Dave’s Monday Blast – March 31, 2019
One of my personal highlights of a recent trip to Israel was the Elah Valley. The valley of Elah is a triangle-shaped flat valley, located on the western edge of the Judah “low hills”. The Hebrew name, Elah, is named after the Terebinth (Pistacia Palastina) tree. (Yep I just copied that). This valley was an important corridor from the coastal cities, up to the center of the land Judah and its cities; Bethlehem, Hebron and the Queen – Jerusalem. It is also the location of the famous Biblical battle between young David and Goliath, the Philistine Giant. I came home with five smooth stones from the same brook that David selected his from. I have one sitting on my desk as I write to simply to remind me that our God will not be mocked and that He is faithful.
Giants! We all have to tackle them at one time or another, but I was recently reminded that our Lord will never allow us to be confronted by a giant unless He has prepared us in advance for the conflict. An article from theunstuckgroup.com entitled “Facing Your Pre-Giants” suggests that before the Lord allows our paths to be blocked by giants, He has incrementally exposed us to “Pre-Giants”. With God’s grace we have overcome, and as a result, our faith in Him has grown. When David faced Goliath he was not quite the underdog we imagine because his “Pre-Giants” confrontations included a Lion and a Bear; real ones!
The author of the article asks: “Now if you were given a choice between fighting a very large man who wanted to kill you (but you could choose any weapon you wanted), OR you could face a hungry bear or lion in the wilderness…which way are you leaning?” Before David was on the biggest stage of his life he had already auditioned and been cast for the part. God, the director, knew that the outcome of David’s encounters with the lion and bear would mature his faith God. Can you imagine…young David takes on the lion and the bear and he was still standing with all his body parts. His courage was not in his own strength, it was in the God he served.
A quick refresh of 1 Samuel 17 reveals that his maturing faith was the reason he wanted that opportunity to confront Goliath in the first place. “HOW DARE THAT GIANT MOCK THE LIVING GOD!” What made David believe that he was up for the task of defeating the man whose name has now become synonymous for giants, both literal and metaphorical? Note that David doesn’t boast to the king about his great faith. Nor his values. Nor his vision. Nor his purpose. Nor his calling. Nor his strength or prowess in battle. That’s not what he points to. Those aren’t why he thinks he can defeat Goliath. Instead, he talks about that dead lion and dead bear. He knows he can….because he already did. He knew that God would fight for him against Goliath as he had before.
Some questions to consider:
1. What “pre-giants” are you currently facing? What are those “lions and bears” demanding?
2. How motivated and equipped are you to meet these pre-giants head on?
3. Are you confident that you can face the next “Goliath”?
Remember that each encounter affords our God the opportunity to demonstrate His faithfulness and His sufficiency. He has already overcome every obstacle and defeated every giant. Trusting in Him is an INTENTIONAL choice. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. We can trust in Him who holds the future. He is faithful, He will not be mocked. You can not defeat the giant nor the pre-giant, but keep watching because He will!
