The giant slayer
“YOU
come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.”
1 Samuel 17:45 David, by the favor of God, through a God-sent crisis and God-set connections, has gained entrance into the palace of Saul, the portals of power.
Being a part-time musician then an armor-bearer of the king, David was unaware that God will soon grant him another favor; he will be a Giant-slayer! God, being the director of life's great drama, once more allowed a crisis—a giant threatening God's army, God's people, shaming God's name. For forty days, morning and evening, Goliath challenged Israel to produce their best champion to fight him. Every day and every time they heard his challenge, their hearts melted in fear. Words are a powerful tool either to inspire or to discourage. Israel, at this critical time, needed a hero, a giant-slayer. Eugene Peterson observed it well when he said that Israel was dominated by a Goliath-sized fear while David viewed the situation from a God-dominated perspective (faith). David slew the giant by the power of God.
The Lord trained David in obscurity where he walked by faith in God that made the giant look like a dwarf. David, with one stone guided by God, slung by faith from the hands of a dwarf, slew the giant! Let the story of the giant-slayer encourage you and me to face our own giants that have been bullying us for a long time; which threats have zapped the courage from within us. Before we go any further, may I point out another giant much worse than the giant, Goliath. It is the Goliath which we, ourselves, have become inside.
While the giant bullied us on the outside inside, unknown to us, we allowed a Goliath to take root in us in our attitudes.
Take time to listen to yourself take time to observe why you are now feared by your friends take time to observe the unattended dinners you have prepared.
The remaining friends are now bailing out; soon, your loyal pet dog will bail out, too.
What monsters you and I have become because the inner giants of pride and prejudice have remained unchallenged and unslain.
It is time to call on God today, see ourselves from a God-dominated perspective and in faith, face the giants from without and from within saying and believing that it is God who governs reality, not giants.
As Eugene Peterson says "the moment we permit fear to control our imagination, we become incapable of seeing the good around us."
Let me also add to this by saying the moment we allow fear to paralyze our faith, we become insensitive to the presence of God who walks with us. Remember, David is not the only Giant-killer in the Bible many other dwarves have killed their giants in the name of the Lord! Thanks for reading, I always write straight from my heart. SSDavao