1 Samuel 17:17-30
Jesse
calls for David and tells him to send some food to his brothers and the
captains of their division. David gets someone to watch over his sheep
while he's gone, and he heads to the camp of the Israelites. As he
approaches, the Israelites and Philistines are battle ready. They're
facing each other, shouting their war cry. Goliath steps out from the
front line and carries out his usual challenge. He's still looking for
fight.
David finds his brothers, and as he's greeting them, he hears what Goliath is saying. He asks the troops he's standing by, "Who is this guy? Who does he think he is taunting the Isralites like this?"
David's older brother Eliab overhears what David is saying and loses his temper. He tells David he has no business being there, that he's got sheep to tend to. David ignores him and continues asking around about Goliath. He hears that whoever kills the giant will get a huge reward and the king will give his family a free ride for life. He'll also get the king's daughter as his bride.
The problem is, every time Goliath even appears, the Israelite troops fall back in fear. They've never experienced anyone openly defy Israel like Goliath is. They're terrified of the guy, and out of the thousands of troops standing ready for battle, not one is willing to take on the man's challenge. They'd rather go to war than pit one man against Goliath. Even with the outstanding reward, it's not enough to move one man past the fear of facing the giant.
With every fear comes a challenge and a reward, if we walk through it. Someone I know said recently that everything we fear doesn't actually happen 99.9% of the time. It's the .1% that keeps us paralyzed, falling back, terrified of what lies ahead.
I was recently offered a job in an industry that I left four years ago. It sounded great at the time, until I met with the man offering the job. As I sat and had lunch with him, the job was becoming more real. It was materializing before my eyes, and I realized that this was a life change. The more I thought about taking the new job, the more I thought about how comfortable I am. I've established roots, I've stayed at my current job longer than any other job, and I have a good community. Even though the job offered is financially better and in line with what I'm passionate about vocationally and what I'm good at, the fear of the unknown paralyzed me. It started affecting every aspect of my life. My anxiety was sky high. I couldn't stop painting mental pictures of the future.
There was a huge reward sitting right in front of me, yet all I could see was the unknown, unseen, giant. Taking a new job in a different city would require leaving everything I've spent four years recreating. It would require energy that I don't know if I have. It requires the kind of hours that I haven't put in in years. It requires a lot of things that sound hard. It seems a lot easier to just stay put, avoid the challenge, and accept my lot.
As this fear continued to grow, I talked to people. I asked advice, I prayed, I did everything I could to make sense of what to do. I felt sick.
What I was really afraid of was commitment. It was having options left open that was driving me mad. I was too afraid to make a decision because I was afraid of commitment. I didn't want to commit to either my current job or the potential job. As a result, I was stuck in mid-decision for about a month, doing my best to just not think about it. I kept trying to just push even the thought of taking the job out of my mind. This is not a sustainable way of living though.
Trying to avoid walking through fear is futile. I felt like a boy whistling in a dark room full of roaches. If I could just carry on through life, deny the fear, deny everything, and just wish it away, everything would be okay. It just doesn't happen that way. Even if I were to completely walk away, the same fear would show up later - maybe in a couple of weeks, maybe in a couple of years.
I finally called the man offering the job, and told him how I felt. I told him I was scared. I told him about the lack of confidence I had in doing the job. I told him everything I could without sounding like a complete wreck. This guy owns a business that brings in $85 million a year. I make $19,000 a year. He's wealthy and confident. I'm poor and falling back. The giant is taunting and I'm terrified.
The conversation over the phone turns out to be exactly what I need. He told me, "I want you to do whatever makes you happy. I want what's best for you. You don't have to make a decision right now. Just keep thinking about it, and we'll keep talking."
What he told me took the pressure off. A few days later I decided to take the job. My heart was in it. I felt my confidence begin to grow. That's step one through the fear, and it's still five or six months away from actually starting the job. But, I have to take one step at a time to get there.
Giants look big and talk a big game, but they're only as big as we let them be. They're only as powerful as we let them be. They're only as threatening as we let them be. The further we fall back, the bigger they become. The closer we come to confronting them, the smaller they get. Fear is the giant. Are we falling back, or are we inching closer. It's okay to be scared and terrified and crazy, but are we taking a step forward or backward?
