Before you read this devotional, I encourage you to open your Bible and read 1 Samuel Chapter 17.         I hope you read this chapter so you can get the fullness of what I am about to share with you; trust me it is worth it! The Word of God can do more in a moment than any devotional I could write for you.

So, the Israelites were at war with the Philistines who were a strong army. These people were big and intimidating, they were called giants they were so big!  David was a shepherd and his brothers were at the camp ground as part of the Israelite army. David’s father asked him to take some food and provisions to the camp and then return and update him on how his brothers were doing. When David arrived to the camp he found them at a standstill as there was a Philistine giant named Goliath who had been taunting them for forty days begging them to send someone to fight him.  If you read the description in the word about Goliath you can see this was no small man with small armor, he was a giant in every sense of the word. David, an adolescent, arrives on the scene and says: “who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” This made his brothers very angry and they told him to go back to the “few sheep” he was to attend to. Basically they felt like who was this child to tell them anything about fighting this giant! How dare he come up like anything could be done about this situation! Who did he think he was!

Well you see, that’s just it! The Israelite army had lost sight of who they were. They were God’s chosen people. They belonged to the God who conquered the Egyptian army and others before.  Perspective is a very powerful thing! If you look at yourself and you see that you are not bigger or more powerful than your giant, then you have already taken your spot as the loser in the battle. That’s just not the case! Let’s see what David did that the others didn’t.

Verse 26: “The army of the living God” – David recognized to whom he belonged. It wasn’t just the Israelite army, it was Gods army!

Verse 34-37 – David remembered his testimony, how the Lord had helped him before. He knew that God was faithful then, and would be faithful now.

Verse 38-39- David knew he had to be himself, just as God created him. By trying to dress and be like Saul, he would not have victory or be able to fight like he knew. He didn’t have to become or dress like all the rest of the Israelite army… after all, they had that gear the whole time and none of them believed it would save them.

Verse 47- He recognized that the battle was not His but the Lords! It was never David that would defeat the giant; he knew it would be the Lord. His confidence was not in himself, but God.

Verse 48 “David ran quickly” – I think there is a lot being said in these three small words. We see in the previous verses the Israelites had been taunted by this Philistine for forty days! David ran quickly! Sometimes we spend far too much time staring at our giants and we let fear and intimidation get the best of us. Just like the Israelites did. They spent forty days wallowing in their emanate defeat, when all David did was recognize that he belonged to God and who was the Philistine to conquer a child of God?

After Goliath was defeated the King wondered who that kid was that defeated him. None knew they had to go find out. You see, David was a nobody a mere Sheppard boy to everyone else, but David knew who he was, he was a child of God! This story is a great example of perspective. The Israelites had the perspective that they were no match for a giant, but this adolescent boy had the perspective that he was a child of God, and who dare come against a child of God and win? The Israelites lost sight of to whom they belonged. They tried to fight a battle on their own, when in reality the battle was the Lords.

We all have things that seem like giants in our life. Maybe things we have struggled with all our lives or maybe new situations that have come up. But the question is: what perspective are you going to take? We are not children of God that we should be victims and defeated. If we try to fight these battles forgetting that the battle is not ours but the Lords, we will surely set ourselves up for failure. Give your giant to the Lord, and know to whom you belong! You are a child of God! What shall you fear? Meditate on these verses and ask God to show you where your perspective needs some adjusting. You are the Child of the most high, you have nothing that cannot be healed or overcome!

Blessings,

Pastor Ginny