Experience Required

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 quick perusal of a newspaper provides insight into the worlds of international politics, business, sports, and entertainment.  You can find the latest information concerning the weather, you can read other people’s opinions in the editorial section, and you can even work a crossword puzzle, or have your funny bone tickled by the comics section.  Finally, you will come to the classified section which can prove both informative and comical to the discerning reader.

The classified section is always chock full companies’ requests for employees.  There are always jobs to be had in several businesses on a daily basis.  A survey of these advertisements will quickly show one common thread among them.  The words, “Experience required” figure prominently and either provide an incentive for someone to answer the ad or move on to something else.

Have you ever been frustrated by those two little words?  Have you ever read through the classifieds, diligently seeking an opportunity to change jobs only to be thwarted and disappointed by the need for experience?  This is the catch for most college graduates.  They have all this knowledge and training but lack the experience needed for many of the jobs in the “real world.”

What are God’s requirements?   What kind of experience is he looking for?  It is a very different kind than that for which the world is searching.  This is seen very easily in the life of a familiar Old Testament character, David, the shepherd boy from Bethlehem.

When David arrives to check on his brothers, he is introduced to something very strange.  A giant, Goliath of Gath, is taunting the Israelite army, begging for a fight.  The soldiers, however, refuse to answer the ad, refuse to take up their arms, and refuse to fight.  They have all this training in war and the use of armor and weapons but they have no experience with God.

Enter David, the lowly shepherd.  He has no experience in battle, no experience in tactical warfare, and no experience with weapons. However, he does have first-hand experience of God’s might and, based on this, David answers Saul’s ad for a champion.   

In 1 Samuel 17:33-35, we find an exchange between these two men as they discuss David’s qualifications.“Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."  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, 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.”

Here we have a classic difference of opinion.  Saul believes David to be unqualified because he lacks the necessary training.  He has never studied war, he has never learned to throw a spear, and he has never faced an enemy as big as Goliath.  David begs to differ.  His enemies have been the lion and the bear that delighted in taunting his flock.  They attacked without warning, intent on killing as many of the sheep as possible, something David could not and did not allow.

Although David’s experience is not exactly what Saul has in mind, it is more than adequate.  I mean, David stands head and shoulders above the rest of the applicant pool who have more knowledge and more training than he.  But they aren’t applying for the job!  David’s best response is found in verse 37, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."  How do you say no to that? You can’t and Saul didn’t!

Will you answer God’s classified ad today?  Do you have the experience of a personal relationship with him that equips you to face any of life’s circumstances?  When you read the words, “Experience required,” does this motivate you or dissuade you from answering God’s call?  All you have to do is apply, that is, apply God’s word to your life and you will have the necessary experience to answer any of life’s challenges!