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Pastor Chuck Allen here and happy Monday. Welcome to another week of the weekday podcast. Today I want to launch a five day series about unknown heroes, or maybe unsung heroes, all of them from the Old Testament. And today we're going to talk with Shamma, the man who stayed in the bean field. Now this, this story comes from 2nd Samuel, chapter 23 in verses 11 and 12. I'm so glad you're here with me. And as we spend this time talking about people from the Old Testament that you may not know very well, they, they don't get the like big felt board treatment in Sunday school and you knew them as a kid because it's like, okay, I know Samson, I know Noah. Some of these are pretty, pretty obscure. But near the end of David's life, Second Samuel gives us a list of David's mightiest warriors. It reads a bit like a hall of fame. Most of us skim right past it. But tucked inside that list is a story only two verses long. And here's what it says. Next in rank was Shamma, son of AGI from Hazar. Now you read that and you think, big deal. But it goes on and says one time the Philistines gathered a lehi and attacked the Israelites in a field full of lentils. The Israelite army fled, but Shamma held his ground in the middle of the field and beat back the Philistines. So the Lord brought about great victory.
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I love the fact that the Bible tells us what was growing in the field.
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It wasn't like this famous city. It wasn't a royal palace. It wasn't a mountaintop. It was a bean patch.
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If you'd driven past it, you wouldn't even have slown down. But that field mattered. It was food for families. It was somebody's harvest. It was probably somebody's livelihood. And when the enemy came to take it, everybody ran. But this dude. Now think about how much pressure that is when everyone around you is headed one way. It just feels foolish to stay put.
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You start to wonder whether they know something that you don't. And you wonder whether it's even worth it because after all, it's just beans.
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But Shamma planted his feet in the middle of the field and decided that ground was worth holding.
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Here's the part that I think we just shouldn't run through. The text says Shamma held his ground. And then it says, so the Lord brought about a great victory.
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Both things are true. Shamma stood and God won. Shamma didn't produce the victory by himself and God didn't make the victory happen without him. God chose to work through one dude who refused to leave y'. All.
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You have a feel, too. It may not look like much to anybody else. It might not be the marriage that that's ideal. And you've been through some hard years or hard seasons, and it just could be your integrity at a job where cutting corners is normal. Or maybe it might be your sobriety or your purity or your commitment to show up for your son or daughter. Or it might be your time with the Lord in the morning before the days get loud and busy and hectic. To the world, it probably looks like a bean field, but it's yours. And friend. It matters to God. And maybe right now it feels like everyone else has fled.
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Other folks have given up on their marriages. Co workers have stopped caring. Friends might have walked away from their faith. And you're standing there wondering if you're the only one that's holding on. I want to give you a word of encouragement today.
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Staying is not foolish. Faithfulness in an ordinary field is exactly the kind of thing that God loves to bless. Holding a ground doesn't mean you need to be loud. You don't need to be a bully. You don't need to be impressive. Most of the time, it just means you don't leave.
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You just keep praying. You keep telling the truth. You keep loving the people God gave you. You keep showing up and you trust that the outcome belongs to the Lord. Shamma's job was to stand.
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God's job was to deliver the victory.
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That's still how it works. Our job is to stand, and God's job is to deliver the victory. But I also find it super encouraging that God remembered Shamma years lady years later when David's mighty men were being listed. This moment was written down for all time.
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The world may never notice your faithfulness, friend, especially if it's in a bean field. But God sees it. He doesn't forget the people who stayed when it would have been easier to cut and run.
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So here's my question for you today.
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What field has God asked you to hold?
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I've got a few of myself and I've had to learn to name them and I've had to learn to accept them and to recognize I've got some work to do on me.
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Maybe you need to do what I've done and just say it out loud and then ask the Lord for the strength to stand there one more day.
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You don't have to win the whole battle before lunch. You just have to stay in the field and let God do what only God can do.
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So I want to pray for you before we leave today.
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God of all creation and the sustainer of all life, thank you for seeing the ordinary places where we stand.
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And give us courage to stay when everybody else runs. And help us to trust you with a victory. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen. And amen. Have a great Monday, y'. All. I'll see you back tomorrow on another weekday podcast. Bye, now.