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BRAVER THAN LIONS
Sam Stringer
Dec 7, 2024
When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly
afraid.
1 Samuel 17:11
There’s a theme that runs throughout the Bible and also your life and mine: head games. We all have a
sense of self-preservation that we have to deal with, and much of the calling of God is going to interfere
with that desire. Aside from this account, think of Adam and Eve in the Garden; think of Peter as he
walked on the water; think of Jesus in His temptations. Head games were won many times over, but our
greatest example was Jesus, who never took the bait as He quoted scripture to the Devil’s attempts.
The passage of 1 Samuel 17 is the story of David and Goliath. The Philistine Goliath was known for being
huge (somewhere around 10 feet tall it’s estimated) and not only was he tall, but he was a seasoned
warrior. The weight of his armor and his spear indicated that he was incredibly strong. The Bible tells us
that he was trained and victorious enough times in the past that he was the Philistine’s exclusive
champion; they knew it, and he knew it, too. Goliath was not only skilled, but he was confident to the
obvious point of being cocky. Still, he was just a sinful human being living and breathing in God’s world.
The Israelite warriors and King Saul lost sight of the superiority of God in the face of this awe-inspiring
human before them.
David did not think little of God; in fact, his big view of God made Goliath miniscule in his mind because
he trusted in God, the Holy and Righteous Creator of the universe. His view of God led him to do many
acts of bravery. When any of us see God the way He declares Himself in the Bible and we are convinced
of that, it will start to shrink the people and problems we face. If you need to do a check of how much
you’re focusing on God lately, just examine how much your problems are grabbing your focus. The farther
we get from Him, the more we find that the severity of our struggles seems to multiply. Every person or
difficulty in our lives, sometimes those scary ones nonetheless, have the power to be one hundred feet
tall or to be the size of a mouse: it all depends on how big God is to us.
Saul and his soldiers didn’t just see a ten foot tall man; Goliath might as well have been the size of a
mountain, because he was in their minds. It’s practically as if he grew by the second as their fears
immobilized them further and further. David saw someone quite different, a boisterous fool that needed to
be put in his place for defying the God of Israel. I challenge you and myself today to get out of our heads,
to reassess how much power and energy we’re giving people or problems, and to refocus on God so that
He gets bigger in our hearts and everyone else, including us, begins to shrink. We don’t need to make
people less than what they are, but we do need to bring them back to being just what they are and
nothing more. I hope you’re tracking with me here: we all have the power to multiply our sorrows if we so
choose to, but we also have the choice to realign ourselves with God and to fear Him enough to face
them with boldness.
How big will your God be to you today? How small can you make those problems as you become
positively overwhelmed with the greatness of God? Battles of all types are often won or lost before they’re
even fought, and it starts in our heads. Keep your head in check to put your heart at ease. God is greater
and there’s no contest. Life is short. Be brave. Be blessed.
Sam Stringer
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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