, begging for a quick and painless death.
Then I heard Ronnie yell back to The Tank, "You are not going to
do anything to me or my friend--you big fat hippo!"
It seemed the whole world just paused. The birds stopped
chirping. Traffic on the streets came to a halt. The wind died. Little
midget, bad breath and geeky Ronnie "The Stick" Stickmeyer had just roared.
"The Stick"
becomes "The Stone"
Astonished, TheTank, now only ten feet away from us--came to a
halt. "What did you call me? You no goo piece of crap. How dare you
even speak to me--you're a nobody! A NOTHING! A big fat zero..."
But, before The Tank could say another word, I saw a miracle.
Ronnie ran towards The Tank and picked up a nice size piece of rock from the ground.
And with ferocious fury, Ronnie fired. The rock sliced through the air like a bullet
and hit The Tank right in the stomach with an unbelievable force--knocking him solidly to
the ground. The Tank, rubbing his sore and fat stomach, rolled around in the dust
and dirt of the playground, balling his eyes out in pain.
It was on this day that Ronnie "The Stick" Stickmeyer became
Ronnie "The Stone" Stickmeyer. It was on this day that Ronnie, my friend,
whom everyone else thought was a "nobody" became a "someday".
A little runt becomes
king
Recently, through the power of His Holy Spirit, God enhanced my
memories of Ronnie "The Stone" Stickmeyer when He had me read again the story of
a young shepherd boy named David.
David, like my friend Ronnie, was viewed by his friends and family
members as a "nobody". In fact, when the prophet Samuel came to anoint a
son from the House of Jesse as king, no one even bother to call David in from his work in
the fields (1 Samuel 16:11). In other words, no one, in their wildest dreams, even
considered that the "little runt", the youngest of eight brothers, who still
retained baby fat cheeks could be crowned king. David was viewed as a nobody, a
nothing, a complete zero.
But The Lord ordered Samuel to not be fooled by physical appearances
and to anoint David as king by saying, "For The Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward
appearance, but The Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7)
God had
taken the "useless" shepherd boy and made him "useful" for His
purpose. God had once again changed a "nobody into a "somebody".
Just who do you think
you are?
However, when God changes a "nobody into a
"somebody", He imparts unto that person a great vision. He gives that
person a mission in their life that goes beyond their most vivid imagination. So it
was with David, for God told the young boy that he could defeat a monster called Goliath.
And no sooner had God planted the seeds of victory into the fertile
ground of David's heart, when enemies came to violently rip it up.
First came Eliab, his very own brother, who angrily said to David: "Why did you come here? With whom
have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and
evilness of heart; for you came down that you might see the battle." (1 Samuel 17:28)
David's next rebuke came
from Kind Saul himself. "You
are only a young boy. Surely you cannot fight Goliath who is a seasoned man of
war." (1 Samuel 17:33)
And David's final rebuke came from Goliath himself, who said: "Am I a dog that you should come to me with
sticks...come to me and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and beasts of the
field." (1 Samuel 17:44)
In other words, what
Eliab, King Saul and Goliath were all saying was this, "Just who do you really thing
you are? Well, let us remind you. You are a little runt, inexperienced in
battle, and a worthless little shepherd boy. YOU ARE A NOBODY! And whoever put
the crazy idea that you, and nothing could beat Goliath must also be a lunatic!"
Let's get ready to
RUMBLE!
But David remembered how God was there to help him in defeating the
lion and bear, and his heart never wavered in trust to the Lord. The Lord God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the same almighty God who had parted the Red Sea--had
"cosigned" and "endorsed" David's mission and life.
Goliath, awesome and towering, dwarfed little David in his shadow as
they stood on the battle field. Not only did Goliath curse David, calling him names
and threatening him with horrible and bloody death--he threatened David's God.
