The Story of Shammah – Heels and Elbows

When Shammah went out into that field to defend it against the Philistines, he went out there alone. We are told in 2 Samuel 23:11 that the people fled from the Philistines. There were a lot of heels and elbows visible that were headed in the opposite direction. I am sure they were glad that he was willing to take a stand and perhaps wished him the best. But they were not willing to stand in that bean patch and defend it with him. Shammah counted it as his duty to make that stand. I am sure he would have preferred to make that stand while surrounded by dozens of other people. But he had to be willing to stand alone.

When a man takes a stand for what is right, he must get ready for the heels and elbows. He must be willing to stand alone. It is a great blessing when a band of brothers steps out onto the battlefield to take the fight to the enemy. It is a wonderful thing when the local church has more volunteers than are needed. But the fact is that sometimes you will have to do it alone. Sometimes you will have to stand alone. You won’t always have all the help you want, but take your stand anyway. Oppose the wrong anyway even if no one will speak up with you. Charge out onto the battlefield but realize that you may have to charge out there alone. If you will only stand for God when others will stand with you, then you are not going to do much standing. Men of God must be willing to stand alone. Ask God to give you the courage to stand alone.

Popular posts from this blog

Hiking in Torreya State Park

Recently, my wife and I went hiking in Torreya State Park. The park is named for a rare species of the Torreya tree. This tree is only found in 4 locations on earth. Torreya State Park is one of those locations. The park is about an hour away from our house. We have enjoyed hiking there several times over the years. The Torreya Trail is a 6 mile loop. Besides the famous tree, it has something else that you don’t often see in Florida. It has hills. Some of the hills are very steep and will give you quite a workout. There are gorgeous views of the Apalachicola River from the top of some of the bluffs. It is one of our favorite hikes in the area. It is hard to beat six miles of hiking in the woods. We had a great time! As we followed the Torreya Trail, there was something that was impossible to miss. Everywhere we looked, Hurricane Michael’s destructive power was on full display. Hurricane Michael roared through the area in October of 2018.   The park was closed for a long time. I am no
Read more

Just a Little Catfish Fin

It was the summer between first grade and second grade. I spent most of my time back in those summer days with my buddies at the creek near my house. We spent our time catching crawfish on most hot summer days. On that day, one of my buddies found a dead catfish. We thought it would be useful to lure crawdads from their holes. There was a neighborhood girl with us that day which was highly unusual. We waded down the creek in a single file line. The girl was in the back of the line, and she kept splashing as she walked. My buddy in the front of the line kept telling her to stop. She didn’t stop. He finally got so mad that he turned and threw that dead catfish at her. I happened to be standing between them. As the catfish sailed by me, its fin hit me right in the kneecap. It stuck me hard and broke off in my knee. I ended up going to the doctor for 2 weeks as they tried to get that fin out of my knee. They gave me shots in the knee every time I went there. I kept getting sicker and sick
Read more

Working Out

My son has been encouraging me for several years to add some strength training to my workouts. I finally gave in and asked him to write me a plan. The one he gave me is really a simple plan. I only have a few barbells and not much weight with which to work. I think that most middle school boys could do it without a problem. The plan calls for me to do the workouts 2 times a week with only 2 sets in each workout. Easy. No problem. I used to play football. I used to lift weights. I am a man. I am strong. So about 8 weeks ago, I went to the garage to roll on through this little workout. The first thing on the list was a set of pushups. I got down on the floor to begin. I immediately noticed that something was different. It was a struggle to do what I used to do easily. That ended up being true for the whole workout. It was painful. It was depressing to realize that I am not as strong as I used to be. And then came the day after the workout. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. Every par
Read more