Last October 7, while preparing for a message for our English Worship here in South Korea, I noticed the series of posts of my former seminary professor in my Facebook News Feed. His posts is all about Christian living focusing on overcoming whatever circumstances you face. I copied a total of ten short messages and was thinking of sharing them in our English Worship. And so I started last Sunday, October 13 and I just want to share the outcome of my own reflection from the original idea of my professor.
I believe that no child of God wants to live a defeated life. We all want to live the life of an overcomer.
An overcomer is living a winning life, a victorious life, a life that triumphs over all difficulties and trials. Of course, as Christians, our understanding of an overcomer is different from the idea of the world. Our view of an overcomer is inseparable from our dependence on God and his grace. The world’s idea depends on no one but self.
In sharing this message, I want to focus on overcoming disadvantages based on the life story of King David. By reading his story, let us also reflect on our own situation. David had all the reasons to fail but he did not because God had a wonderful plan for him. He was blocked by many barriers, but those barriers became blessings to him. I think that you too have your own reasons to fail, but the word of God is telling you that as His child, He has a plan for your life. And therefore, refuse failure and choose success. God can turn all your barriers into blessings. Amen!
In this post, I would like to share with you the disadvantages that David overcame. I would like to answer this question: Since God has a plan for you, what are the disadvantages you can overcome by His grace?
I. YOU CAN OVERCOME DISADVANTAGES IMPOSED BY PEOPLE IN AUTHORITY
Who are these people in authority? They could be your relatives, religious leaders, company heads and supervisors. In the case of David, apart from God’s intervention, two persons in authority could frustrate his political career. This is due to human limitation.
The first one was prophet Samuel. In his case, he was blinded by external appearance. As he observed Eliab, he thought Eliab could be Yahweh’s chosen king. He based his judgment on height and appearance. But he was wrong.
If a prophet of God could be wrong in his assessment of men, I think no person in authority could say that their own assessment of fellow men is perfect. Man is limited in his judgment. He could not see beyond the appearances of things. Man does not know what is in the heart of his fellow man. Usually, man based their judgment on external things.
Another person in authority that could frustrate David’s career was his own father, Jesse. David’s father was given a privilege not many fathers could have during that time. Prophet Samuel visited him and informed him that one of his sons was to be anointed to serve God in a very special way. This was a great honor. So, Jesse presented seven sons before the prophet. However, he did not include David. He prejudged that David did not possess the necessary qualifications.
Of course, as a father I believe that Jesse wished the best for all his sons including David. But as far as himself was concerned, the time for David to attain great honor had not yet come. Like Samuel, he was also wrong.
It is hard to be prejudged by someone else not related to us. It is more difficult to be prejudged by someone who is related to us, someone whom we expect that knows us better. That’s a very frustrating and painful experience especially when you are facing a difficult trial.
Now, who do you think are the authoritative people that imposed on you some limitations for you not to develop your fullest potential? He could be a pastor, he could be your own father, he could be your boss. But remember that man often errs in their judgment, but none can frustrate the plan of God for your life. Amen!
Examples of People Who “Failed”
Schools are institutions who are supposed to prepare students to succeed in the real world. They measure students’ academic achievements. Many think that success in school could be automatically converted into success in real life. Nothing is farther from the truth for we have many stories of high school drop outs who turned out to be more successful in real life than those who are academically excellent. This is not to discourage schooling, for I myself underwent academic training. I am only saying that schools are limited to assess the real potential of students.
We have heard of David Karp of Tumblr who dropped out of high school at the age of 15 and now his New York startup is about to sell for $1.1 billion in cash to Yahoo. We also heard of Richard Branson who left school at the age of 16 but now ranked #272 on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires List. Mike Hudack dropped out of high school also at 16 an in 2005, he founded Blip.tv, a hosting platform for creators of digital video content. And in 2012, he became Facebook’s product manager. And finally, Vidal Sassoon left school in London at the age of 14 and worked as a hairdressing apprentice. In the 1960s, he started his own salon. In 1984, he was the official hair stylist for the Olympics and his wealth is estimated to be $130 million (Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/successful-people-who-dropped-out-of-high-school-2013-5?op=1#ixzz2h848mTve).
