Sticks and Stones: Advantages of Disadvantages

To begin to understand today’s message, we need to go to the new testament before we go back to the old testament. We’re going to begin in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10. 8?Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.?9?Each time he said,?“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”?So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.?10?That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Here’s what we know about what we’re reading about in this passage: The Apostle Paul is suffering. He is in pain. We don’t know if he’s in pain because of what happened in 1 Corinthians 15 or if it was one of the ship wrecks that left him in pain or if something was going on with his eye. We know that it was a real, physical pain that would not go away. We know it felt like death. We know that the pain itself was visible because other people felt bad when they looked at him; and not because he was in pain, but because it looked painfully disgusting. I want you to write this down because this is the first thing we need to understand this morning: When I am weak, God is stronger.

Today, we’re going to talk about the advantage of disadvantage. What kind of advantage can there be in disadvantage, but I will tell you that there is a lot of people don’t know about because they are feeling too sorry for themselves in their disadvantage. Remember last week how we talked about that there is more than appearances that make somebody chosen by God. God looks at more than just what’s apparent to everybody else. It’s not always about money, good looks, skills. It’s about whats inside a person that God looks at and manifests into his glorious plan.

You see, when God speaks to Paul, God is saying that when we are in a position of disadvantage, God is revealed to be stronger. God does things in a way that cannot be denied and attributed to anybody or anything else other than God’s power. This is why Paul boasts about his weaknesses. He knows that it is his disadvantage that gives him the advantage to be God’s glory.

I want you to think about your disadvantages—maybe you’re too unatheletic, not smart enough, unattractive, in the wrong socio-economic class, have the wrong parents, whatever it is—when you are perceived to be weak, when you are thinking you are weak yourself, rejoice—because that is when you can witness God be stronger.

I want to shift gears now because I said we’re going to look at this story of David and Goliath from four vantage points. The second vantage point I want us to examine this story is from the perspective of advantages from the disadvantage. Let’s go to 1st Samuel 17:1-11.

1Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled?at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh?and Azekah.?2?Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah?and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines.?3?The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.

4?A champion named Goliath,?who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.?5?He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels;?6?on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin?was slung on his back.?7?His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod,?and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer?went ahead of him.

Remember what we covered last week—[recap verses 4-7] – it’s not about appearances. The appearances of Goliath made it clear that he had all the advantages in this battle.

8?Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose?a man and have him come down to me.9?If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.”?10?Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy?the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.”?11?On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

When we keep reading in verse 11, we know for a fact that even the Israelites knew that Goliath had all the advantages in a gladiator match. There was no way any of them can beat this behemoth. The advantage, from all appearances was that David was overmatched to Goliath.

I didn’t tell you this last week, but I’m going to tell you now, the reason that Goliath had three weapons with him. It was because he was an infantryman. Back 3,000 years ago, armies had three separate divisions: infantry, cavalry, and slingers. Each division had their own advantage. Infantry were awesome at hand to hand combat. The cavalry knew how to ride horses. Slingers could launch rocks from long distances at about 150 miles per hour. If you put a person from the infantry into a hand to hand battle with an archer, the advantages of that fight go to the infantryman because that’s what he does. If you put a slinger in a long distance battle with somebody riding in the cavalry, then then advantage would be all slinger. The advantage between a fight between the cavalry and an infantryman would result in an advantage to the cavalryman. So on a 1 on 1 fight with an infantryman in hand to hand combat like Goliath is proposing, the Israelites knew that by standard rules of engagement, a person 9 feet tall would beat up on anybody who is less than 6 feet tall and not as big. Let’s keep reading, verse 32.

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

33?Saul replied,?“You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

34?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,?35?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.

Your disadvantage provides a different perspective. David was bold because he knew that the disadvantage he faced against Goliath was just different than what he faced previously. When we are in a position of disadvantage, we need to realize that we are only disadvantaged because we have a different perspective. In economics this is called the U-shaped chart of diminishing returns. Let’s look at this graph. Do you see how no matter where you stand, your disadvantage is really just a different perspective? Let’s keep reading how David looks at it.

?36?Your servant has killed both the lion?and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.?37?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.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the?Lord?be with?you.”

God rescues those who trust Him in their disadvantage. When David was in a position of disadvantage against the lion and the bear, he knew God would rescue you him. He applied at that same logic, that God will rescue him if David just trusted God to deliver.

38?Then Saul dressed David in his own?tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.?39?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.

David uniquely came at the problem at hand—Goliath. He came at Goliath, not like an infantryman, but as a hunter. David, even though he was tiny in comparison, despite the fact that he had the disadvantage in the situation, had the right equipment and training to do what people who never had a disadvantage could never do. Write this down: A disadvantage will equip you with unique approaches.

41?Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer?in front of him, kept coming closer to David.?42?He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome ,and he despised?him.?43?He said to David, “Am I a dog,?that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.?44?“Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds?and the wild animals!”

45?David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin,?but I come against you in the name?of the?Lord?Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.46?This day the?Lord?will deliver?you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses?of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world?will know that there is a God in Israel.?47?All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword?or spear that the?Lord?saves;?for the battle?is the?Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

God supersedes all advantages. There is nothing that puts you in a position of disadvantage when you trust God. The reason is because God equips you and prepares you and has given you the right toolset to succeed in a situation that you are perceivably the disadvantaged.

48?As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.49?Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50?So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling?and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

Write this down: The traditional way may not be the best way. I want you to know today that your disadvantage is your greatest advantage. Just like we saw the Apostle Paul celebrating his weakness because in his weakness God was made to look strong; in our weaknesses, God is also looking stronger. But in our disadvantage, we actually have more advantages than we realize, we just need to open our eyes to it. I love how the author of this story writes verse 50. He says that David, given all his disadvantages, defeated the giant because the best way wasn’t the traditional way, it was God’s way. It was taking the disadvantage and approaching it nontraditionally.

Let’s go to the memory verse today. Each time he said,?“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”?So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. God’s grace is everything we need because our disadvantage is our greatest advantage. Don’t back down in your battle with giants and struggles.