Have you ever imagined what it must have felt like to be David standing in front of Goliath armed with only a slingshot and a few stones? No armor. Not sword. Just a boy with enough courage and faith to stand up to the giant in front of him.  Something no one else in the area had the courage to do.

You know how the story turned out, but do you remember the details of that amazing story? Have you ever thought about what you can learn from David that can help you face your own Goliaths? 

I want to focus on three things that we can learn from David in this story. The first is that we don’t have to let fear stop us from taking action when we know God is with us. Second, Even though we look ill-equipped to fight our battles, God prepares us with past experience for the challenges at hand. And last, we can use the time while we are waiting on God’s anointing to fulfill the tasks he has placed before us. 

It goes without saying that David must have been frightened. Although the Bible doesn’t say specifically how old he was, historians have placed him in his teenage years. The fact that Goliath who was nine feet tall had put the challenge out to the Israelites to fight him and not one of the warriors in Saul’s army had taken the challenge after 40 days tells us he was quite formidable. 

I love the perspective in my New Living Translation Bible that while the soldiers all looked at Goliath’s size, David didn’t see a giant, he saw a man defying God.  When he looked at it from God’s point of view, he knew he wouldn’t go into battle alone and he knew that God would fight with him. How often do we forget that and back away from a challenge? How many times do we turn and run or hide from facing our Goliath because it seems too big to face? 

Another thing we do when we try to be courageous and face our Goliath, is we try to rely on using someone else’s armor when we go into battle. Fortunately, David figured out quickly that although Saul had given him his helmet, coat of mail, and sword, that it wouldn’t work for him.  They didn’t fit properly and essentially kept him from using his best assets. He chose instead to go into battle with the tools he was comfortable with: a slingshot and a handful of pebbles. 

Too many times, I’ve searched for the perfect solution to a problem before me forgetting that God is with me and will provide. I’m learning to trust in him and to wait until he clearly tells me to seek help instead of trying to do all the things others have done in similar situations to protect myself from harm or failure. 

I find that we too often are looking to everyone else to see how they got success so we can copy their method and gain the same success. But it doesn’t work that way, does it? We need to use our own gifts and talents to win the battles in our lives. Someone else’s simply won’t work. 

I love that though there was a whole army at Saul’s disposal, none of the soldiers felt they were prepared to battle Goliath while David viewed his experience fighting off lions and bears to protect his sheep as sufficient training for the battle with the giant.  Why is it that we discount the experience we gain through our trials in life and consider the lessons we’ve learned to be unworthy of note? Each challenge is an opportunity to improve our skills and our perspective on life. If we are paying attention, we can use those lessons learned to help us with our next big challenge.  

And not just the victories.  Many times we can learn more from the failures than we can from having things go our way. So don’t discount the lessons in the frustrations of life.  They help us build stamina and with stamina comes confidence.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said, “Sometimes it’s better to know what we don’t want than what we do.” The only way we can learn what we don’t want is trying things out and risking getting it wrong.  When we do so, we build confidence.  

Even though David didn’t have his club he used to fight off lions and bears with him, the confidence he gained from fighting those beasts helped him to have belief in his own ability, but more importantly in God’s faithfulness to keep him safe. 

The last point I’d like to explore today is the fact that David had already been anointed King at the time he defeated Goliath. Though only Samuel, his father, and brothers knew of this anointing, due to his age no one would have given a second thought if David had chosen not to engage with Goliath so he could preserve himself for his true calling. At the time of this event, David would have to wait another lifetime (approximately 15 more years) before he would be crowned king. He could have simply sat back and taken the easy road until he was granted his crown.  But he didn’t sit back and take it easy. While he waited for his coronation he actively sought ways he could learn more about his future role as king. And he continued to serve until his time came. 

How many of us do that? We feel we have a calling to serve in some way, but get impatient and determine we must have misunderstood and will go off in a completely different path. Or we don’t feel worthy of the task and decide not to prepare for and pursue it. It’s easier to blame our failure elsewhere if we can simply say we didn’t have time or the skills to do the work, isn’t it? 

So who or what is your Goliath and are you facing it? Is it your fear of taking a new role in your career? Or is it a recent diagnosis and you aren’t sure how to fight it? Maybe for you, it’s self-doubt and unbelief that you can really do that thing that God has laid on your heart to do. Or maybe your Goliath is not a giant at all, but a series of little distractions or doubts that chip away at your ability to really be the best you can be. 

Whatever it is that is keeping you from stepping in where your soul is longing to go, remember that David gives us a really great example of how we can trust God and take action when he calls us to, even if it’s scary. 

Also, remember that God has been preparing you for this moment. He wants us to use our skills, gifts, and talents where we are to fight the battle at hand and to serve the people before us. This Goliath may be bigger and scarier than any giant we’ve run across before, but if you look at the battles you’ve won before, you will see that you have the tools you need to win this battle too.  Even if those tools are the community God has placed in your life to help you fight the battle. So long as they are a good fit, they can help you through the difficulties and hold your hand on the days when there seems to be no hope. 

And lastly, don’t forget that we can find opportunities to serve while we are waiting for our life’s purpose to become clear to us. Regardless of where you are in life, if you woke up today, there is an opportunity to find a place to help someone in need. You may not be anointed as a king and may never wear a crown-like David did, but you never know when you might be given the opportunity to step up and slay a giant that no one else is willing to fight.

If you are listening to this and thinking there is no way you’ll ever be a giant slayer, I’d like to invite you into the new Living Your Faith Mastermind Community where like-minded Christians will be grouped together to give one another support and encouragement to live out their faith in every aspect of their life. I know it can be frightening to face the world when it seems no one else gets it, but there are many who do and I’d love to bring a whole community of believers together who ready to make a difference in their corner of the world. Learn more at vonajohnons.com/mastermind and then let’s have a conversation about what that can look like in your life.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I know your time is the most valuable resource you have and I appreciate you spending a piece of yours with me today.  If you know someone you think needs to hear this message, please share it with them. Also, I’d love it if you could leave a rating and review on iTunes so others can find the show. 

You are amazing! Now go, be blessed, and Live Your More!