What I love most about David though, is the passage suggested for today. He looked his giant in the eye, called on the Lord and slayed the giant. Just like that. No drama. No fanfare. He didn't want the "clothes" he was supposed to put on. He didn't want the weapons he was supposed to use. Nope. He had God at his side. If God is for us, who can be against? But the David and Goliath story is much more than an entertaining story, it's a challenge for us to face whatever giants are standing in our way, hovering over us, taunting us and trying to frighten us into submission.
When we covered David and Goliath in my ministry class, we used Max Lucado's book, Facing Your Giants. I'm not going to go through his analysis of the battle, but it's very good. As part of our teaching, we gave each of the students five stones - my son still carries his five stones in his soccer bag. See, he realized through the class that his giant was soccer. First, I need to tell you that he is very very good at soccer. He wants to be a professional some day and I believe he just may have the talent and drive to do it. But it was also consuming him. He was miserable if the team lost. I get that. But he was also miserable if the team won and he didn't score any goals. Or if the refs were bad. Or if he missed a shot. Or whatever. Once he started to use David's techniques, his enjoyment of the game improved (and so did his game!)
Today I was going to write about all kinds of flowery David stories, but instead, I have to go to a funeral. THAT stopped me in my tracks. This afternoon I'm going to pay respects to a woman close to my age who lost her husband. The giant she must face now is awfully scary.I feel like one of the people on the sidelines of the David and Goliath story - cheering him on, but thinking, "I'm glad that's not me out there fighting that giant." I've been married to my husband and best friend for 21 years. I can't imagine life without him. Now, my friend has to wake up every morning with a horribly ugly, mean giant staring her in the face and she has to deal with that giant beating her up every minute of the day, then smacking her around a little every night before she goes to bed. That giant has several names - Grief, Despair, Loneliness and I'm sure there are many others. I am so thankful that she is a woman of faith. That's the only possible way for her to defeat that giant every day. She is ironically the same person who plans the funerals at our church and ministers to the families. Now, she is in the opposite position - one I'm sure she didn't expect to be in. I pray that she finds her five smooth stones and keeps them in her bag to nail that giant as many times as she has to until she can go over and chop off its head. That could take some time, but God has helped her defeat lions and bears in the past - just like He did with David. He'll help her again, I'm sure.
As far as other giants go, my heart goes out to all who are facing them. Giants of cancer, of broken marriages, of death, of feelings of inadequacy, of despair, of defeat, of powerlessness, of lack of faith, of impurity, of fear, of poverty, of bullies, of hopelessness.... I'm sure there are many. My prayer today is for every giant to be slain in the name of God. My prayers is for unwavering courage like David's to face those giants and hit them right between the eyes. May all of our giants be destroyed today and may our courage be renewed to face and defeat the giants of tomorrow.
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