Five Smooth Stones and A Sling

“A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp.  His height was six cubits and a span.  He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back.  His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels.”

Goliath was intimidating.  He looked undefeatable, like he could and would kill any man who attempted to take him on.

“Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, ‘Why do you come out and line up for battle?  Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul?  Choose a man and have him come down to me.  If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.  Then the Philistine said, ‘This day I defy the armies of Israel!  Give me a man and let us fight each other.’  On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.”

Doesn’t seem like a very fair fight.  Goliath is HUGE...literally a giant.  He’s not only intimidating, but he can trash talk pretty well too.  If how he looks isn’t enough to scare you, then how he talks should be enough to drive fear and doubt into your heart and mind.

Most of us know the story of David and Goliath pretty well.  David was a mere shepherd boy.  When sent on an errand from his father to take provisions to his three older brothers camped out for battle, he saw Goliath.  Yet David wasn’t afraid of him.  Or if he was, he didn’t allow his fear to be greater than his faith in God.

David, a mere shepherd, ends up talking to Saul, the king, and says, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

A shepherd boy versus a giant doesn’t look to promising.

“Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic.  He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.  David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.  ‘I cannot go in these,’ he said to Saul, ‘because I am not used to them.’  So he took them off.  Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.”

David took five smooth stones and a sling…that’s what he knew, it’s what he did best, and what he was equipped to use.  So that’s what he took.

Life brings us all kinds of circumstances.  Many times, we find ourselves staring at the face of a giant…a situation that seems nearly impossible to take on, a situation that drives fear and doubt into our heart and mind.  The match up hardly seems fair.

A great friend of mine, the best actually, challenged me to consider what my five smooth stones are.  When you’re up against something that seems a lot bigger and stronger than you, when you’re staring down fear in the face, what do you come at it with?

I’m still on a journey of discovering what my five smooth stones are, but I’m not content to allow the giant to win.  I’m not content to buy into the fear and doubt being thrown my way.  I’m not content to accept defeat or walk away.

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.  The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation.” –Isaiah 12:2

Thanks Janelle for always challenging me toward growth and new perspective!