The author unpacks the risk attached to shepherding in the ancient lands of the Bible. The flocks and their overseers were prone to attacks from a variety of predators: panthers, hyenas, bears and lions.� Lions spend their lives engaged in two primary activities: sleeping after a meal and looking for a meal.� (p.128) that fierce young shepherd David engaged in hand-to-hand combat with predators:
“34 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, 35 I 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.� (1 Samuel 17:34, 35).
David’s commentary reveals not only his courage but also that he was well prepared to face Goliath. He was not merely the lunch courier for his brothers; he was seasoned in hand-to-hand combat with ferocious predators including the lethal lion. David took on Goliath with bold confidence in God but this was not the first time he had gone toe to toe with a fierce adversary.His scrapes in the wilderness with a predator intent on devouring his father’s livestock prepared him for not only slaying Goliath but for a career as a warrior.J.Robert Clinton in his excellent book, the Making of a Leader, explores leadership emergence patterns. He contends that God lays sovereign foundations in the life of leaders to prepare the man or woman of God for service. Experiences in the leader’s past such as family of origin, education, and hometown are all shaping influences. Yesterday, I met a pastor who had the courage to step away from a bad church experience. He is now recalibrating his life to pursue ministry as a military chaplain. In the course of our conversation, he informed me that he had grown up as a military brat. It struck me that his mobile experiences as a military child prepared him for his new ministry.
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