These men are examples of talented people whose potentials schools failed to recognize. Academically, they fail, but in the real life, they succeeded . I do not know whether they are Christians or not. But I am thinking that if these people succeed in life despite of their failure in schools, I think, as a child of God, there is no reason for you to think that your life is a failure for He has a plan for you.
Of course, the world has a different idea about success. They want to achieve greatness, power, and wealth regardless of the means. But as Christians, your primary concern is to please God in all the things that you do. And you want to bring honor to God’s name by succeeding in the calling that God has given you. It could be in church ministry, government work, business, or other areas of life. The most important thing is that you believe that God has a plan for you. Amen!
II. YOU CAN OVERCOME DISADVANTAGES IMPOSED BY SOCIAL NORMS
David was the youngest. David lived in a time where seniority matters. It was a culture that considers age as a measurement of one’s qualification. Therefore, in such culture David was not qualified. His age prevented him from being considered for what would be a highly respected and honorable position. But God’s way is different. God carries out His plan for His chosen even if human wisdom seems to be against it.
Generally speaking, in Western society, it is different. In countries such as Germany, US, and UK respect for older people as seen in Eastern countries do not exist. Aging is perceived as something negative and this affects the attitude towards older people. In such society, there is resistance in employing older workers. They are not appreciated. And so companies do not benefit from the wisdom and experiences of older generation. Older people are discriminated.
Unlike in Eastern society, such as China, Japan, and South Korea, people respect the elderly. The young generation learn from the wisdom and experiences of the older generation. Biblical concept of aging is similar to Eastern society.
I think the important lesson we have to learn from David’s story is that God moves beyond social norms. God can choose a person despite of his age, whether he is young or he is old. When social norms say, “You are not qualified!” God could have a different mind.
III. YOU CAN OVERCOME DISADVANTAGES COMING FROM YOUR OCCUPATION OR ECONOMIC SITUATION.
David was tending the sheep. That was the task suited for him not some highly respected, greatly authoritative position in the work of God. While the brothers were already qualified to carry out important duties like being soldiers, David was not.
Shepherding in the Bible evolved through time. During the time of the Patriarchs, shepherding was a noble occupation. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were shepherds. However, in the history of Israel something happened when the twelve tribes migrated to Egypt during the time of the governorship of Joseph. The Jews encountered a lifestyle foreign to them. The Egyptians were agriculturalists. As farmers, they despised shepherds (Genesis 46:34).
In the course of 400 years, the Egyptians affected Jewish attitude toward shepherding. Jacob’s descendants became accustomed to a settled lifestyle and forgot their roots. Later, when they settled in Canaan, shepherding ceased to hold its prominent position. As the Jews acquired more farmland, shepherding became a low vocation for the laboring class. And that is why when David was promoted as King of Israel, it was considered radical.
Dr. Joachim Jeremias claimed that during the time of David shepherds were “despised in everyday life.” In general, they were considered second-class and untrustworthy. Shepherding eventually forfeited its social acceptability and shepherds were deprived of all civil rights. They could not fulfill judicial offices or be admitted in court as witnesses.
Such situation lingered until the New Testament times. Shepherds were at the bottom of the Palestinian social ladder. They shared the same status as tax collectors and dung sweepers. They were officially labeled “sinners”—a technical term for a class of despised people.
The important lesson that we can learn from the life of David is that despite of all economic and social barrier related to his occupation, God chose him to be the King of Israel.
How about you? What occupational and economic situation you have that you think serves as a great barrier for you to fulfill the plan of God for your life? Remember that the plan of God was able to remove all the barriers set by man. He made David overcome all his disadvantages. Likewise, God is able to help you overcome whatever barriers you have and he is capable to turn them into blessings. Amen!
CONCLUSION:
Perhaps like David, you too have many disadvantages that hinder you to live a successful life. It could be your age, your social standing, your present occupation, and your economic situation. These advantages hinder you to maximize your fullest potential. But in David’s life, we learned that God’s way is different. God carries out his plan for you even if human wisdom seems to be contrary to it.
David is an example of someone who can be considered as an overcomer. David was at a disadvantage. He was not qualified. But God has a plan for him and that’s all that really matters.
Whatever disadvantages you have now, whatever disqualifications you have, whatever burdens may have been placed on your tired shoulders, consider this: God has a plan for you.
Only By Grace 