On behalf of the 63d RD,
Walking within your limits
One of my most favorite characters in bible history is David. He changed directions in his life many times and learned many lessons about living, fighting, protecting, leading and governing during his lifetime, but the place in his life that I have been thinking about lately is when he offered to fight Goliath, a giant among men for his time, and a fierce warrior that was well trained.
At this point in David’s life he is a shepherd over sheep that belong to his father. His father sent him to check on his brothers who were at war with the Philistines, and to bring them food. King Saul earlier discovered David, liked him, and made David his armor-bearer and harp player within his court. So, between the king’s court and the battle field where his brothers were fighting David discovered how to walk and fight within his limits as a shepherd.
David heard Goliath’s ranting against Israel and God, and his ward motivated David to want to take action against him. David’s brothers still saw him as the little shepherd herder and probably told him to mind his own business and go home to his sheep, but King Saul allows David, a shepherd, to face and fight Goliath. He was given the armor that the Soldiers were wearing and fighting with, but David, after trying it on, took it off and went back to what he knew and relied on when he fought a lion and a bear as a shepherd protecting his sheep.
There is something to learn here in this story. David, as a Soldier, was out of his limits when it came to fighting Goliath. He never trained to be a Soldier. He was a shepherd trying to be a Soldier until he realized that to kill a giant, like he killed the lion and the bear, he had to be a shepherd using a shepherd’s weapon. If David had tried to fight Goliath in Soldier’s armor more than likely he would have been hindered by the unfamiliarly and his well-being or life would have been threatened or taken.
So, how do we apply this in our daily lives today? As leaders, we should know when to fight, when to step aside, and know our limits within the fight. Those within service seem to be the worst at doing this. Service orientated careers tend to want to serve beyond their limits to the point where they neglect their own well-being, or try to be Soldiers fighting like Soldiers when they are shepherds needing to fight like shepherds. We can also look at it like this: David’s strength lay in trusting on his skills as a shepherd, not in the skills and tools of a Soldier of which he was not. Be the person that you are right now. Will you have a different identity in the future? David did.
David started out as a shepherd and ended as a King. The key is walking within our limits lies in who and where we are at the time we are needed or see a need or task, and resist putting on an identity that is not ours to wear. It’s believing and trusting in ones’ skills they have. This is what David learned before he faced his giant, Goliath. This is how he defeated his giant and then later was able to become a Soldier protecting, and then a king leading and governing.
Today walk within the limits that make up who you are, and don’t try to be what you are not unless it’s time for change and time to expend your limits. You are enough just as you are for the present time, and what it demands from you even when it comes to facing a giant!
My prayer for today:
God of my heart. Lead, guide and direct our paths and the steps that we take in life. Help us to walk within our limits until we’re ready to walk above and beyond them, and then over and through the paths you have directed for our lives, amen.
CH (MAJ) Dawn Siebold
Here is the direct email and phone number for anyone requesting support from
the 63d RD Chaplain office,
usarmy.usarc.63-rsc.list.chaplain-all-users@mail.mil
650-526-9668