Max Lucado (17 page)

And since God did, and since David knew God did, the skinny runt became a blur of pumping knees and a swirling sling. He ran toward his giant.

Do the same! What good has problem-pondering gotten you? You've stared so long you can number the hairs on Goliath's chest. Has it helped?

No. Listing hurts won't heal them. Itemizing problems won't solve them. Categorizing rejections won't remove them. David lobotomized the giant because he emphasized the Lord. Let your ring finger remind you to take up the stone of passion.

One more stone, and finger, remains:

5. THE STONE OF PERSISTENCE

David didn't think one rock would do. He knew Goliath had four behemoth relatives. “Ishbi-benob was a descendant of the giants; his bronze spearhead weighed more than seven pounds” (2 Sam. 21:16 NLT). Saph made the list, described as “another descendant of the giants” (v. 18 NLT). Then there was “the brother of Goliath of Gath. The handle of his spear was as thick as a weaver's beam!” (v. 19 NLT). These three seem harmless compared to King Kong.

There was a giant there [Gath] with six fingers on his hands and six toes on his feet—twenty-four fingers and toes! He was another of those descended from Rapha. . . .

These four were descended from Rapha in Gath. (VV. 20, 22 MSG)

Why did David quarry a quintet of stones? Could it be because Goliath had four relatives the size of Tyrannosaurus rex? For all

Never give up.

David knew, they'd come running over the hill to defend their kin. David was ready to empty the chamber if that's what it took.

Imitate him. Never give up. One prayer might not be enough. One apology might not do it. One day or month of resolve might not suffice. You may get knocked down a time or two . . . but don't quit. Keep loading the rocks. Keep swinging the sling.

David took five stones. He made five decisions. Do likewise. Past. Prayer. Priority. Passion. And persistence.

Next time Goliath wakes you up, reach for a stone. Odds are, he'll be out of the room before you can load your sling.

AFTERWORD

WHAT BEGAN IN BETHLEHEM

H
IS STORY STARTED in a sheep pasture. Woolly heads witnessed his early days. Quiet fields welcomed his childish eyes. H Before people heeded his message, sheep turned at his cry. Queue up the billions of creatures that have heard his voice, and grass-grazers claim a place near the front.

His story began in a pasture.

A Bethlehem pasture. Such a small hamlet sleeping on the gentle slopes. The home of shepherds. The land of figs, olives, and vines. Not lush, but sufficient. Not known to the world but known to God, who, for his reasons, chose Bethlehem as the incubator of this chosen child.

Chosen, indeed. Chosen by God. Anointed from on high, set apart by heaven. The prophet declared the call. The family heard it. The lad of the sheep would be a shepherd of souls. Bethlehem's boy would be Israel's king.

But not before he became the target of hell.

The road out of Bethlehem was steep and dangerous. It led him through a lizard-laced desert, an angry Jerusalem, conflict, and peril. Leaders resolved to kill him. His people sought to stone him. His own family chose to mock him.

Some people lifted him up him as king; others cast him down. Jerusalem gates saw him enter as a sovereign and leave like a fugitive. He eventually died a lonely death in the Hebrew capital.

But he is far from dead.

His words still speak. His legacy still lives. Love or hate him, soci-ety keeps turning to him, reading his thoughts, pondering his deeds, imagining his face. Scripture gives only scant sentences about his looks, so sculptors and artists have filled galleries with their speculations. Michelangelo. Rembrandt. Da Vinci. Canvas. Stone. Painting. Sculpting.

And books. Books! More pages have been devoted to Bethlehem's prodigy than any other figure in history. We can't stop talking about him. Sand has filled his Judean footprints thousands of times over thousands of years—but still we gather to reflect on his life.

You know whom I'm describing.

You do, don't you? The pasture. The anointing. The childhood call. The lifelong enemies. Wilderness. Jerusalem. Judea. The lonely death. The endless legacy. Who is this boy from Bethlehem?

David, of course.

Or Jesus, perhaps.

Or . . . both?

