In the corporate world, when they have a big vision or project to accomplish or want to take the business to higher levels, they look for someone who has performed at that level somewhere else.
This is why you see people moving as Director or CEO of Company A to an equivalent role in Company B. Even when they retire, these veterans of multiple corporate wars are further recycled into board roles where they continue to leverage their experience.
Under the radar
David was a teenager whose scanty resume would have had only a shepherd boy job description. He had the ability to take the sheep out to find pastures and water. He made sure the sheep didn't get lost in the wilderness and took them back home safely.
In the process of keeping the sheep safe, he had done some extraordinary things that were probably too incredible to be reported. He had encounters with lions and bears and had come out victorious.
David had an unbelievable resume. He had done exploits with sheep as his only witness. If he had told his family what he did to the lion and the bear, maybe Eliab his older brother would have accorded him some respect. Perhaps, King Saul would have taken notice of the "lion-slaying" child prodigy.
Is it possible there are some extraordinary things you do in the course of your ordinary life that could be so unbelievable that they are swept under the carpet?
Sometimes at work, churches, and families, we can feel we are moving mountains yet remain invisible. Rewards and recognition don't always follow achievements.
The day of reckoning
David showed up in the frontline of an ongoing war just as Goliath was threatening the armies of Saul and calling them out to fight.
The little shepherd boy would not stand and watch his nation's army ridiculed like that. He wanted to take on the giant.
David started talking to the soldiers to find out what the bounty is for a man who can kill Goliath. Eliab his older brother was not happy with him, but he ignored and kept asking.
When David eventually got to speak with the king, the question was:
How can you fight this giant? You are just a boy. This man has been a warrior all his life (I Samuel 17:33, paraphrased).
The king was right. He simply compared David's resume with that of Goliath and concluded that David hadn't got the requisite experience to take on such a great task.
Have you ever been told you are not enough? Or that you don't have what it takes? Have you ever been made to feel less than you know you can be?
On paper, David was no match for Goliath. He lacked the maturity, skills, and experience. But he had something that nobody knew.
The power of recollection
We constantly tell ourselves that it is healthy to forget the past. That's correct. But there is a part of your past you should never forget.
When God delivered you from bondage. When God saved you from death. When God healed you. When God miraculously provided for you. When you were written off and God counted you back in.
Don't ever forget that.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits (Psalm 103:2, KJV).
When faced with a giant, people tend to forget about the lion and the bear. They are not the same class of opposition but are equally dangerous and life-threatening. If God could save you from the other stuff that nearly killed you, he will do it for this one too.
If you acknowledge that it was God who delivered you from the lion and the bear, you have a chance with the giant in front of you now.
You are going to take out the giant not because you can, but because you are banking on the same God who helped you with the lion and the bear.
My counsel to you is this:
Don't forget your past victories, no matter how small they were. Even more importantly, don't forget the God of your past victories. You need the God of your past victories to face your present giants.
Pray and ask God to help you to remember and to take courage in what He has done for you in the past and hope in what He would still do.
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