“‘Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them.'” (1 Samuel 17:34-36a)
David learned how to defeat giants long before he met Goliath (an “uncircumcised Philistine”). It was while David was in the fields tending to his father’s sheep that God Himself literally schooled David on how to defeat giants by allowing him to be confronted by a lion and a bear. By doing so the Lord was preparing the shepherd ahead of time to face an even tougher foe the likes of which only God knew David would eventually come up against in the future. So the Lord was training David to defeat giants – He was literally nurturing a giant-conquering spirit in David far in advance of his confrontation with Goliath.
And doesn’t the Lord do that same thing with us? Doesn’t He give us the opportunity to become skilled and to develop our confidence in smaller battles first so that we might be able to handle the bigger ones down the road? Most certainly He does.
PASTOR MIKE’S GIANT
Which brings me to one of the giants I had to face to get to where I am today. This giant is one of the most feared giants in all the world. (I’m not kidding.) This giant I’ve fought against (and continue to fight against for that matter) is a giant that every person who reads this blog post is either afraid of now or has been afraid of in the past. (It’s true.) Now the giant I’m referring to is the giant whose first name is “Public” and his last name is “Speaking.” Public speaking.
Did you ever have a speech class in high school or college? You know what I hated about those classes? I hated that the were “required.” How many of you know that they only make certain classes required because, if they didn’t, nobody would take them. Am I right?
Now this “public speaking” giant was a giant that I would have no part of. Uh uh. On the days I was scheduled to speak in speech class I’d literally walk up to the door, turn the handle to open it and then, rather than go in, I’d turn right around and walk straight back to my car and drive away. Isn’t that crazy? (I ended up dropping the class.) And here I am speaking in front of you today! (When I first shared this story I was preaching it in church. I wanted you to get the full impact.)
And so how did I get from speech class way back then to being able to speak in front of a crowd? Well, I’ll tell you how. God gave me the opportunity to become skilled and to develop my confidence in smaller battles first (speaking situations) so that now I can get up and talk without my knees knocking. (You still get “butterflies,” but nothing like it used to be.)
What giant might God be preparing you today to face because He knows you will be in direct confrontation with him tomorrow? Don’t run from the smaller battle.
(David and Goliath picture above is in the public domain: click here. PD-US)
You might also be interested in:
About Pastor Mike
(To view old map,