There will always be scary things in our life. Just like if you touch fire, you will get burned... If you encounter one of your giants, you will be afraid. It's just one of those life fundamentals that are hard to navigate around. But every now and then we see the triumph of the human spirit when a small person faces an impossible giant and wins.
It evokes in all of us a sense of possibility, intrigue, fascination, and maybe envy. They are small like us. Yet, at some point they decide to stop being so small and they rise to an occasion of epic proportions.
We see this and we wonder, could I possibly have within me the ability to run toward a giant rather than shrink away?
I think I first tasted this possibility in the strangest of ways. I was a nerd in elementary and middle school. Seriously uncool, underdeveloped, and undone that no boy ever passed me the note. You know the one---"Will you go with me? Check yes or no." Then I found my hero.
Yes ma'am. She too had been a nerd. But then there was a glorious day when she dawned some black leather pants, curled her hair just right, and glided across the screen singing, "You're the One That I Want, You're the only One I Want...ewe, ewe, ewe, Honey." Man my world was a blaze that day. I just knew that if only I could get my hands on those pants and that curling iron, that John Travolta could possibly fall in love with me too.
Excuse me while I gag myself with a spoon and thank the Lord I have matured past John.
Okay, so where were we? Oh yes. Giants.
They are real. We let them taunt us and mock us and make us feel so incapable. They make us excuse certain Bible verses about God's power in us. And so we sit back and just hope the giant will one day go away. Maybe if we mature enough, the giant won't seem so giant after all. But years go by and the giant is still there... still mocking and taunting and blocking.
The Israelites knew all about how paralyzing it can be to have a giant in your midst. Goliath stood and called out to the Israelites begging them to send a man to fight him. He made fun of them, and worse yet, he made fun of their God. The Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
Then along comes a simple shepherd boy who has very little battle sense, no armor, and no business being on the battlefield except to take his brothers some food. David hears Goliath and is dismayed. Not at his size, but at the audacity of his words.
Though David was small in stature, he was big time in love with God. So much so, that he couldn't sit by and watch Goliath make fun of His people and His God. He couldn't let God's people stand in the shadow of condemnation. He couldn't stand that the shouts of Goliath drowned out the people's prayers to the Almighty. The giant made God's men shake and shrink away.
But not David. Not this shepherd boy. Not this young man who sat with the flocks of sheep and heard God Himself whisper, "I am your shepherd David. You shall not want. I will lead you beside still waters. See how I restore your soul."
David grabs a sling and 5 smooth stones.
And God's whisper continues, "Even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, do not be afraid."
And David takes off. Running toward his giant as fast as he can. The wind in his face and the whispers of God in his heart.
"I am with you David. My rod and my staff comfort you. I AM WITH YOU. I AM... is with YOU!"
At that David swings his sling around and with the strength not of a shepherd boy but rather of God Himself, flings a stone so hard that it embeds into the giants forehead causing instant death.
The thunderous fall of Goliath, I imagine, was followed by gasps and then silence.
Except for that whisper, "See David. I have prepared a table in the presence of your enemy. Remember how I annointed your head with oil. See how your cup overflows. Now the people see you are not just a shepherd boy. You are my chosen. Goodness and mercy will follow you as you dwell with Me forever."
May I too feel the wind in my face as I run, absolutely run, toward my giant. Oh, God. May the sounds of my world... my giants... the things I think are never possible... pale in comparison to your sweet whisper.
And, Lord, I mean it as a praise to you if I accidently bust out singing, "You're the One the I Want, You're the Only One I Want, ewe, ewe, ewe Honey." Only I promise to leave the black leather pants at home.
It evokes in all of us a sense of possibility, intrigue, fascination, and maybe envy. They are small like us. Yet, at some point they decide to stop being so small and they rise to an occasion of epic proportions.
We see this and we wonder, could I possibly have within me the ability to run toward a giant rather than shrink away?
I think I first tasted this possibility in the strangest of ways. I was a nerd in elementary and middle school. Seriously uncool, underdeveloped, and undone that no boy ever passed me the note. You know the one---"Will you go with me? Check yes or no." Then I found my hero.
Yes ma'am. She too had been a nerd. But then there was a glorious day when she dawned some black leather pants, curled her hair just right, and glided across the screen singing, "You're the One That I Want, You're the only One I Want...ewe, ewe, ewe, Honey." Man my world was a blaze that day. I just knew that if only I could get my hands on those pants and that curling iron, that John Travolta could possibly fall in love with me too.
Excuse me while I gag myself with a spoon and thank the Lord I have matured past John.
Okay, so where were we? Oh yes. Giants.
They are real. We let them taunt us and mock us and make us feel so incapable. They make us excuse certain Bible verses about God's power in us. And so we sit back and just hope the giant will one day go away. Maybe if we mature enough, the giant won't seem so giant after all. But years go by and the giant is still there... still mocking and taunting and blocking.
The Israelites knew all about how paralyzing it can be to have a giant in your midst. Goliath stood and called out to the Israelites begging them to send a man to fight him. He made fun of them, and worse yet, he made fun of their God. The Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
Then along comes a simple shepherd boy who has very little battle sense, no armor, and no business being on the battlefield except to take his brothers some food. David hears Goliath and is dismayed. Not at his size, but at the audacity of his words.
Though David was small in stature, he was big time in love with God. So much so, that he couldn't sit by and watch Goliath make fun of His people and His God. He couldn't let God's people stand in the shadow of condemnation. He couldn't stand that the shouts of Goliath drowned out the people's prayers to the Almighty. The giant made God's men shake and shrink away.
But not David. Not this shepherd boy. Not this young man who sat with the flocks of sheep and heard God Himself whisper, "I am your shepherd David. You shall not want. I will lead you beside still waters. See how I restore your soul."
David grabs a sling and 5 smooth stones.
And God's whisper continues, "Even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, do not be afraid."
And David takes off. Running toward his giant as fast as he can. The wind in his face and the whispers of God in his heart.
"I am with you David. My rod and my staff comfort you. I AM WITH YOU. I AM... is with YOU!"
At that David swings his sling around and with the strength not of a shepherd boy but rather of God Himself, flings a stone so hard that it embeds into the giants forehead causing instant death.
The thunderous fall of Goliath, I imagine, was followed by gasps and then silence.
Except for that whisper, "See David. I have prepared a table in the presence of your enemy. Remember how I annointed your head with oil. See how your cup overflows. Now the people see you are not just a shepherd boy. You are my chosen. Goodness and mercy will follow you as you dwell with Me forever."
May I too feel the wind in my face as I run, absolutely run, toward my giant. Oh, God. May the sounds of my world... my giants... the things I think are never possible... pale in comparison to your sweet whisper.
And, Lord, I mean it as a praise to you if I accidently bust out singing, "You're the One the I Want, You're the Only One I Want, ewe, ewe, ewe Honey." Only I promise to leave the black leather pants at home.
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