Religion: A Pastor Ponders

A Big God For Bad Days

by Pastor William Jenkins

April 9, 2005

Fascinating are the stories of the Old Testament, Profound are the lessons to be learned from them. In I Chronicles 14 there is this thought provoking statement: “The Philistines abandoned their gods and David gave orders to burn them in the fire.”

The Philistines abandoned their gods because they had a bad day…David’s army had beaten them soundly. The Philistines had wooden-headed, fair-weather gods that could be acquired or abandoned according to ones fancy; they had no gods big enough or brave enough for the bad days in the valley of giants.

On how many bad days are we tempted to abandon our God and walk lonely and defeated in the valley of giants? These giants may take many forms: fear, failure, sickness, tragedy, death, temptations, disappointments or doubts. These giants cause us to have bad days, but a bad day does not disqualify a great God.

David named the place of his victory “God of Breakthroughs”. We forget in the heat of our struggles that God is bigger than the battle, greater than the grief, mightier than the moment and brighter than the darkness. A breakthrough is on the way.

It is a strange business in religion whenever one’s gods may be abandoned on the basis of a bad day. It is another strange thing that David and his men gathered the gods of the Philistines and burned them.

Surely, He is the greater God who enables His followers to gather up weaker, wooden gods and use them for kindling. David’s God was wonderful, not wooden; He was Kingly, not kindling.

Whenever the bad days come it does make a difference how big and brave is the God who accompanies us through the valley of the giants.

League City United Methodist Church is located at 1411 Main Street (FM 518), one block east of Interstate 45. For information, call the church offices at 281-332-1557 or visit the website at

HYPERLINK - http://www.lcumc.org