How are you smart?   Babe Ruth was smart with a baseball bat, and Einstein was smart with math.   I met an old woman was almost blind, could hardly hear and had never made it past 5^th grade.  Her face lit into a giant smile as she showed me how she was smart with her latest creation:  The most intricate hand-sewn quilt I had ever seen.

One of my favorite Bible, “How are you smart stories” is about a fifteen-year-old shepherd boy named David.  Too young and too small for King Saul’s army, David was asked to deliver some food to his three brothers who were on the front lines of the battlefield.  That’s when David heard the news about a giant man named Goliath.

This Philistine jerk insulted, taunted and ridiculed the Israeli army by challenging any man to a one-on-one fight to the death.   It was a winner-take-all proposition, and Saul’s soldiers trembled in fear – even when Goliath mocked the God of Israel.

Outraged, David stepped out of his comfort zone, and played to how he was smart. . .

Can you imagine the laughter directed at David when he said, “I’ll fight that guy and win.”  David had to convince King Saul (and perhaps himself) that he could do it.  He said he had killed lions that tried to steal sheep from his father’s flock, and claimed he was not afraid of the 9-foot-tall giant.

David used his smarts – his God given gifts of courage, speed and practice as he raced directly at the giant.  Can you see him running!  Suddenly, David whipped out his slingshot on the run, and hurled a smooth stone directly into Goliath’s forehead.

Yes, David used his smarts, and the question today is simply, how has God blessed you to be smart?  What makes you smile?  What comes easy to you that is hard for others?  Do you make great cookies that you can share with others?  Can you share your love of kite flying with the neighbor kids?  Can you tutor reading or writing to a kid in need?

How has God blessed you to be smart?  How can you be extra smart with all those smarts you’ve been given?