- LIONAIRY
- Posts
- The Crown After the Cave
The Crown After the Cave
Weekly Edition #33: September 10th, 2025
Verse I Like:
70 He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheep pens;
71 from tending the sheep he brought him
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
of Israel his inheritance.
72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;
with skillful hands he led them.
Weekly Dose
What’s the downside of catching only the highlights or headlines?
It skips over the long, drawn-out seasons where real progress is forged. Headlines and milestones make success look instant, like it appeared overnight. But that’s not how greatness is built.
For the sake of example, think about athletes. The headline might read “2025 Championship Winner.” This single snapshot in time needs to come with the assumption of years of unseen sacrifices—late nights, early mornings, countless repetitions, pain endured, and the willpower to keep going without an audience.
Don’t let these highlights and headlines distort reality. They give you the outcome, though often devoid of all comprehension of the process. They show the fruit but ignore the soil, the seed, and the long waiting.
Only when we recognize and appreciate the seemingly mundane activities can we accept that they are the stepping stones to where we want to be. As the quote goes, “Rome was not built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour.”
Quotes I Like:
“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”
“'Boring' is what most people call the work it takes to become the best.”
“Continuous effort—not strength or intelligence—is the key to unlocking our potential.”
Mane Message
The delay and process of achievement can be seen in none other than King David. He is anointed by God through Samuel to be the future king of Israel. But the crown does not fall on his head the next day. Instead, what follows is years of obscurity, danger, and development.
He first served under Saul, the then-current king’s court as a musician, later becoming a fugitive. Saul, filled with a jealous rage, hunts him relentlessly, and David spends years hiding in caves, living as an outlaw, and enduring betrayal and uncertainty. It is believed that nearly fifteen years passed between his anointing and his coronation.
Even before he was a fugitive and before his legendary slaying of Goliath, David faced lions and bears in fields, defending his father’s sheep. This same fortitude and faithfulness prepared him to defend God’s people. First from Goliath, then from the tyranny and unfaithfulness of Saul.
All of the years were not wasted. In the struggle, the character, resilience, and dependence on God were forged for David. There was a justification for the suffering.
Eventually, after Saul’s death, David is crowned king—first over Judah, then over all Israel. The “headline” reads David becomes king. But that headline omits the years of sweat, loneliness, anxiousness, and faithfulness.
The greatness people saw in David, the warrior-poet, the man after God’s own heart, did not appear overnight. It was shaped in years running and hiding, in mundane tasks, in long stretches of waiting where the only audience was the Lord.
It will take longer than you think it should. But if it is harder than you thought it would be, will the reward not be better than you thought it would be?
Weekly Ponder
Why do we often glorify the moment of arrival but ignore the years it took to get there?
Do you crave the crown? Then, are you prepared to endure the cave?
Enjoying our Content?
Onward and Upward!