Imagine, Goliath, soldier and murderer, great warrier--with a heavy
sword in one hand and a javelin and spear in the other, standing toe to toe with a little
boy who was only holding a child's toy called a "slingshot". The giant and
the other Philistines probably thought this new "secret weapon" of the
Israelites was to kill them with laughter as they looked down upon poor David.
But David was not afraid. He knew his identity was through God
Himself, and that every one of his weaknesses and shortcomings were supported and covered
by the Great "I am who I am".
Boldly, David shouted to Goliath: "You come against me with a sword, a spear and a javelin,
but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel,
whom you have defied...this day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will smite
you and cut off your head..." (1 Samuel 17:45-46)
No longer laughing,
Goliath, hot with rage, runs to meet David and to his absolute amazement--David runs to
meet him.
It is rumble time and the fight is on. But the match only lasts a
few seconds, as the youngest boy of the House of Jesse scores a total knock out against
Goliath with only a sling shot and a rock.
Everyone is in awe. Everyone witnesses a "nobody"
who,through the power of God, becomes a "somebody".
A nobody trying to
tell anybody
Sadly, my friendship with Ronnie "The Stone" Stickmeyer
ended when my family moved to St. Louis. But the memory of Ronnie and the day he
beat "The Tank" remained with me all my life.
God used my unique friendship and the Biblical account of the battle
between David and Goliath to teach and remind me that He, the King of Kings, the Lord of
Lords, delights in using what others have labeled as "nobodies" to do His will.
God delights in using what the world "foolish" to confound the wise (1
Corinthians 1:27).
We "nobodies" have been called by God to perform and to
complete a mission. A mission that the world, our friends and family members will
say is "impossible". But the great Jehovah is more than able to
accomplish the impossible. The real miracle is not in God defeating the Goliaths in
our lives. The real miracle is what He has done in our hearts to enable us to trust
and lean upon His Everlasting Arms in achieving the victory.
Only the Lord can take a nobody to go tell everybody about somebody who
can save, set free and deliver anybody.
Defeating today's
Goliaths
We, who are chosen by God (Isaiah 43:1-2), are not
"nobodies" and it is through our weaknesses and shortcomings that God is made
strong (2 Corinthians 12:9). As we face the Goliaths in our lives, we should
remember the following points:
1. Do not believe the naysayers. Do not believe in the reports which
state you cannot possibly accomplish the vision God has planted in your heart.
Remember the vision is the Lord's and His Word cannot be defeated or return void (Isaiah
55:11). You and God make a majority--and together you can do what the naysayers say
is impossible.
2. You are God's workmanship. You are not a "nobody"--you are
a son or daughter of the King and your identity comes directly from God (Ephesians 1:5;
John 1:12). Claim you inheritance and your new identity; you are a branch of the
True Vine (James 15:16), God's Temple (1Corinthians 3:16), a saint (Ephesians 1:1), a
royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), a citizen of Heaven (Philippians 3:20) and chosen and
anointed by The Lord Jesus (John 15:16).
3. Remain confident and unmovable. We must not wander or wonder in the
mission He has assigned us. We must stand strong and firm--remembering that God has
prepared us to accomplish this "impossible" vision (Hebrews 13:21; Philippians
1:6). Remember the real miracle is what He has done in our hearts. Remain
confident--God will perfect the work He has begun in and through you (Philippians 1:6).
4. Do no fight naked. We must engage the enemy in full battle armor
(Ephesians 6:12-18), wielding the mighty sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God
(Hebrews 4:12). Then we can face any obstacle or problem head-on, relying upon God
for He is more than able to give us the victory (2 Corinthians 9:8, 1 Samuel 17:47, 2
Timothy 1:7).
In closing, I can hear Ronnie "The Stone" Stickmeyer and
David the little shepherd boy, both my friends and heroes, saying to the Goliaths of
yesterday, today and tomorrow: "This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand
and all the assembly shall know that the Lord saves not with the sword and spear; for the
battle is the Lord's and He will give you into my hands."
Mark Glenn
CJNN, Asst. Editor