Don't Despise the Time in the Box

1 Samuel 17:32-37

New Living Translation (NLT)

³² “Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!”

³³ “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.”
³⁴ But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock,³⁵ I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. ³⁶ I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! ³⁷ The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”
Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!”

In a conversation recently, a friend said to me, "I feel like it is time to get out of this box." My friend felt trapped in the situation in which he found himself. He was tired of being in the same place for so long dealing with the same people and the same attitudes. I said to him, "Don't despise the time in the box.  It is serving a purpose in your life." The brothers of David had managed to get themselves out of the box by being a part of Saul's army. Obviously, the action was of a grander scale for the brothers on the battle field with the Philistines than for David, Jesse's youngest son, out in the field tending sheep. However, while David had been "boxed in," so to speak, out in the field, the Lord had been growing his faith. David recognized that the same God who rescued him from lions and bears was able to rescue him from the angry Philistine giant.
How has God been growing your faith while you have been in the "box?" What would it look like if you charted your spiritual growth? Actually, that's not a bad idea, especially if you are struggling with being in the same place for so long? Take a look back and praise the Lord for how He has worked in you.
Ultimately, David's faith was the tool God used to show Himself powerful! Will you trust God to use the faith He's building in you to bring glory to Himself? Hang in there...
For further study, read all of chapter 17.