I love David and Goliath stories. In watching sports, I tend to cheer for the underdog teams. I want to share in this blog the story of Ben Carson who had great odds stacked against him, even before he got out of Elementary School. It’s a real David and Goliath story.

Giants To Overcome

Ben was born in the inner city of Detroit in 1951. His father left the family when Ben was 8 years old and his brother Curtis was 10. His mother was a very responsible and good mother, but she struggled with emotional problems. On different occasions, she spent several weeks in the hospital, in the psychiatric ward.

In Grade 5, young Ben struggled so badly in math that he was fortunate to get 2 or 3 right answers on his math tests. Insensitive classmates resorted to calling him “Dummy”, deeply hurting him. “Did you get any right this time dummy?” would be a common response when the kids would get their math tests back.

Ben wasn’t dumb by a long-shot, but he had difficulty adjusting back to the Detroit Public School system, after spending a couple of years in Baltimore. His mom had taken the boys to live with relatives, right after her husband had left. When she had gotten her feet under her again, the whole family returned to Detroit.

Ben’s mom never stopped encouraging and believing that her 2 sons could accomplish a lot in their lives. She encouraged them to do their homework. After Ben’s struggles with math in Grade 5, she insisted that he memorize the multiplication table. She cut down her sons’ TV time. She also encouraged her sons to go to the Library and take out books to read. Ben started reading 2 books/week. Ben’s marks began to soar.

Ben’s interest in books became an interest in science. By Grade 8, he was near the top of the class. Some of those classmates, who called him “Dummy” in Grade 5, were coming to him for help with answers in science class. Ben’s love for learning and for reading has never left him.

An important thing to mention is that Ben and his family started going to church when he was in Elementary School. Ben started opening his heart to the Lord and he became a Christian when he was 12 years old.

Flourishing In God’s Gifts

Ben ended up excelling in High School at Detroit Southwestern High. He went to Yale University for Premed studies and then attended the University of Michigan Medical School. He became a neurosurgeon at John Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore. He was made the head of their Pediatric Neurosurgery Department when he was 33 years old.

Ben has performed some of the most difficult brain surgeries in the world. He has operated on hundreds of children with brain tumors, as well as many children with severe epileptic conditions. He has even separated Siamese twins who were joined at the head. In all his surgeries, he prepared himself with prayer and even in the middle of difficult surgeries he would cry out to the Lord in his heart for help.

One of Ben’s passions is to encourage and inspire young people by helping every person realize that they are gifted in some wonderful way by our Creator God. Carson teaches young people that they not only need to recognize their gifting from God, but they need to also be willing to work hard in developing those abilities. Remember Ben’s mom encouraging him to memorize the multiplication table and to start reading books. Ben was gifted with great hand-eye coordination and a keen intellect. But he also worked hard to develop those natural abilities.

When I read Ben Carson’s story and thought about what the Lord has done through his life, I am reminded of Philippians 2: 12b,13:

“…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

We are called to faithfully and diligently work out what God has worked in us. He has gifted us with natural abilities. And if we are Christians, He has also gifted us with the indwelling Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts. As 1 Peter 4:10 puts it: “Each one of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

Ben continues to learn and grow. He serves in the United States Government as the Secretary of the Housing & Urban Development Department. He is 67 years old and and still making a difference in this world for God’s glory.

QOTD: Are you faithfully and diligently working out what God has worked in you?