“I cannot go in these,” [David] said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took off [the armor, helmet, and sword]. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
1 Samuel 17:39-40
Can I be candid with you? As a church planter, I worry a lot about resources. Fundraising, financial planning, and budgeting stresses me out, which is why I’m grateful people like our Leadership Team help handle that stuff for our church. But I think as a result of my anxiety, I desire more money. Sometimes I think more resources will cause my anxiety to go away. But most of us know that’s not necessarily true. In fact, many times mo’ money leads to mo’ problems. My requests for resources come from a reaction to my anxiety rather than a place of genuine need. For example, when we observe the story of David and Goliath, King Saul had encumbered young David with a lot of equipment before battling the giant Goliath (heavy armor, bronze helmet, and an oversized sword). But David knew right away that it was way too many resources and that they would actually get in the way, so he removed them. However, David did not go into battle empty-handed either. David took along a staff, sling, and five smooth stones. That was exactly what was needed at that time in order for David to defeat the giant Goliath.
For much of life, God doesn’t give us more than we need and it makes us feel inadequate. But if we pay attention to what we already have, perhaps God has already given us exactly what we need in order to defeat our own giants.
