Psalms 34:4 (Author David): “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”
“Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.” Psalms 30:2
“Don’t worry about this Philistine! I’ll go fight him”, David confidently said to King Saul as Israel was being bullied by the tyrant stronghold Goliath. Even though almost every Israelite let fear and doubt control them, David’s courage and faith remained firm. (1 Samuel 17:32)
“Don’t be ridiculous! There’s no way you an fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth” – this is the statement Saul gave to David’s unflappable courage, and the theme we often hear from Satan when we chase our God-given dreams. (verse 33). Have you ever heard this message before:
“Don’t be ludicrous! There’s no way you can face your life giants and win! You are too weak and disabled to survive and thrive in your unfair world! Just face it! No one, including God, loves you, and you too incompetent to amount to anything!”
Negative thinking, doubts and fears, past hurts and failures, poor self-concepts and naysayers – if we let them, they can all derail us from being the person, and doing the work, we were created to be and do. If we listen to the lies of the Evil One, our life giants will control us, and shame and defeat will consume our hearts!
So how did David, with only a staff, sling, and five stones, remain both courageous and well-assured that God will deliver him through the Goliath trial, after Saul questions his faith, and as David stands face to face to his giant? The answer: through David’s previous victories of defeating lions and bears.
In 1 Samuel 17:34, David told both doubt and Saul, the following: “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats. When a lion or bear comes to steal a lamb from a flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”
In David’s life, God used smaller trials (lions and bears) to build David’s confidence and faith in God being the Deliverer of trials. Once David won the battle between faith and fear in the mind, David subsequently found victory over Goliath, thanks to God. In 1 Samuel 17, David proclaimed to his life giant: “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies – the God of the armies of Israel, who you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues His people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, hand He will give you to us.”
The omnipotent God who rescued Israelites from the Philistines is the same one today that wants to deliver me and you from ourlife giants. In spite of our frailties and weaknesses, our Father in heaven desires to uses our victories against overwhelming odds to prove to our world that God is present, perfect, and nearby. We cannot let our fears and doubts dwarf the size of God we and others perceive Him to be.
World history is full of disabled and other unlikely heroes that God used for His glory as He enabled them to triumph over seemingly, undefeatable Goliaths. If you let God be God in your life, you can become another member of the list. Like a diamond in the rough, God wants to work on your imperfections daily and mold you into a precious diamond that reflects His Light toward us. But most importantly, what God wants is you.
Quotes:
Carlos Castaneda: “To be a warrior is not simple matter of wishing to be one. It is rather an endless struggle that will go on to the very last moments of our lives. Nobody is born a warrior, in exactly the same way that nobody is born an average man. We make ourselves into one or the other.”
“The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one moment to the next.” (Mignon McLaughlin)