Trophies Of War

I have a little curio cabinet in our home which displays some of the crowns I've won over the years. Those sparkly things don't mean a hoot to anybody else but me. Go to my brother's house and you'll find various heads of deer he has killed. What is the difference between my crown display and my brother's mounted deer display? Absolutely nothing. For me, my crowns aren't a sign of vanity, but they remind me of something I conquered (I competed for Mrs. Mississippi International three times before winning). For my brother, the deer heads aren't really trophies, but they are a sign of victory for him.

Some people have scars of past tussles. My husband has a small patch of grey hair to the top right corner of his head from when he fell out of his high chair onto the floor as a baby. He had a little wound on that spot from the fall and ever since that day, grey hair has grown out of that spot. You may have a physical scar somewhere on you which you can point to and tell a story about.

David told Goliath in I Samuel 17:46, "This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth and the whole world will know that there is a God is Israel." If you go down a bit further in that chapter, you'll see where David cut off Goliath's head, brought it into Jerusalem, and placed it in his own tent. That sounds pretty gross to me, but in reading more about this, a head was considered a trophy of war and reminder of how God can help His people to overcome overwhelming odds.

All of us have giants or things that seem bigger than we are. That's why everyone needs at least one Goliath head hanging in his tent! Now some people may think that sounds crazy, but if you've ever fought a Goliath, you'll want to keep the head in your trophy room, too. Sure, I'm figuratively speaking here, but in keeping a reminder of the things the Lord has helped me conquer, it reminds me of the other situation I may find myself in and gives me faith to fight it.

David activated the covenant with his confession and actions. Faith declares the outcome in the middle of the fight. In other words, the battle is won on the inside before you ever win it on the outside.

I've known people who have gone through tough times and talked negatively about it the whole time. Then when God comes through for them, they say afterwards, "I just knew everything was going to turn out all right." Well, why didn't they say that in the middle of the struggle?

I love what Paul said in the middle of the storm at sea in Acts 27:25, "I believe God. It shall be as He said."