David and Goliath

By Michael Stephanides
Burke County

Much to my mother’s dismay, I will start this with a motorcycle story. One beautiful spring day, I was enjoying a lovely ride in the country on my motorcycle. Flying down the road at a slow and safe 25 mph (not), the last thing you want to see as you enter a blind turn is a lot of gravel.

At that precise moment, many voices start screaming inside your head (“You’re toast” and “This is really going to hurt” being, of course, the loudest). By the grace of God, and I pray some learned skills, I listened to the correct voice and came out of the turn upright and okay.

How often in life do we approach the blind turns of life, unaware, and end up in similar situations? The boisterous echoes and voices of our past—regrettable situations, abusive people, bad decisions, and schoolyard bullies—blare in our heads, telling us things that are not true. The lies of the deceiver, shouting out like Goliath, constrict our hearts and minds, attempting to characterize and define us.

What voice have you trained your mind and heart to hear when you enter the blind turns of life?

David’s Confidence in God

Just a few thousand years ago, a young shepherd boy entered a battlefield unaware, and he heard a voice that changed his life forever. A Philistine giant stood on the hills, taunting and challenging the army of God. At that moment, David chose not to listen to the jeers and heckling but instead listened to the truth written on his heart.

“Who is this uncircumcised Philistine… your servant has killed both the lion and the bear, and he will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.” (1 Samuel 17:26, 36)

David spoke not with arrogance or pride but with a deep understanding and faith in Yahweh. He spoke an incorruptible truth of the covenant relationship between God and His chosen people.

How many of us battle-hardened Christians, failing to recognize the strength we have in Him who has called us His own, become overwhelmed and paralyzed by the threats, lies, and scorn of our adversary?

The Lies That Ensnare Us

Goliath’s taunts represent nothing more than the insatiable fury of our sinful nature and the lies we have internalized, attempting to enslave us to their power. Just as Goliath instilled fear in the army camp, the lies of the deceiver can instill fear in our hearts.

Time and time again, we listen to those inner voices of doubt, insecurity, and failure, becoming paralyzed as the lies ensnare us. How often do we allow people or events of our past to affect how and what we think today?

“You can’t do that.” “You are less than…” “It’s your fault that…” “You are so stupid.”

Berating ourselves as we absorb, believe, and listen to these lies only furthers our emotional demise. We build extensive mental defenses to erase the self-contempt we feel, but this only makes healing and freedom more difficult.

The Trap of Seeking Validation

In our struggle to silence the lies, we often seek validation through accomplishments—climbing the ever-lethal “corporate ladder” in an attempt to redefine ourselves.

The deception whispers, “If I could become this, I would no longer be that.” But Satan wants nothing more than to cripple us in our striving, leaving us blind to who we truly are in Christ.

The American dream can become a relentless treadmill—an illusion where we run constantly, striving for more, only to be left exhausted and empty. The lie says, “If only I had this… If only I were thinner, taller, smarter, VP, or CEO…” But these false hopes, shining with the promise of fulfillment, only leave us wanting more.

Dreams and ambitions are good and necessary, but when they become our source of validation, they can destroy us—and sometimes those around us.

David’s Secret: Knowing Who He Was in God

So, what was David’s secret? What did he know when he entered that battlefield?

David understood the covenant relationship he had with God—the same God who willingly sent His Son to die for us. He listened to the names God called him, not Goliath or anyone else.

He did not rely on the soldiers who tried to dress him in their own armor—the very things they had found to be insufficient in themselves. Instead, he trusted a sling, a stone, and, most importantly, the promises of God. He killed Goliath in God’s strength alone.

Facing Our Own Goliaths

Why must we face our Goliaths? So that God may be glorified in us, and that we may grow closer to Him.

Just as David recognized who he was in God, we too must recognize our covenant relationship through the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ.

How do we stop the lies in our heads and listen to the voice of truth?

• By planting our feet firmly on the truth: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psalm 139:16)
• By humbly living in submission to the God who calls us by name: “He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out.” (John 10:3)
• By remembering that God has set us apart and hears us when we call: “But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself; the LORD hears when I call to Him.” (Psalm 4:3)
• By holding onto the truth that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

If we come before God with open hearts and minds, fully submitted to Him, then we can receive all that He has for us. We can begin living daily in the identity He has given us—not in the lies of our past or the expectations of the world.

The Final Word: Stand Firm in God’s Promises

So, when you face the Goliaths of your past or present, stand firm on the promises of God.

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? … Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? … Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31-39, ESV)

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Michael Stephanides is a resident of Morganton NC, and has lived there with his wife of 30 years. They have had the privilege of raising 3 biological children, and one adopted child, ages 24-29. Their daughters are married to great men, and they have 2 beautiful grandchildren. Michael and his wife are members of Summit Community Church in Morganton.

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