NOT AN UNDERDOG
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I've been hearing this phrase in my spirit for a few months now: not an underdog. It's a familiar word, but here's an official dictionary definition:
Whether you read the Bible or not, this word underdog often evokes the story of David and Goliath. It's an epic story and also prophetic for right now. The Lord wants to encourage his beloved ones who feel forgotten, hidden, and overlooked. Can you relate? Take heart. God calls you his hidden gem. And he's about to reveal you for such a time as this. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. (Isaiah 49:2 NIV) Some of you are perfectly content being hidden. Others are growing restless. Regardless, please know that being unknown and under the radar is such a gift. Don't despise your hiddenness and humble beginnings. While you're in obscurity, the stakes are low. Mistakes are expected. It's here in the hiddenness that God tests you and trains you for great exploits ahead. These are the days when you learn to know him, love him, trust, obey, and live in humility for an audience of One. Consider the life of David. The Lord sends Samuel the prophet to anoint Israel's next king. Samuel arrives in Bethlehem at the house of Jesse. Seven of his sons are brought before Samuel, but the Lord has not chosen them. Is that all? Samuel asks. Well, there's one more, the youngest... David was out tending the sheep, chosen by God yet uninvited by man. Here's Samuel's directive to David's dad: “Send word and bring him; for we will not take our places at the table until he comes here" (1 Samuel 16:11 NASB). The least, the overlooked, is suddenly summoned, singled out, with his seat saved and the others waiting for him to fill it. Later, with a battle brewing between Israel and the Philistines, we find out more details about what David was doing during his wilderness training. But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. (1 Samuel 17:34-35 NIV) No human being noticed when David defeated the wild beasts. He had no applause, no worldly accolades. But he was not hidden from God. He was hidden for God and by God. Without these private battles under his belt, he wouldn't have been able to stand against Goliath. David knew that the battle belonged to God, declaring, "The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine" (1 Samuel 17:37). Here's the truth: David was not the underdog. We cannot read this story with a worldly lens. David had intimacy and a history with God. He had heavenly resources that King Saul the the armies of Israel knew nothing about. We know from reading about the life of King David that he faced many battles. He spent years hiding and running from King Saul who wanted to take his life. David sinned greatly, yet God called him "a man after my own heart" (Acts 13:22). Beloved one, God's hidden gem, the Lord has been applying great pressure to crush you, form you, and prepare you. I know it's hard. It hurts. He is refining and polishing you. Stay the course. Submit to the fire. Savor his voice. Who does he say you are? What is he asking of you? Whatever he's saying ... speak up, serve, post, publish, wait, go, give, forgive ... believe him and act on it. You are hidden in the palm of his hand. Receive his grace. Be faithful in the little. Prove him strong and able as you face your lions and bears. Ultimately, King David points to King Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of God who reigns forever. Jesus is not an underdog; he is victor. He disarmed every power and principality when he hung on the cross, utterly destroying the works of the devil. God wants to impart a fresh revelation of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus — especially his ascension. The Holy Spirit highlighted something new to me this fall from David's victory over Goliath. David rejected Saul's clunky armor (self-protection) and opted for another strategy: 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. (1 Samuel 17:40 NIV) This is a prophetic picture of our Lord and Savior's ascension. When Jesus ascended on high, he gave five gifts — apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers — to bring us, his living stones, to unity and maturity so that the world sees the Son. Before Jesus died, he also prayed for us: "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one..." (John 17:21-22 NIV) The name Goliath means "splendor" (Strong's H1555). It's another word for glory. Do you know what glory does? It uncovers, reveals, and advertises! We are living in days of deep darkness on the earth but also great glory! God is preparing and revealing a new generation of fivefold ministers and hidden gems who are anointed to confront and defeat the spiritual giants in the land. Seated in heavenly places, their lives are hidden with Christ in God. This is the true body/bride of Christ arising, "growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness" (Ephesians 4:13 CSB). Sounds gigantic and glorious, doesn't it? Not an underdog! Chelsea |