We all have one. Or two.
Big ugly giants in our path that seem impossible to overcome.
The cancer in the liver of the man whose lips never touched alcohol.
The angry marriage of the woman who knows no enemies.
The bully on the playground who haunts the sweetest of children.
And we are Davids. Trying to knock down this giant with a tiny pebble.
It seems impossible.
I enjoy Max Lucado's
interpretation of various Bible stories. He puts them into words that
I can understand, situations that makes sense to me. I picked up one
of his books, Facing Your Giants, a couple of weeks ago. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.
David
was the little brother who was sent to watch the sheep. The youngest
of eight. The wild child that was always under toe, sent away so as
not to be a bother for the rest of them. Not exactly who you would
expect to overcome a giant.
But this teenage boy didn't have
the giant in focus. He had God in focus. He shows up at the
battlefield, walks into a group of men and says something to the effect
of 'Who is that jerk to bad-mouth God?'
David asked the
men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this
Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this
uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living
God?" 1 Samuel 17:26 (NIV)
Or, the same verse from the Message translation of the Bible:
David, who was talking
to the men standing around him, asked, "What's in it for the man who
kills that Philistine and gets rid of this ugly blot on Israel's honor?
Who does he think he is, anyway, this uncircumcised Philistine,
taunting the armies of God-Alive?"
When facing the giant face-to-face, he's still concentrating on the Lord. He knew what he was fighting for.
The Message version of 1 Samuel 17:45-47 first....David answered, "You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel's troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God
is handing you over to me. I'm about to kill you, cut off your head,
and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the
crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there's an
extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that
God doesn't save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he's handing you to us on a platter!"
Or, verse 47 from NIV: All those gathered here will know
that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is
the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands.
Lucado puts the "David vs. Goliath" idea into a more modern-day understanding...."God-focus versus giant focus".
And that's just what I've been needing to understand. My Goliath
can consume itself....I need to be focused on how God is using this to
bring glory. And, I'm beginning to see it.
Remember those challenges that I mentioned last August? 17 of them, in the form of 10 and 11 year-olds.
Dealing with my Goliath has allowed some breakthroughs with those kids.
And, may open some doors that would have otherwise been locked.
But mostly what I've realized is that God is working. Through everything, no matter how unenjoyable it may be, glory be to God.
Focus on giants - you stumble.
Focus on God - your giants tumble.
It's possible with God.