List a dozen facts, and in each describe twin traits of David and Jesus. Amazing. Even more so is the fact that we can do the same with your life. Read these truths and tell me, who am I describing? Jesus . . . or you?

Born to a mother.

Acquainted with physical pain.

Enjoys a good party.

Rejected by friends.

Unfairly accused.

Loves stories.

Reluctantly pays taxes.

Sings.

Turned off by greedy religion.

Feels sorry for the lonely.

Unappreciated by siblings.

Stands up for the underdog.

Kept awake at night by concerns.

Known to doze off in the midst of trips.

Accused of being too rowdy.

Afraid of death.

You?

Jesus?

Both?

Seems you, like David, have much in common with Jesus.

Big deal? I think so. Jesus understands you. He understands small-town anonymity and big-city pressure. He's walked pastures of sheep and palaces of kings. He's faced hunger, sorrow, and death and wants to face them with you. Jesus “understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will

Christ became one of us to redeem all of us.

receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it” (Heb. 4:15–16 NLT).

He became one of us. And he did so to redeem all of us.

The stories of David and Jesus share many names: Bethlehem, Judea, Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives. The Dead Sea. En Gedi. While their stories are similar, don't for a second think they are identical.

Jesus had no Bathsheba collapse, Uriah murder, or adultery cover-up. Jesus never pillaged a village, camped with the enemy, or neglected a child. No one accused the fairest son of Bethlehem of polygamy, brutality, or adultery. In fact, no one successfully accused Jesus of anything.

They tried. My, how they tried. But when accusers called him a son of Satan, Jesus asked for their proof. “Can any one of you convict me of a single misleading word, a single sinful act?” ( John 8:46 MSG). No one could. Disciples traveled with him. Enemies scrutinized him. Admirers studied him. But no one could convict him of sin.

No one spotted him in the wrong place, heard him say the wrong words, or saw him respond the wrong way. Peter, three years Jesus's companion, said, “He never did one thing wrong. Not once said any- thing amiss” (1 Pet. 2:22 MSG). Pilate was the head of the Roman version of the CIA, yet when he tried to find fault in Jesus, he failed ( John 18:38). Even the demons called Jesus “the Holy One of God” (Luke 4:34 NIV).

Jesus never missed the mark.

Equally amazing, he never distances himself from those who do.

Just read the first verse of Matthew's gospel. Jesus knew David's ways. He witnessed the adultery, winced at the murders, and grieved at the dishonesty. But David's failures didn't change Jesus's relation to David. The initial verse of the first chapter of the first gospel calls Christ “the son of David” (Matt. 1:1 kjv). The title contains no dis-claimers, explanations, or asterisks. I'd have added a footnote: “This connection in no way offers tacit approval to David's behavior.” No such words appear. David blew it. Jesus knew it. But he claimed David anyway.

He did for David what my father did for my brother and me.

Back in our elementary school days, my brother received a BB gun for Christmas. We immediately set up a firing range in the backyard and spent the afternoon shooting at an archery target. Growing bored with the ease of hitting the circle, my brother sent me to fetch a hand mirror. He placed the gun backward on his shoulder, spotted the archery bull's-eye in the mirror, and did his best Buffalo Bill imitation. But he missed the target. He also missed the storehouse behind the target and the fence behind the store-house. We had no idea where the BB pellet flew. Our neighbor across the alley knew, however. He soon appeared at the back fence, asking who had shot the BB gun and who was going to pay for his sliding-glass door.

At this point I disowned my brother. I changed my last name and claimed to be a holiday visitor from Canada. My father was more noble than I. Hearing the noise, he appeared in the backyard, freshly rousted from his Christmas Day nap, and talked with the neighbor.

Among his words were these:

“Yes, they are my children.”

“Yes, I'll pay for their mistakes.”

Christ says the same about you. He knows you miss the target. He knows you can't pay for your mistakes. But he can. “God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins” (Rom. 3:25 NLT).

Since he was sinless, he could.

Since he loves you, he did. “This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:10 NLT).

Jesus calls you brother; he calls you sister.
The question is, do you call him Savior?

