[Life Of David] The Bigger They Are The Harder They FallSample

Close Battles 

In our lives as followers of Christ, our first battle may be a close battle. There may be a few close and personal battles we must fight before getting to our Goliath. It may be that those close to us do not want us to walk with God. It could be a problem with our spouse, our parents, our kids, people from our workplace, or our boss. Our first battle as we choose to follow Christ may be with someone close to us. Even as we choose to follow God, however, we are to honor our family; honor our mother and father. We must do everything we can to be at peace with everyone, but in all this, keep walking with God and keep our eyes on Jesus. And who knows, the Lord might bring our relatives with us. Our first giant may be a Goliath, or a giant of relatives or friends. 

This same thing happened with David. His close battle before facing the giant was his brother Eliab. Eliab was not anointed as king, but passed by, and he was jealous and bitter. Still, David was not afraid to get past him to follow God. You do not have to be afraid to follow God in your family. We can walk with God and trust God to do whatever He wants. He will take care of our battles if we put our trust in Him and always do the right thing. 

Eliab attacks David. He attacks David’s motives, his skill, and his heart. 1 Samuel 17:28 says, “David’s oldest brother Eliab listened as he spoke to the men, and became angry with him. ‘Why did you come down here?’ he asked. ‘Who did you leave those few sheep with in the wilderness? I know your arrogance and your evil heart—you came down to see the battle!’”

When Eliab asks him why he is there, at the battle line, he is attacking David’s motives. He attacks his skill as a shepherd when he asks him who is taking care of his few sheep. And then he attacks his heart. Eliab was his older brother and he was attacking David. 

When someone attacks our skills, we may be alright. We know we are not the best, but we just show up and give it our best and let God take care of the rest. But when somebody close to us attacks our motives or our heart, it can be wounding. However, there is One who sees the heart. God knows what is in our heart. He knows our motives. He can heal our wounds. We need to trust God.