Running Toward Goliath

It's one of the most-beloved of all the stories in the Bible and it is probably the most often used analogy from Scripture applied in the arenas of sports, politics, and business; David and Goliath, the underdog tale of underdog tales.  Whenever someone seems to be facing insurmountable odds, this story is brought to mind.  But there is something here that many people miss, and that is that David didn't just find himself in an impossible situation, he fought to get there.  He had to overcome an awful lot of obstacles just to be standing there beside the brook at Elah.  And when he looked up at the giant, that wasn't fear in his eye.  It was the sparkle that comes when a person knows that he is about to see God do something amazing.  So who was this kid with the slingshot and the dead-eye aim?  Where did he get the 'chutzpah' to stand up to a warrior who had shouted the entire army of the Lord into cowardly silence? In actuality, David was the runt of the litter.  He had seven brothers who were taller, stronger, better looking and more battle-ready.  But David had one thing that they didn't have and it made all the difference.  David had a heart for God.  David had dedicated his young life to following after God, seeking His face, and stepping out in faith to fulfill whatever challenge that God had placed before Him.  When he was charged with watching the sheep, he took it as a sacred calling and defied the lion and the bear to stop him from fulfilling it.  When he found himself on the back side of the mountain in pleasant pastures and peaceful times, he filled the hours with worship and sought to know His God more intimately.  When given the opportunity to go to the warrior's camp, he jumped at it, eager to see the armies of the Lord, fighting the good fight and subduing God's enemies.  What he saw instead were a pack of whipped puppies with their tails between their legs. 
David's approach was simple.  He never looked at the Giant.  He stayed focused on his God.  He looked past the circumstance and looked to the cause.  He knew from experience that it was God's battle and that He would do the fighting.  All David had to do was be the weapon in His hand.  And so, as David crouched there by the brook, his carefully chosen weapons in his hands, he slowly began to rise, each step fell faster than the last until he was running toward the Philistine with all that he had.  And with a final twirl of his wrist made mighty by his passion for God and guided to its target by his surrender to the Spirit, David fired the shot heard down through the ages and Goliath fell.
Over the next several blog posts, I want to show you how to follow in David's footsteps and defeat the giants in your life.  There will be those that question your motives and qualifications.  Others will try to encumber you with their way of fighting the battle.  You will face the mockery of the enemy, but never fear.  The giant is going down.