Before Goliath: Slaying Your Lions and Bears
31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
I Kings 17:31 – 37(English Standard Version)
Our great victories over seemingly insurmountable problems are the result of smaller God-orchestrated victories. Many times we wonder why we are going through what we are going through but the truth of the matter is that God is preparing us for even greater victories. Greater victories are made of defeating greater enemies. It would not be a great victory if the Malawi national soccer team won 20-0 against an Under-14 side. The enemy is just not a worthy opponent! On the other hand, if they played with the Brazilian national side and won 2-0 (I hear somebody say “wishful thinking”) that would be cause for national celebration. In other words, a worthy victory.
Now look at what David says to King Saul when he is about to face Goliath: “Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” In other words, “God has given me previous victories that were private and localized to my family or tribe and on that basis of God’s faithfulness I know I can take down this heathen”. It is the same with all that follow the God of David: The LORD grants victories that are seemingly private and localized to prepare us for that greater Kingdom impact. But going through a victory is uncomfortable, unnerving, and all sorts of negative things because it’s a struggle! And that’s what many of us are going through right now. We feel the tightness of crunch time as we are on our way to victory.
The victories over the lion and the bear was also proof of David’s faithfulness to what he had been sent to do: to shepherd the sheep. David faithfully executed his duties to his family and proved himself worthy of being entrusted with the greater responsibility of protecting the nation. Remember, if Goliath won then Israel would be slaves to the Philistines. This greater responsibility came about because of his being faithful in the smaller matters of slaying lions and bears to protect the sheep. It could also be that what you and I are going through in this season is a test of whether we are worthy of greater Kingdom responsibility or not. Our being faithful in this season, especially in trusting that God will aid us against those obstacles to fulfilling our Kingdom duties, could mean that the Lord may entrust to us a greater Kingdom responsibility or, as is more commonly called, ministry.
It could be that you are growing weary or have even given up on what you know God has mandated you to do because the huddles to fulfilling God’s mission are insurmountable. Don’t! Don’t give up! Now is the time to muster the faith to believe that the God who entrusted you with such a ministry is also able to provide for you to continue it. Otherwise, the lion and the bear will defeat you and you will have no testimony of the faithfulness of God to stand on when Goliath, the real deal, shows up at the battlefront. In other words, you would be doomed to running away from lions and bears in the desert, losing the ministry that has been entrusted to you, unqualified to be promoted to greater responsibility, and only fit to be demoted to lesser Kingdom responsibility as you would not multiplied your talents.
So, friend, you might be going through some fire right now but keep keeping on. This is part of your training for reigning. Your faithfulness in this moment of lions and bears is your foundation for the greater victories of your life. May our hearts cry “Bring on the lion!” and “Bring on the bear” as we sacrificially serve our Lord and Master.
Blessings!
