Shemaah, a Benjaminite, had at least two sons, Ahiezer and Joash. Though not well known, they were greatly appreciated for their skills and leadership abilities.
They were bowmen and could shoot arrows and sling stones equally well with either hand. They were Benjaminites, Saul’s kinsmen. (1 Chronicles 12:2 ESV)
Use your imagination and picture them around ten years old, practicing and competing with each other.
“They’re both just wasting time”, friends and family would grunt. “They’ll never amount to anything.”
But the Lord had other ideas.
There was a little boy, growing up just ten miles away, who would need the skills and loyalty of such men.
David, the young shepherd boy, destined to be king of Israel.
Navigating your way through your teen years, maybe you struggled to discover your life’s purpose, while those around you thought you were wasting time, or pursuing the wrong thing.
Maybe you didn’t know, or could never quite figure out, what to do with your skills and passions.
Perhaps even now you’ve been afraid to step out in pursuit of those passions because no one else is doing it.
No one likes to be the oddball.
No one appreciates being labeled a rebel or nonconformist.
But Shemaah’s two sons, Ahiezer and Joash, though they had skills that weren’t exactly conventional, did much for the Kingdom of David and the Kingdom of God.
You say preaching, teaching, or prophesying to the nations isn’t your calling? There’s still a place and calling for you.
Let’s remember there’s a God in Heaven Who gives each person gifts, callings, and passions for His glory and the edification of all those around us.
Your name, my name, may never appear in lights or be mentioned in the most popular Christian magazine.
It really doesn’t matter.
But if we’re doing our best with what we’ve been given, what we do will matter. Greatly! Ahiezer and Joash seemed to find their niche, and God thought enough of them to include their names in His Word some 2500 years ago.
I’m sure Shemaah never dreamed for a moment how important those days of his kids playing with bows and arrows, or throwing rocks at tin cans, actually were.
And God may be the only One Who knows what He has in store for you and I.
But you can be sure it’s good.
And necessary for Kingdom business.
Jan Grace 