Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.”

Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.  David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. – I Samuel 17:37b-40

Saul was Saul and David was David, but David was the only one aware of this.  When Saul tries to have David fight Goliath, he wants David to wear his armor and use his weapons.  While David is obedient to His king, it is the armor God provides that ruled the day.  The end result is a shepherd approaching the field of battle with a shepherd’s weapon.  With a sling and a rock, David felled the giant and glorified God.

David knew two things that day that made victory possible; he knew himself and – more importantly – he knew God.  David did not need to be anything more than what God had created him to be; a shepherd protecting the flock.  God didn’t need a warrior that day, decked out in the proper garb and arsenal, He needed a trusting servant.  The question for us is, “As parents, are we preparing our children to be like David?”

It is easy to treat our children the same way that Saul treated David, trying to force them into armor that neither fits their purpose or potential.  We need to see our children the same way that God saw David – full of promise and potential.   Our eyes need to stay focused on who are children are becoming rather than all we want them to be.  God has given us the privilege of caring for his people and our children, so that they grow up to be all God intends them to be.

Lord, help me to see past my own to see the amazing potential my children have.  May they grow to know who God created them to be and may they learn to sling stones to kill the giants in their lives. Amen.