Approach your worries as challenges to be conquered

1 Samuel 17:32

David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine, your servant will go and fight him.” NIV

This morning, I went back to Bible Gateway.com.  This time,  I searched the New Living Translation for the word, “worry,” and verses appeared that did not show up on the first page of the same search in The Message.  This is all very interesting to me.  This morning’s exercise led me to the phrase, “lose heart,” in the NIV, and I can see that this combination of words appears several times in the NIV translation.  I will add “lose heart,” to my list of word searches.

I love this verse.

I love this whole story.  David is a young boy, and feels invincible.  He boasts of the ability to complete what everyone else believes is an impossible task, and, his faith in God and in his own abilities is so strong, that it never occurs to him that he will fail.  When he is victorious later in the story, I always find myself thinking, “Good for David!”

A little boy who is very dear to me has this kind of confidence.  The last time I spent time with him, he was still young enough not to have been buffeted by the world, which he still saw as his to conquer.  His father is a hunter, and the little boy has hunted for as long as he can remember.  Like David, he has great confidence in his skills and in himself, and he believes that Jesus loves him dearly (which He does) and that he can accomplish anything.

Were we all like that at one point?  When does that change?  And, how much of a tie is there between the invincibility of our youth and the verses that call us to be like children?

Both Mark and Luke record Christ saying about children, “for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

For children of a certain age, and who are blessed to live in stable situations, each day can be a new adventure.  They don’t seem to see the worry, instead they see the rush of conquering a challenge.

I’ll think more about that today.