I have loved writing these posts, it is something so freeing for me to be able to express the thoughts and interactions that go on in my world on a day-to-day, sometimes a week-to-week basis.
I have been reading the story of David and Goliath. It has been great to re-read the story with “fresh eyes” and not skip to the part where David wins the battle. I think the victory is solid, and evidence of God’s strength in David is clear, but I love the parts leading up to the victory.
I love that David, a boy at the time, was not even supposed to be close to the front lines. I love that when David saw a man making a mockery of God’s army he decided to act. I cannot get over what that feeling may have been like. I only know that David was probably pretty amped and probably a little upset as to why no one else would take the challenge. God only needs one.
Now, clearly I was not there, but there had to be a conversation going on in David’s head. The next steps that David took were fundamental and well thought out. He went out and got 5 different stones. He did not rely on 1, which I think is interesting, he chose 5. He probably had a few back ups in case he missed, if time allowed. So David took his time. COULD YOU IMAGINE THE ADRENALINE? Veins pumping blood at 150 beats per minute just sitting there waiting.
The second thing that David did, was he made sure to make a note that the battle between Goliath and David was not necessarily between Goliath and David. It was between Goliath and the God of Israel, whom Goliath defied in his speech. So David wanted to be sure to let them know that this battle would be fought and won, not by David, but by the true God.
The third thing, and I love this part, is that David did not sit and wait for Goliath to come to him. In the NIV the Bible says David rushed toward the battle line. HE CHARGED GOLIATH! What a great warrior. He committed himself to something, received God’s strength in that something, and then charged it with reckless abandon in hopes to defeat the Philistine.
David’s charge made me realize why David was a great warrior. David did not live in the world of what if. What if I get defeated? What if he and I have to fight close? What if I miss my first stone? David lived in the world of what is. God IS all-powerful. God IS my strength, and He IS my cornerstone… etc. David did not live in the world of what if. David lived in the world of what is.
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Food for thought: What IS God to you? Write it in your journal.
If you can pin-point potential Goliath’s in your life, maybe reading the speech that David gives Goliath before the battle will help. In either case, know the victory is the Lord’s and charge it. Goliath’s are meant to be defeated by God, but God is not going to do all of the work. Sometimes it takes a shepherd boy to accomplish what God wanted to accomplish all along. Do you at least have the courage to try?
leadershape 