“You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (1 Samuel 17:45). Wouldn’t it be nice if this was our first reaction when faced with trying times? Many of us are no stranger to difficult situations, especially with Hurricane Helene and its destructive consequences. The Bible gives us countless examples of people facing hard times, and the most well known of these accounts is the true account of David and Goliath. While we don’t face literal giants, we often face problems that seem just as large and ominous. When David arrived at the battlefield to deliver food to his brothers, he viewed it from God’s perspective as a spiritual battle, not the earthly battle of the Philistines and Israelites: “Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26). This is how we should respond when faced with troubles that seem insurmountable; we need to view them from God’s perspective, not our own. There’s more than just the physical or mental aspect of our troubles because when we face troubles, there is also a spiritual battle occurring that can be won if we respond as David responded to Goliath–with faith and confident hope in God. Sometimes we can also feel that God has put us into a situation too much for us to handle that would be better suited for someone more gifted than us. David, however, trusted in God’s plan and knew that through his hard work and God’s help he would be able to defeat Goliath. David was the youngest of eight sons, and his older brother Eliab was on the battlefield, much stronger and taller than David. Eliab even lashed out at David, believing that David would try to goad him into fighting Goliath. David doesn’t do this at all; rather he trusts God and faces Goliath, knowing that God would give him the ability to win the fight. God often uses hard times to grow our faith and to glorify Himself. David even says that he does this great act so that “all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel” (1 Samuel 17:46), completely understanding God’s purpose in this troubling situation. Therefore “count it all joy when you meet with trials of various kinds,” using David as a prime example of how to respond.
