Your choice, hunker down or face the giant.
1 Samuel 17:32 "Don't worry about this Philistine," David told Saul. "I'll go fight him!"
33 "Don't be ridiculous!" Saul replied. "There's no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You're only a boy, and he's been a man of war since his youth."
34 But David persisted. "I have been taking care of my father's sheep and goats," he said. "When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, 35 I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death.
36 I have done this to both lions and bears, and I'll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! 37 The LORD who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!"
Fortitude- Strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage.
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All of Israel's army is hunkering down in panic and fear, everybody is waiting for a giant slayer to come along and help them out, and even the king is too scared.
No matter how much know how that any of us have, sooner or later we will run into something in this life that will go beyond our natural ability or training. This shortfall can make us scared and ineffective, we can lose sight of our mission and we can allow this adversity to paralyze us. But there is another option.
God allows such overwhelming circumstances to develop faith and trust. How do you think that David felt when he fought his first lion? Do you think that David was born with the courage to fight a giant? No, David had already seen adversity out in the pasture with the sheep, God had already brought overwhelming circumstances into David's life that grew his faith and trust in God so that when he came upon this Giant he was able to go beyond trust in his own abilities and trust in God's love and sovereignty to handle the situation.
We must let go of self-reliance and embrace an unwavering faith in what God can do through us, God doesn't expect us to muster the self-will, courage, and strength to supersede the feeling of fear and doubt.
Sometimes I wish that God would have given me a boisterous personality, one that would stand up with greater confidence and proclaim his love and sovereignty, but this lesson has shown me that I don't need to change my personality, I need to increase my faith.
God wants leaders that will have faith in him instead of trusting in their own abilities.
Thank you Lord for providing a way to overcome the giants in life. Help me to rely on you instead of self.
