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Imagine with me this story from the OT book of 1 Samuel. The Philistines have the armies of Israel up against the wall. Each morning the Philistine giant Goliath comes out to make fun of the Israelites. He has been doing this every morning and evening for 40 days. He yells:
‘Choose one of your men to fight me. If he wins and kills me, we will be your slaves. But if I win and kill him, you will be our slaves. So I dare you to pick someone to fight me.’
Nobody will take the challenge, but when David gets there, he wants to. So some soldiers go and tell King Saul that David wants to fight Goliath. But Saul tells David: ‘You can’t fight this Philistine. You are just a boy, and Goliath has been a soldier all his life.’ David answers:
‘I killed a bear and a lion that carried off my father’s sheep.
And this Philistine will become like one of them. Jehovah will help me.’
So Saul says: ‘Go, and may Jehovah be with you.’
David goes down by a stream and gets five smooth stones, and puts them into his bag. Then he takes his sling and goes out to meet the giant. When Goliath sees David, he can’t believe it. He thinks it will be so easy to kill David.
But David says:
‘You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin,
but I am coming to you with the name of Jehovah.
This day Jehovah will give you into my hands,
and I will strike you down.’
David then runs at Goliath, takes a stone from his bag, puts it in his sling, and hurls it at Goliath, striking him in the head and killing him. As they say, the rest is history.
Here is why I wanted to tell that story today. Giants are real. Paul states it clearly,
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
There are things in this world that are bigger than us. Giants! I have noticed that some people are better at facing giants than others. It’s true. We do not handle the giants in our lives with equal ability. For some, a slight wind blows them over, while others can stand in a hurricane. For some, the slightest turbulence white knuckles them, while others leisurely read a book while drinking a cup of coffee through the whole thing. In our lesson for today, we are commanded by Paul…
Finally, be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. Ephesians 6:10
I want to be one of those people. I bet you would too. Don’t forget this week that you have a backup. The same God who defended David defends you. You are not alone. God is with you. Take courage.
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