Today's Action: What are we afraid of today? What's one practical maneuver we could add to our daily or weekly routine to help move toward the giant that stands in front of us?
David finds his brothers, and as he's greeting them, he hears what Goliath is saying. He asks the troops he's standing by, "Who is this guy? Who does he think he is taunting the Isralites like this?"
David's older brother Eliab overhears what David is saying and loses his temper. He tells David he has no business being there, that he's got sheep to tend to. David ignores him and continues asking around about Goliath. He hears that whoever kills the giant will get a huge reward and the king will give his family a free ride for life. He'll also get the king's daughter as his bride.
The problem is, every time Goliath even appears, the Israelite troops fall back in fear. They've never experienced anyone openly defy Israel like Goliath is. They're terrified of the guy, and out of the thousands of troops standing ready for battle, not one is willing to take on the man's challenge. They'd rather go to war than pit one man against Goliath. Even with the outstanding reward, it's not enough to move one man past the fear of facing the giant.
With every fear comes a challenge and a reward, if we walk through it. Someone I know said recently that everything we fear doesn't actually happen 99.9% of the time. It's the .1% that keeps us paralyzed, falling back, terrified of what lies ahead.
I was recently offered a job in an industry that I left four years ago. It sounded great at the time, until I met with the man offering the job. As I sat and had lunch with him, the job was becoming more real. It was materializing before my eyes, and I realized that this was a life change. The more I thought about taking the new job, the more I thought about how comfortable I am. I've established roots, I've stayed at my current job longer than any other job, and I have a good community. Even though the job offered is financially better and in line with what I'm passionate about vocationally and what I'm good at, the fear of the unknown paralyzed me. It started affecting every aspect of my life. My anxiety was sky high. I couldn't stop painting mental pictures of the future.
There was a huge reward sitting right in front of me, yet all I could see was the unknown, unseen, giant. Taking a new job in a different city would require leaving everything I've spent four years recreating. It would require energy that I don't know if I have. It requires the kind of hours that I haven't put in in years. It requires a lot of things that sound hard. It seems a lot easier to just stay put, avoid the challenge, and accept my lot.
As this fear continued to grow, I talked to people. I asked advice, I prayed, I did everything I could to make sense of what to do. I felt sick.
What I was really afraid of was commitment. It was having options left open that was driving me mad. I was too afraid to make a decision because I was afraid of commitment. I didn't want to commit to either my current job or the potential job. As a result, I was stuck in mid-decision for about a month, doing my best to just not think about it. I kept trying to just push even the thought of taking the job out of my mind. This is not a sustainable way of living though.
Trying to avoid walking through fear is futile. I felt like a boy whistling in a dark room full of roaches. If I could just carry on through life, deny the fear, deny everything, and just wish it away, everything would be okay. It just doesn't happen that way. Even if I were to completely walk away, the same fear would show up later - maybe in a couple of weeks, maybe in a couple of years.
I finally called the man offering the job, and told him how I felt. I told him I was scared. I told him about the lack of confidence I had in doing the job. I told him everything I could without sounding like a complete wreck. This guy owns a business that brings in $85 million a year. I make $19,000 a year. He's wealthy and confident. I'm poor and falling back. The giant is taunting and I'm terrified.
The conversation over the phone turns out to be exactly what I need. He told me, "I want you to do whatever makes you happy. I want what's best for you. You don't have to make a decision right now. Just keep thinking about it, and we'll keep talking."
What he told me took the pressure off. A few days later I decided to take the job. My heart was in it. I felt my confidence begin to grow. That's step one through the fear, and it's still five or six months away from actually starting the job. But, I have to take one step at a time to get there.
Giants look big and talk a big game, but they're only as big as we let them be. They're only as powerful as we let them be. They're only as threatening as we let them be. The further we fall back, the bigger they become. The closer we come to confronting them, the smaller they get. Fear is the giant. Are we falling back, or are we inching closer. It's okay to be scared and terrified and crazy, but are we taking a step forward or backward?
Today's Action: What are we afraid of today? What's one practical maneuver we could add to our daily or weekly routine to help move toward the giant that stands in front of us?
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