He became one of us to redeem all of us. “Jesus, who makes peo-ple holy, and those who are made holy are from the same family. So he is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters” (Heb. 2:11 NCV).

He wasn't ashamed of David. He isn't ashamed of you. He calls you brother; he calls you sister. The question is, do you call him Savior?

Take a moment to answer this question. Perhaps you never have. Perhaps you never knew how much Christ loves you. Now you do. Jesus didn't disown David. He won't disown you. He simply awaits your invitation. One word from you, and God will do again what he did with David and millions like him: he'll claim you, save you, and use you. Any words will do, but these seem appropriate:

Jesus, my Savior and Giant-killer, I trust you with my heart and give
you my life. I ask for mercy, strength, and eternal life. Amen.

Pray such words with an honest heart, and be assured of this: your greatest Goliath has fallen. Your failures are flushed and death defanged. The power that made pygmies out of David's giants has done the same with yours.

You can face your giants. Why? Because you faced God first.

STUDY GUIDE

Written by Steve Halliday

1

FACING YOUR GIANTS

Reconnaissance

1. You know Goliath. You recognize his walk and wince at his talk. You've seen your Godzilla. The question is, is he all you see? You know his voice—but is it all you hear?

A. What Goliaths have you confronted in the past?

B. How does your Goliath block your vision of God and make it harder to hear from the Lord?

2. David majors in God. He sees the giant, mind you; he just sees God more so.

A. What do you think it means to major in God?

B. How does majoring in God help to shrink the Goliaths of your life?

3. David's life has little to offer the unstained saint. Straight-A souls find David's story disappointing. The rest of us find it reassuring. We ride the same roller coaster. We alternate between swan dives and belly flops, soufflés and burnt toast.

A. In what arenas of life are you most likely to do swan dives and to make soufflés? In what arenas of life are you most likely to do belly flops and to burn toast?

B. Do you find David's story reassuring? Why or why not?

4. God-thoughts outnumber Goliath-thoughts nine to two. How does this ratio compare with yours? Do you ponder God's grace four times as much as you ponder your guilt? Is your list of blessings four times as long as your list of complaints? Is your mental file of hope four times as thick as your mental file of dread? Are you four times as likely to describe the strength of God as you are the demands of your day?

A. How would you answer each of Max's questions above?

B. How could you begin to increase your God-thoughts and decrease your Goliath-thoughts?

5. Focus on giants—you stumble. Focus on God—your giants tumble.

A. When you focus on your giants, what kind of stumbles do you tend to take?

B. When you focus on God, what kind of tumbles do your giants tend to take?

Marching Orders

1. Read 1 Samuel 17:1–54.

A. How did David's perspective differ from his country-men's perspective?

B. What reason does David give for his confidence in a fight against Goliath (VV. 34–37)?

C. What do verses 45–47 reveal about the man after God's own heart?

2. Read Isaiah 51:12–15.

A. Why does the Lord say we should not fear mere mortals?

B. What happens when we forget our Creator?

C. What kind of plans does God have for us?

3. Read Hebrews 12:1–3.

A. In your own experience, whose lives encourage your faith? Why?

B. Why should we fix our eyes on Jesus? How is he described?

C. What is the result of fixing our eyes on him in this way?

Battle Lines

What is the biggest problem you face right now? What Goliath is staring you in the face, taunting you and defying God to rescue you? Set aside an hour in which you focus on God—on his power and his wisdom and his glory—and in which you concentrate your prayers for help on this problem. Watch God make the fast a turn-ing point in this battle!

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SILENT PHONES

Reconnaissance

1. You know the feeling. The phone didn't ring for you either. . . . When you applied for the job or for the club, tried to make up or to get help . . . the call never came. You know the pain of a no call. We all do.

A. Describe the last time the phone didn't ring for you. What happened?

B. Why is it so painful when the call doesn't come?

2. The Hebrew word for “youngest son” is
haqqaton.
It implies more than age; it suggests rank. The
haqqaton
was more than the youngest brother; he was the
little
brother—the runt, the hobbit, the “bay-ay-ay-bee.”