Growing into a Goliath

Underdogs in different organizations (business, sports, politics, etc.) use what is called “David strategies” to overcome Goliaths—the biggies, leaders and favorites. 

This of course originated from the oft-told Bible story of David, the shepherd boy who slew the celebrated warrior, Goliath. The concept is simplistic: Goliath represents life’s giant problems around us, which we could conquer if, like David, we have God in our lives. God will do the fighting for us. 

I held on to this simple concept all my life—till now. 

Although I wholeheartedly believe that we cannot fight our own battles without God, I came upon a more profound lesson from David and Goliath. It is one of the many blessings of the pandemic, while worshiping at home, and listening to a pastor's message online. 

“Goliath is arrogant, full of Himself. Hailed as a great, undefeated warrior, he does evil in God’s sight,” he said from the pulpit. “When we have achieved fame and amassed riches in life, we think we are invincible in our 9’9” frame and—knowingly or unknowingly—we lord it over everyone smaller or less than us. In this state, we are Goliath; we do not need God.” 

The world’s view of success and how we achieve it make us grow into a Goliath. We pursue power and fortune as the world defines them. This thought occupies our being; we claim our successes as the products of our own strengths. We ignore the role of the Lord in our lives.    

“We need to fight the giant we have become," the pastor continued. "But on our own, we cannot. Without God, David could not have trounced Goliath. We need the Lord to curse the giant in us, the way He cursed the Israelites when they did evil in His land."  

This fight between the big warrior and the small shepherd foreshadowed the coming of Jesus. People expected our Savior to be a warrior who would crush the Romans. 

Instead, He took on the enemy of Israel (and the world): SIN. He defeated it in an unexpected way—by dying for our sins on the cross.

We face Goliath every day—externally (slave to the good things in life) and internally (slave to sin). But when we put our trust in Jesus, and totally depend on His grace unknown and beyond degree, we will know that our achievements are not about laurels, cash, and earthly glory. It’s about Jesus. Only Jesus.  

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