My devotional time this morning took me to familiar passages in 1 Samuel 17. That is the chapter in which David confronts and kills the Philistine champion Goliath.  In that section, David shows unusual courage and seems to declare the death of Goliath prophetically.  You will recall that both the Israeli and Philistine armies had camped across a valley from one another.  Every morning and evening for forty days, Goliath had stepped out and challenged the army of Israel, inviting anyone who had the courage to step up and fight him.  According to scripture, he was nine feet, nine inches tall.

The response each day had been the army of Israel, along with King Saul, cowering as he issued the challenge. David, still a young man, had come to check on his brothers who were camping with Saul and waiting for an actual battle to occur.  As he arrived, he heard the morning challenge from the Philistine and actually took offense.  He was not offended that Goliath had such disdain for Israel or for Saul, but that he would defy the armies of the living God with disdain. David considered God’s name as the one being slandered.  

David then offered to face this “giant” on behalf of his God and Saul took him up on it.  Saul then gave David his armor and his sword with which to face the enemy.   The text says. “’I cannot go in these…because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. David seemed an unlikely individual to face Israel’s enemy.  He was young, had no armor or weapons other than a shepherd’s sling.  We are unaware if he had any military experience at all. Saul assumed that David would have to emulate him in order to win the day so he dressed him in his own tunic and armor and gave him his tools for war.  If David had accepted Saul’s judgment of him and faced Goliath in Saul’s armor, the story would most likely have had a very different end.

There are times when God calls us to step up in the kingdom and face a situation or a problem for which, at least in our own eyes, we seem to be vastly unqualified.  We assume we must become like someone else we think would be better suited…the pastor, an elder, a more experienced believer, and so we back away from the call.  Maybe others see us in the same way. But sometimes, God chooses the unlikely because the “tried and true” ways of solving the problem will not work for that situation.  Different gifts and different experiences may be just what God is calling for.

David had no experience in war but he had experienced God’s deliverance from a lion and a bear.  He had no armor but he had a shepherd’s sling that he had mastered.  He also had faith and the Spirit of God working in his life.  We are told when Samuel anointed David to be the future king of Israel (I Kings 16:13), “and from that day on, the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.”  I believe that the Spirit directed him to face Goliath with the experiences and skills he already had and David submitted to those promptings.  When confronted by Goliath who despised this boy – this non-warrior – David replied, “it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s’ (1 Sam. 17:47). With that in his heart, David charged the Philistine and killed him with a single stone…undoubtedly directed by the Lord.

Here is the lesson.  When God calls us to step up to lead a ministry, share the gospel, pray for someone’s healing, confront an injustice, etc. we do not have to become like someone else.  God called us, not the other person and we already have the experiences and gifts needed for the moment.  After all, the victory doesn’t come through our greatness but through the greatness of God.  The more unlikely we are, the more glory God receives.  The greatness of David was not in his abilities but in his faith in the ability of God.  When the moment comes and the Spirit is prompting us to step up, remember David and his “unlikely” victory over the “giant” from Gath.