Decisiveness. God has used your life’s journey with Him to prepare you for this pivotal moment. You didn’t pray, but instinctively you took action. Success followed. How do you make sense of this? Did you leave God out? Was it for personal recognition? Was it a high-risk, high-reward gamble? Were you being prideful? Did you have a spiritual hunch? Was it divine intuition? Was it a gut decision? Were you in a state of flow?
Or were you being prepared by God for that moment? The action was instinctive and in the flow. Yes, the situation was a divine appointment that required your instantaneous leadership and decisiveness.
David’s Example
God awakened me really early one morning with the question, Did David pray before he killed Goliath? I answered, No. Then I realized I was about to be taught something. Personal achievement in the Body of Christ can be frowned upon as being prideful or self-centered. I agree that this is a danger. But I contend that if you are a person with a tested, trained, and disciplined faith, opportunities may be presented to you to pursue, without using the standard formula of submitting to God in prayer, hearing from God for direction, resisting the enemy, and acting.
David, Pre-Goliath
My premise may sound unspiritual, but let’s examine David’s life before the confrontation with Goliath. David was the unlikely choice to be anointed king of Israel. The prophet Samuel had been in mourning, due to God’s rejection of the reigning King Saul. God told Samuel to stop mourning and anoint the new King of Israel.
The Sons Of Jesse
He was told to visit a man named Jesse in Bethlehem and anoint one of his sons as King. Actually, Samuel visited Bethlehem and the leaders of the town trembled at his arrival. He calmed their fears and announced he was having a sacrifice. It seems that Jesse was a local leader and that he and his sons were at the town gate. Samuel announced that they should sanctify themselves and some to the feast. In addition, he specifically consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. Samuel the prophet was not told who he was supposed to anoint. At the sacrifice, Samuel began to assess the sons of Jesse based on their outward characteristics. Apparently, Jesse knew that Samuel was going to anoint one of his sons. As Jesse paraded each son in front of Samuel, and God rejected all of them. Much to Samuel’s surprise, he asked Jesse if he had any other sons. Jesse pointed to his youngest son, keeping sheep, in the distance.
Outward Appearance vs. The Heart
David was summoned. As David approached, Samuel observed his appearance. He was not tall or imposing. He had red hair and bright eyes, and he was handsome. God told Samuel to rise and anoint David. Two verses come to mind. The first is when Samuel announced God’s rejection of Saul, “The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart…” (1Sam 13:14) . And the second is when God rejected Jesse’s oldest son, 1Sam 16:7, “For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Do you judge others by what they look like? Are you a good judge of character? God esteems Christians who seek after His heart. Are you seeking after God’s heart?
The Anointing
God had chosen David as the next King of Israel, and Samuel poured oil over his head to commission him. Wait, he was just about 15 years old. He wasn’t a military commander. He wasn’t a battle-tested warrior. But he was a person who God could prepare for greater service. Are you seeking God to be used in a greater way? David had demonstrated to God that he purposed in his heart to know God, His affections, and His thoughts and to live for His honor. Immediately, the Spirit came upon David and the Spirit left Saul. Shortly thereafter, David was chosen to play music for King Saul, during his periods of depression, in addition to his responsibilities of tending sheep.
Glorify God – Defeat The Enemy
Although David was a warrior of sorts, by defending of his sheep, his brothers treated him like an inferior person. After David was anointed, he went back to keeping sheep. How to you think and act after you have attained a higher position in life? Are you still a servant at heart? David was called by his father to take provisions to his brothers in the military. When David arrived, he saw that the Jewish army was paralyzed in fear at the taunting of Goliath, a Philistine warrior. Not only was he taunting the army, he was taunting God. David questioned the cowardly soldiers, “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1Sam 17:26) David requested to fight Goliath, “Then David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” He was initially turned down. David saw an opportunity to glorify God and defeat the enemy. He didn’t have to pray. He knew he needed to act.
Exploits As A Shepherd – Prepared For More
He explained to Saul that he “killed both lion and bear.” He added, “The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and the LORD be with you!” He was given permission to fight Goliath. Notice that David’s previous successes gave him the faith, courage and motivation to take on a greater, more difficult challenge. He confessed, because the Lord had delivered Him in the past, that he knew God would deliver him in the present and in the future. In your pursuit of God, are you confident in God’s faithfulness? Do you have the courage to take on greater challenges and step into greater opportunities now and in the future? David was intimate enough with God that when an opportunity arose to glorify God, he stepped into the battle. His life of prayer and pursuit of God empowered him. This was an occasion David knew that action was required.
The Battle Is The Lord’s
As you know, David took five smooth stones from the brook. He was deliberate. He wasn’t panicked. He knew how to prepare for this fight. After a series of taunts from Goliath and responses about the power of the Living God from David, David accurately embedded a stone into the forehead of Goliath. God had honored David’s confidence and step of faith. Goliath’s head was cut off, the Jewish army triumphed over the Philistine army, and God was glorified. Are you facing insurmountable challenges? Are you reluctant to take a step of faith? Has God prepared you to take on this new opportunity? Step in faith, knowing that God will deliver you and grant you success. All the preparatory prayer and your intimacy with God has brought you to this moment of opportunity. Glorify God and act. Bring God pleasure for opening this door for you, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Phil 2:13)