Giant Slayers - Leif HetlandSample

Fight the Right Battle

When a giant presents itself in our lives—like Goliath hollering threats across the valley—before we show up, we must make sure this is a battle we are called to fight. When a battle is personal to our own lives, the need to show up is unquestionable. Only I could be the one to show up in my battle against the injury to my spine and the resulting pain and discouragement. No one could do that for me. However, many of the giants we encounter are giants that affect more than just our personal lives. Like Goliath, they threaten whole people groups. When we see such giants, we must ask ourselves, Am I called to this battle?

This is exactly what David did. When he heard and saw Goliath mocking the Israelites, he knew in his heart he was called to fight him. In that day, it was common for armies to settle conflicts through single combat between two champions. This would have been especially advantageous in this faceoff between the Philistines and the Israelites. Each army was camped on a hill, with a valley between them. If either army had marched forward to attack, the defending army would have had the high ground, an advantage that probably would have led to an easy victory. Neither army wanted to be the first on the field. It would have been suicide. Enter the Philistine champion, Goliath, a veritable war machine. Daily, he challenged the Israelites to produce a man for him to fight to decide the outcome of the battle.

The problem was, none of the men in the Israelite army believed themselves equal to the task. In all likelihood, none of them could have successfully fought Goliath. After all, Goliath was at least four feet taller than the average man at that time, and he was equipped with the peak of modern battle technology. It was not a fair fight. To the Israelites, the battle looked unwinnable. No one, they thought, could face a man like that—who was both physically insurmountable and carrying the most modern weapons available.

When David arrived and saw the situation, he had a different perspective. This, I believe, is because he was uniquely called to fight Goliath. This was his battle, and he was positioned to win it in a way that the soldiers were not. Here we see that part of showing up is recognizing when we are called to fight a giant. The soldiers of Israel did not have the courage to fight Goliath, but they were not called to. They did not have what it would take. Had any one of the soldiers ventured out onto the field against Goliath, they most certainly would have been defeated. But God had a different plan. He brought David, a brave youth with great skill in slinging, to the battle at just the right moment. God positioned David as a surprise attack against the enemy, and He put the necessary courage and indignation in his heart. 

Giant Slayers: Ground Rules for Overcoming Life's Greatest Obstacles  

by Leif Hetland 

Link: http://a.co/ivjLBi6