I wrote this post a few years ago, as my little girl was about to start the new school year. It’s worth re-sharing. It’s accurate for the season we find ourselves in, as we face a worldwide pandemic. I have added a few Bible study notes below.

Please read: 1 Samuel 17

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I made everyone some tea and we cuddled up on the bed around a book for bedtime stories. I picked up ‘The Biggest and Toughest’ – its a story about David and his BIG faith. I thought I would settle my Sophie’s worrying mind with a story about faith. David, like Sophie and the rest of us, had a giant to face.

Now let me tell you a bit about this story. Goliath was a giant, the Philistines’ fierce fighting champ. He was scary and hairy and his muscles were huge. He was the biggest and toughest of them all. Goliaths chant went something like this: ‘Send me a soldier to fight. I’ll smash him all day and I’ll stomp him all night. When all of the smashing and stomping is through, your land will be ours – we’ll make salves out of you.’ Just like Goliath, so many of our fears chant their way through our hearts and minds threatening to crush us on every side. Our struggles enslave us and leave us feeling imprisoned.

David was a small and simple Shepherd boy, but he was confident that he could fend off the giant. When the giant saw David, he chanted again: ‘I called for a Soldier, you sent out a squirt. Send him back to his mommy, he’s gonna get hurt. The boy is too puny to put up a fight. I’ll smash him all day and I’ll stomp him all night.’ Often I feel as though my giants stare me straight in the face and have a good laugh, taunting me as I buckle in fear.

Then David said something quite profound. He responded to the giant saying: ‘You have your spear and your sword but I will fight you in the name of the Lord!’ David spun his sling and the giant hit the ground!

As I ponder on this truth, I rejoice in the fact that as I declare the name of Jesus over my giants, my fears and my struggles will fumble and fall. As I pray over my sweet Sophie, I pray that her fear would fall away and that she would experience the love of Jesus that casts out all fear.

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A few more thoughts to ponder:

1 Samuel 17: 10 – “Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.”

Goliath mocked the Israelites, he defied the people of God. But the Lord fights for His people, and He fights on our behalf as we face our giants.

1 Samuel 17:11 – “On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.”

The Israelites lost their courage and coward in response to Goliaths taunts. The giants that we encounter, don’t have to enslave us. They might be vicious, but they are not victorious. They might be strong but our strength comes from the Lord.

1 Samuel 17:16 – “For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.”

Our enemy, the giant, is ruthless in his position but our Lord is relentless in His pursuit of us. Take heart, He has overcome the world.

1 Samuel 17:17-18 – “Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them. They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”

Jesse, Davids earthly father, did not deem David good or strong enough to face Goliath. For some of us, we have this opinion about ourselves. For others, we heavily carry the weight of others opinions. Gods Word encourages us that we are chosen, called and commissioned by our heavenly Father. We have been adopted into His Kingdom. A Kingdom in which no earthly thing can stand against.

1 Samuel 17: 20a – “Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed.”

David remained obedient even in the midst of obstacles. Our weapon against the enemy and our giant is obedience. The enemy has no hold on us when we operate out of a place of surrender and submission to authority.

1 Samuel 17: 20b-23 –  “He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other.  David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.”

Gods timing is perfect. Often we run-ahead of God and attempt to fight our enemy and face our giants on our own. Gods word says that there is a time and season for everything (Ecclesiastes 3) God sits on the throne, and we need to recognise that His plan is greater than ours. Side note: Gods plans have been set out for our good. (Jeremiah 29:11)

1 Samuel 17:24 – “Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.”

Fear is eradicated when we saturate ourselves in the presence of our Father.

1 Samuel 17:25-27 – “Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.” 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?” They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

Davids giant set him up for success. If we allow God to determine our path in this life, no matter what we face or fear – we will walk into the promises and plans that God has for us. Our giants might just be the thing and tool that God uses to brings us freedom, fortune and fame – not as the world understands it, but as the Lord leads us into our full inheritance for his Kingdom.

Part 2: to be continued.