written by Jennifer Blatto-Vallee
Self- sacrifice is so seldom a natural thing. It may look altruistic on its face, but internal noise and a weighing of alternate options often precede it. That happens with even the smallest of gestures; waiting for the next elevator or giving tickets away to a show you really wanted to see.
What about potential life or death sacrifices? Most of us will never have to consider something like that. In the Middle East there are countless numbers serving and sacrificing for the freedoms of people they will never meet. What truly motivates them? What motivated the men in 2 Samuel to fight without the support of their beloved leader? It seems to me that they were forward thinkers. Yes, they knew David was exhausted and needed rest, but, more importantly, they wanted him out of battle “so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.” This forward thinking astonishes me, as I am a big fan of seeing results here and now. Did they know they would not lose any of these battles? If they weren’t sure they’d win, the sacrifice is even more astonishing. God was clearly providing them with strength and hope. I mean they were fighting giants!!! Maybe there was a confidence that the battle was not their own. I vacillate in that confidence. Now I am not wrestling with a 9-foot tall man whose armor weighs more than I do, but I face my own giants on a regular basis. We all do. Do I do it in the strength that moved mountains, with the knowing that all things work for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose? Do I hold out hope for a future and a work that will be finished because God started it? For some of my giants, I do. For others, I see how I have tried in my own strength to fight, looking more like a screaming toddler who says to God, “I’ll do it, I’ll do it,” until I finally relent and ask for help. I don’t think these men were afraid in 2 Samuel. I think they sacrificed for a common good because they knew that, for God, there were no giants. We serve that same God today!
A fellow traveler,
Jennifer