1 Samuel 17:40 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.
To the confident even pebbles will look like pistons but to the cowardly even a mole will look like a mountain.
Confidence will change the way we look at challenges. The eyes of our heart will become like the eyes of an eagle. An eagle’s vision is exceptionally sharp as compared with the human eye. The cones in the eagle’s fovea are very small and tightly grouped, allowing the eagle to see small details from extreme distances. Eagles have fixed eye sockets that are “angled 30 degrees from the midline of their face” giving eagles a “340-degree visual field”. Confidence is the spiritual vision into the future through the eyes of God. The eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what the hope is of the glory of his inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:18). The eyes of the heart that are brightened by the Word of God will bubble with enthusiasm and hope.
The stream from which David picked up five smooth stones is still running through the valley of Elah in Israel. The stream is full of stones and pebbles but none of the mighty soldiers of King Saul saw the stones as a sword to slay the giant. While the others trembled in fear at the ginormous giant, David saw him as an uncircumcised enemy without the protection of the Almighty. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26b). To the cowards Goliath was too big to fight but to the confident ruddy young David he was too big to miss!
Confidence changes the way we look at challenge:
1. Enlighten: David’s spiritual enlightenment was the secret of His confidence. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God (1 Samuel 17:36). Slaughtering a lion and a bear was not a small achievement for a young shepherd boy. All he had was his staff and slingshot. Spiritually any wild beast is a metaphor for a demon. David looked at Goliath as a demeaning demon who can be crushed under his foot.
2. Enthuse: Confidence will accelerate our enthusiasm and passion in the Lord and for the Lord. Confidence will be the unquenchable energy to accomplish our God-given mission.
3. Empower: Confidence will empower us with divine wisdom, favour, skillfulness and expertise to defeat the debilitating discouraging discourse. David overcame the disparaging giant with unshakable confidence.
Confidence changes the way we look at ourselves in comparison with the challenges that we face. The biggest problems will look like tiny pebbles when we look at it through the eyes of God.
1 Samuel 17:37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Prayer: Father God, open the eyes of my heart so that I may be empowered with divine authority to defeat the giants that I face. Amen
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