I don’t remember the first time that I heard the story of David and Goliath, but I would imagine that I was pretty young. The basis of the story was that a teenager with no battle experience killed an assumed indestructible giant. WITH SOME ROCKS. You take it at face value as a child, but when I reread the story the other day, I found myself really realizing just how incredible the story is.
I put myself in David’s shoes, and needless to say, my reaction would have been laughable. If God told me that I could kill a nine foot tall giant with a sling and a stone, I’d have probably doubled over in laughter.
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Then, when I realized that God was, like, forrealzies, I’d have probably turned my face upward and given God that “Whatchu talkin’ bout, Willis?” face.
THEN, I would have been all like, “Okay, God…” and when the time came for me to pick up my stones, I would have nudged the soldier beside me and whispered a request to borrow his sword.
Now, we no longer fight with stones and swords, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t face giants every day. I don’t know your struggles, but I would be willing to bet that you have them. We all do. Giants can come in any shape, form, or size.
Mental illness, unemployment, financial disaster, marital infidelity, a broken relationship, an unplanned pregnancy, familial hardships, bad grades, addiction, failure.
What makes it even scarier is that you probably will not be prepared when your giant comes knocking on your door. We all try to prepare for those giants, but the fact of the matter is that we will face them on a seemingly regular old Wednesday at 9:00 in the morning when life was going just fine.
It can feel like God has abandoned us.
For me, it feels like what He has given me just isn’t enough. I asked for a sword, and he gives me a dinky sling and a couple of rocks. I’m left asking, “Are you serious, God?”
But, we all need to realize that what we have may be insignificant, but with God’s assistance and a little bit of faith, the giant that you’re fighting can be conquered. It may not be how or when we want it to be, but God will deliver you.
I’m a big believer that God has given us three stones to use against our giants.
One is His Word. The Bible for me was once a super boring (I’m sorry if that’s offensive) book that was not really all that relative to my life. But, when I began actively seeking God in its pages, I realized that many of the situations (yes, even the Old Testament) are relatable to my own life.
The stories, especially when you open your eyes to the fact that you are serving the same God who empowered so many miracles and amazing feats, will completely blow you away.
The second stone is prayer. You have the power to literally talk to the One who is in charge of everything- that’s right, He’s even in control of that giant who looms over you. You can talk to God about everything. A large part of my conversations with God have been me questioning Him, both out of fear and out of anger for Him putting me up against an impossible opponent. Just talk to Him. He wants to hear from you.
The third stone we have is faith. Just like David knew God was going to bring him through this epic battle with Goliath, we have to know that God is going to deliver us from our giant. Faith doesn’t have to come in huge quantities. One could have the faith the size of a mustard seed, and God will be faithful to him.
I struggle with this; I have been fighting some pretty big opponents in my life for the past three years. I’m waiting on the day God lets me knock them down, but until He does, I’m going to have faith in the fact that He will.
Life is hard; we get knocked down by our giants. We lose a battle or two with them, and we find ourselves asking why we have to struggle with the demons that we fight. I’m begging you though- keep fighting. Keep reading His word. Keep praying. Keep up the faith.
God may not have given you a sword, but if there is anything that we can learn from David, it’s this- a stone will do just fine
