I absolutely hate snakes! When I was a little girl, I used to play in the dirt under a huge oak tree in my grandmother's front yard. One day, as I was digging around minding my own business, an evil looking snake fell coiled from that tree. I ran screaming in the house for my grandmother to come and save me! I can still see her, undaunted, walking out to that snake and putting a quick end to his menace with a garden hoe. Grandma the Snake Slayer! I never doubted for a moment that my grandmother could save the day!
The innocent faith of children in the "big people" in their lives to save them from their fears is exactly the kind of faith we are to have in our Father in Heaven. In I Samuel 17:1-58, we read the story of the Israelites cowering in fear of the Philistine giant, Goliath. Every day he would taunt them; every day they would run and hide in fear. All that changed on the day that a young shepherd boy showed up with supplies for the army and his brothers. David heard all the talk of the giant and wondered why the soldiers were so fearful. After all, they were the army of the living God (I Samuel 17:26). It's here that David demonstrates that childlike faith in his Father. David boldly professed that he would fight the giant and win, not in his own strength but in the strength of the Lord: "God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear will deliver me from this Philistine" (I Samuel 17:37).
The soldiers and the King found it hard to believe that one so young and inexperienced in battle would be able to defeat the giant that had stymied them for forty days. David wasn't anything special to look at; he was a kid watching over his father's sheep and running errands. Certainly, he wasn't equipped to pull off a major military coup, but God had other plans. You see, God often uses the small things in life, those things that we overlook or discount, to defeat the giants in our lives. In I Corinthians 1:27b, Paul says, "...God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong."
Whatever the giants are that we face, we must come to God with unwavering childlike faith that He will defeat them. We truly are no match for those giants in our own strength, but God provides all we need to be victorious. Paul tells us in II Corinthians 12:9: "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." Our logic and pragmatism can defeat us; trusting God to provide, often in ways that seem illogical and improbable, is the key to victory. Remember, God can bring down giants with a slingshot and a stone!
Lord, the giants in our lives loom large. Some days they send us running for the nearest hiding place. Please help us to stand our ground and trust You to defeat those things that come to bring us down. Help us to never question your ways but to believe that You are working all for our good and doing so through your perfect plan. Thank you that we are victorious when we face life with your power and strength.
