When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you. – African Proverb quotes

You know the saying, “Killing two birds with one stone.” It means to accomplish two jobs, two tasks, with one single action. One stone can make quite the impact. For the past few weeks, my Pastor has been preaching a series titled 5 Stone Ready. In borrowing his words, he describes the process as this,

When David volunteered to fight Goliath, he did so without even seeing what the giant looked like. David didn’t have to see the size of his enemy, because he knew the size of his God. David was carrying what was considered to be a poor man’s weapon…a sling. However, after killing a bear and a lion, he believed that what had worked in the past will continue to work in present. He had no desire to try something new in this battle. He had his sling and his shepherd’s bag…now it was time to choose the stones. 

He knelt down at a brook and began to feel for smooth stones. He needed them to all be the same size and shape. Each one would be about he size of a tennis ball or a baseball. He would only need one, but he wanted to have “5 ready”.

Our lives are somewhat like David’s. We’ve been anointed to do something great in the Kingdom of God, but a giant is standing between us and our destiny. If we avoid the giant, we’ll miss our opportunity.

Now it’s time to take a trip to the brook. When we walk away, we need to make sure we have five stones ready for the battle. No one stone is greater than the other, in fact, any single one can do the job but we must have all “5 ready” because You may only have enough time to reach in the bag and load the sling.

According to my Pastor, you need a stone of prayer, fasting, Bible study, faithfulness, and praise. I’ve already taken the trip to the brook. I took the trip some time ago. I gathered my stones too. My stones were ready, but I was not, not until recently.

My greatest adversary, the high-profile, power-driven, Director of Mathematics for the leading consortium in assessments, the one who wreaked havoc on me and my co-workers for a year and a half, suddenly decided to pay me a visit (please pardon the major run-on sentence). There were five other offices for her to choose from and she settled on mine. Really? Her trip caught me off guard. No client had ever visited our office before. This was not standard protocol either. We always visited them.

I spent the days prior, working myself up, imagining the worse, until I made myself sick. I can’t do this. I can’t represent the company. Who am I to take on such a responsibility as this? Then, I remembered little David – a young shepherd boy who defeated a giant.

Thursday morning, bright and early, my adversary walked through my office doors. It was now or never.  I greeted her with pleasantries, but in my mind, I was psyching myself up for battle. Mentally, I dusted off the ol’ sling shot and stretched the pulley back, but the Lord stopped me dead in my tracks.

Wait, don’t fire. You are not ready. You have another enemy to conquer first.

So I ask you, what does your enemy look like?

Is fear your enemy?

You can’t confront someone. You are easily manipulated or controlled.

Is pride your enemy?

You can’t humble yourself to accept help even though your family needs it desperately. You can’t see that your neglect caused your child harm, so instead of facing the truth, you point your fingers elsewhere.

Is intimidation your enemy?

Are your words harsh, belittling, or damaging? Does your presence instill fear in others?

I know. This is tough to process. No one ever wants to hear they have flaws and those flaws can hurt someone else. So, I caution you. Before you fire the stone, make sure you know who your enemy is. You only have fives stones, and you may only have once shot at defeating the enemy.

Standing in the conference room of my office, the enemy was defeated – both internally and externally. My adversary and I were on a level playing field for once. I was no longer ready to fight, I was ready to make peace. In the end, I won her over with my southern hospitality and charm. To beat all, we shared an embrace, not only once but twice 🙂

On that day, former enemies became partners. The battle was over. It was a day I had prayed for a very long time. It changed the course of my history.

So, I urge you. Go ahead and get your five stones ready, your battle awaits you.  If you find that you are the enemy after all, don’t avoid the opportunity. It might just cost you your destiny.