Sometimes we want things to be big.
Juicy’s Outlaw Grill of Corvallis, Oregon, sells a 777 pound hamburger. We need to order it 48 hours ahead of time, and it’ll cost us $5,000. It did win a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Like cabbage soup? Scott A. Robb of Palmer, Alaska, grew a cabbage that weighed in at over 138 pounds. Scott has a green thumb, also holding the record for the heaviest turnip ever grown.
If ice cream’s our thing, the largest scoop weighed in at over 3,000 pounds. Kemps of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, assembled it from over 700 containers of strawberry ice cream.
Other big things are less appealing: bruises, tumors, or losses in our investment portfolios. They come our way, tower over us, and we feel overwhelmed by impending defeat.
1 Samuel 17:4 tells of the Israelites facing a giant too big to overcome:
“And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.”
By modern reckoning, Goliath was over 9 feet tall. Goliath’s prowess didn’t stop with his height. The scriptures go on to tell us his armor weighed in at over 125 pounds, his spear head was 15 pounds, and the pole his spear was attached to was like a weaver’s beam.
Who can fight a Goliath, whether an illness that might be terminal; our life savings stolen away by a twist of fate; or an emotional blow brought about by desertion or the death of a loved one?
The answer is easy: no one. We need the power of our Lord.
In 1 Samuel, David comes on the scene. He has no power. He’s just a kid, the youngest son of Jesse. He doesn’t even have any military weapons. Goliath laughed at David, calling out in Verse 44:
“I will give your flesh unto the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field.”
We feel that way when the Goliaths of the world come against us. Our car is repossessed, and Bam! Goliath hits us on the head. Our child gets cancer, and the giant’s sword slices us open. He mocks us, and we are red-faced with shame.
Yet we have all we need to overcome. Verse 48 tells us David ran toward his enemy, and Verse 50 says he killed his giant, “but there was no sword in his hand.”
All David held was a sling and five smooth stones. Sunday school teachers immemorial have likened the stones to the five letters in Jesus’ name. However, they better fit the example given by Jesus’ life: sacrifice, simplicity, stamina, strength, and sovereignty.
Let’s look at the stones Jesus gives us to defeat our giants:
Sacrifice: Jesus held on to nothing, depending only upon his Father. In the Word, David refused the armor of the king. He gave up everything to trust in God.
Simplicity: Jesus used one word to describe the process of salvation: Come. David kept his tools of battle simple, using what he found at the tips of his fingers: 5 smooth stones.
Stamina: Jesus prayed for his time on the cross to be taken from him, but he accepted God’s will, even unto physical death. David faced the derision of his enemy, and he ran toward Goliath to claim his victory.
Strength: Jesus prayed to his Father in heaven and found the strength he needed. David used his most familiar weapon and trusted in God to guide his aim.
Sovereignty: Jesus rose from the grave, defeating death for all time. David stood upon the Philistine, cutting off the head of the evil one.
We can stand on the power of God’s Word, for through the cross, our giants are fallen. When the Goliaths of this world rise against us, we need to run toward the giants that threaten to overcome us using Jesus as our slingshot. In that pivotal moment, our Goliath will fall before the mighty power of our Lord.
When we put Jesus in our slingshot, every worldly oppression falls away in defeat.
Copyright © 2016 MyChurchNotes.net
Previously Published on 3-7-16 in Hope