Dare to BE: The One Who Brings a Rock to a Sword Fight

Have you ever had to face a "giant" in your life (and no, I do not necessarily mean a person)? When was the last time that you had to face a true mountain of a situation and wondered how you were going to make it halfway to the summit, let alone the complete other side? How many times have you been faced with a difficult circumstance, and your first instinct was to run fast and hard in the other direction? Believe me, we have all been there. I know my feet have been in those shoes way more times than I would care to admit! For me especially, I tend to freak out because I feel like I am not properly equipped or I don't have the right "tools", whether those are actual physical tools or simply the mental tools to get the job done. This then leads me to doubt my capabilities and wonder if it's really even my job to do at all. What I had to learn (the hard way might I add), is that those "tools" that we tend to be so concerned over are not what actually get the job done.

YES, they may make it easier to accomplish the goal, but they are not the reason that you succeed or fail. It's YOU. YOU and THE ONE WHO GUIDES YOU is your greatest asset. And just to prove it to you, I have one of the greatest and well-known stories to discuss with you... but as always, we're going to look at it in a bit of a different way and hopefully you'll see where I'm coming from! Today, we are going to be looking at the classic Bible story of David and Goliath. and we're going to talk about why it's so important to be the person who brings a rock to a sword fight.

So, first of all, let me give some background. Saul, the current king of Israel at this time, was doing all sorts of not good things and was just overall being disobedient towards God. So God turned His back on Saul and told Samuel to go see Jesse and anoint one of his sons as king. During this trip, Samuel believed that Eliab, the stronger and "better looking" of the sons was the chosen one, but God spoke to Samuel and told him not to judge by outward appearance, because the Lord judges by the heart. Then, Samuel met David, the youngest of Jesse's sons, and he was chosen to be anointed and the Lord was with him. Then, God placed David in Saul's path by making him Saul's harp player and then his armor bearer.

-Then, enter Goliath-

Goliath was a Philistine warrior- the best to be exact. He was over 9 ft. tall and quite confident in his abilities. He challenged the Israelites to a sort of "winner take all" 1-v-1 battle, but no one would take the bait. The king even put out a reward in order to try and convince someone, but no dice.

-Then, enter David-

He only spent part-time with the king, so his father sent him to bring his brothers in the army food. When he got there, the men told David about Goliath, the challenge, and the king's reward.

David word-for-word said, "Don't worry about the Philistine. I'll go fight him."

Everyone, including the king, tried to tell him it wasn't a good idea, but he wouldn't listen. He said, "The Lord who rescued me from the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine." Then, they tried to give him armor and a sword, but he TOOK THEM OFF because he wasn't used to them. He then picked up five smooth stones, put them in his bag, and went to face 9 ft. Goliath.

When David met Goliath, Goliath taunted him (I mean, he did bring a rock to a sword fight), but David said, "You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven's Armies... Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you..." And David delivered. Goliath approached and David took one rock from his bag, slung it, and killed Goliath with one shot.

Now tell me, if you were going to place a bet on this fight... when you knew one person was going to fight a giant guy with a sword with a slingshot and a couple of stones... who would you bet on? I can guarantee NOT DAVID. Also, we need to keep in mind that David is not extremely experienced in battle. He is the king's armor bearer, but he is not a blood-bathed warrior by any means. Whereas Goliath is the Philistines BEST WARRIOR. If this was "The Hunger Games", the odds would clearly NOT be in his favor. There is one MAJOR difference between David and Goliath though - and it's what ends up being the deciding factor in this battle. David had EXTREME FAITH- not in himself, but in the One who goes before him. He knew that God was going to deliver him and that God's will was going to prevail... so he never had any reason to doubt himself, his abilities, or his tools; because he knew that no matter what, God was going to do His thing. What we need to gather from this story and the example that David has set is that we have to have the exact same faith, because we are serving and following the EXACT SAME GOD from this story. Yet here we are, doubting that the mountains and giants we face can be moved.

Here's a thought-provoking question: what kind of hoops are you praying for God to jump through to give you the "tools" you need for you struggles, when you have yet to look inside yourself to see what you already have? That's like going to to the grocery store before you ever went into the kitchen to look and see what you already had! Just like this way of grocery shopping is backwards, so is praying for tools and thinking that God hasn't given you what you need, when you have yet to look inside yourself and have faith that God has given you everything you need in order to conquer your giants.

David, the inexperienced kid that no one believed in who only had a slingshot and a few stones, beat a 9 ft. tall career warrior who had every weapon at his disposal. Because he put his faith, trust, and THE SITUATION in the hands of the ONLY person that knew the outcome before it ever happened. That's why he didn't need to worry about the tools. Because David knew God had given him everything he needed to conquer his giant. He didn't pray that God take this giant away. He didn't run away or complain that God didn't give him the ability to use the same tools as Goliath. He faced his giant head-on and had faith that God would do what his God is FAMOUS FOR. So I dare you to be the person who brings a rock to a sword fight. I dare you to have EXTREME faith in the Lord of Heaven's Armies. Know that He goes before you and will never leave you or forsake you. He is never early or late, and He will never bring you face to face with a giant that you cannot conquer with His help. He is WITH YOU ALWAYS and He will help you climb your mountains and conquer your giants. You just have to be willing to ask Him for help.