FearlessSample

"NEVER SAY NEVER"

People who’ve never read the Bible, people who’ve never so much as heard that there is a Bible; know the story of David and Goliath.

It is so well known that it has become a way of describing any conflict in which there is an obvious disparity between the combatants. The phrase “It was a David-and-Goliath situation” creates an inspiring image in our mind.

With all its familiarity, we must not lose sight that this powerful story has much to teach us about fear.

The most basic message from this story is to focus on God. We must become God-dominated and God-centered people, instead of having God as a modest part of our life and fear as the overriding portion.

Israel was being invaded by their arch-enemies—the Philistines. The invasion was spearheaded by their warrior champion, Goliath of Gath—a 9-foot-9-inch fighting machine.

Goliath asked for one Israelite soldier to battle him. As you can imagine, no one answered the call. When David saw what was happening that day, it upset him as he watched the soldiers of the Living God cowering as if they had no Helper.

David’s brothers and their friends had lost sight of God’s reputation and were listening to the counsel of their fears. Remembering God’s reputation will dissolve the majority of our fears.

The crux of the story occurs when David finally decided to face the challenge of fighting Goliath. His brothers thought he was too conceited. King Saul thought he was too green. Goliath thought David was too puny.

But David calculated in the fear-conquering trump card: He knew God was with him.

David certainly had nothing in and of himself to trust in. His experience, strength and size were no match for the giant. But he truly had all he needed. David looked at the giant and said, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (Verse 45).

The legendary victory for David follows next. He wields his weapon of stones in a sling and fatally knocks out the giant.

There are a multitude of applications that come to mind from this beautiful account. A major one involves standing up to our fears.

You know how this story ends. I believe your story will also end in triumph. Don’t let the Goliaths of this world keep you bogged down with fear. Factor God into every part of your life.