Defining David & Goliath
What is your "Goliath"? This Sunday, Klesis Christian Fellowship gathered together at Durant Loft to continue our ongoing message series, Defining Moments. We went through 1 Samuel 17—the story of David and Goliath. It's the well-known, classic tale of the underdog, who surpasses seemingly unbeatable circumstances against a formidable foe.
Goliath, a (built and very, very tall) Philistine, challenges the Israel army to send one man to fight with him to the death in order to determine victory for the nations. Nobody from the Israel army stepped up to the challenge. But then there was David, a shepherd. Unlike the rest of the Israelite army, when David hears Goliath's challenge, he is wholly unimpressed. Instead, David volunteers to fight Goliath. He declares that, since God has delivered him from bears and lions as he tended his sheep, God will surely deliver him from Goliath. And sure enough, David slays Goliath with his shepherd's sling.
How is it that David could confront Goliath like that? Because David had done it before. This fight against Goliath was not an unfamiliar, one-time, singular event. The battle was the same as all the other daily ones David faced as a shepherd, protecting his sheep with his sling and relying on God's deliverance as he faced predators of his sheep. It was just this battlefield that was different. It was all the daily battles that David had as a shepherd, that prepared him for this bigger stage with Goliath.
David wasn't naive or foolish for volunteering. He was just full of faith that God would deliver him, as He always had. Also, David knew that he wasn't alone. Sure, he had experience with his shepherd's sling. But it was not out of his own self-will that he fought Goliath. David was doing all of this for God and with God. There is a huge difference in experience when going into battle with God, as opposed to going on one's own. When walking with God, what feels like mortal danger can be put into perspective; we can learn how to use the small stones we've collected in our daily battles, to overcome great Goliaths.
At the end of the service, we were given a few minutes to think about what the battlefields of our lives are. What causes us to feel small and fearful? In the end, we must learn to engage in our daily battles—because God uses our daily battles to set the stage for bigger ones. Just as with David and Goliath, our biggest battles are waged long before we reach the final battlefield. It starts with the daily bears and lions—as shepherds before warriors.
We also celebrated Phil's Birthday!
