Outstanding In Your Field

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied. “But he’s out in the fields watching the sheep and goats.”

1 Samuel 16:11


Have you ever been laying in bed at night and thought to yourself, “whats my purpose in life, why was I born and is this what the LORD has for me” questioning the meaning of life? If we are honest most of us have and usually its at times when we don’t understand what’s going on as things are not going the way we had hoped or planed. Studying the book of 1 Samuel this morning I was reminded again that God has a plan for your life that might not be clear to you but it’s perfectly clear to God.

Take King David’s life. The youngest of eight he finds himself tending sheep and goats out in his fathers pasture when the prophet Samuel stops by the house looking for the next king of Israel. While David is doing what many would consider mundane, God is training David, teaching him skills that will ultimately serve to make him Israel’s greatest king. As a shepherd David couldn’t get any lower on the occupational ladder of success, success in the worlds eyes that is.

While David learned how to lead sheep to greener grass and to protect them from predators, little did he know God was developing a great leader, a man scripture says was a man after God’s own heart. Alone in the dark surrounded by sheep and goats David most likely spent many a night in the wilderness gazing up into the heavens. Psalm 8:3 says, “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place.” It’s in those dark nights when God became most clear.

You might not feel like you are where you want to be in life today but rest assured you are right where God wants you to be. The Lord is working in and through all that you are going through to equip and prepare you for so all that He has in store. Patience doesn’t come naturally nor easy but just like King David, if you and I will trust God and be faithful in the little things, He will in His perfect timing do exceedingly above all that we might think or ask. Remember, the key to being outstanding in your field, regardless of what that field is, is to be humble and faithful and to trust in the Lord.


“The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths.”

Psalm 23:1–3

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