“When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.”

1 Samuel 17:31-40

What a great story. How amazing that teeny, tiny David could defeat the giant Goliath! What kind of giants are there in your life? Maybe relationships that have gone bad? Maybe the fear that you’re not good enough? Maybe pressure from your studies? But all it takes is some faith. Even if you’re small and weak, even if it seems like you can’t make it, all you need is to have enough faith, and go out there and slay those giants, and God will give you the victory!

What I just told you was a very common way of talking about this Bible story when I was growing up. It sounds really encouraging, right? You can do anything you can imagine, even something as impossible as a little boy killing a giant, if you have enough faith. 

But that always bothered me — have faith. What does it mean? Have faith in what? In myself? In God? What’s the hope? That God will help me just because I think he will? That I can get what I want because I wish hard enough?

Continue reading “on giant killing” →