Trust In God Is A Stone To Sling At Fear

by Eric Elkin

“David said, “The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you!”

— 1 Samuel 17:37

Norman Dale looked at his team and said, “We’re way past big speech time.” The fictional basketball coach of Hickory High School used those words to help his players reflect on something more profound than a game. That locker room scene in the movie Hoosiers captured something more than a plan for victory. Instead, the coach and his team expressed gratitude, redemption, recovery, and identity.

When the players were done sharing, Preacher Purl said, “David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead.” He didn’t need to say anything more; everyone knew the story. The small town of Hickory was about to battle a giant in the form of South Bend Central High School.

Hoosiers is one of the greatest sports movies of all time. Imagine, though, if Preacher Purl had read the rest of the story. How would that have changed the scene? The stone David slung at Goliath sunk into the giant’s head and killed him. David then cut off Goliath’s head, put it on a stick, and marched back to Jerusalem. Was the preacher suggesting they kill their opponent?

People know the story, yet, how they use it changes the original meaning. Even though David was small, the story is not about an underdog. When David killed Goliath, it turned the battle from sure defeat to victory. Still, the story is not about victory. David was victorious because he trusted God.

“Courage is not something that you already have that makes you brave when the tough times start. Courage is what you earn when you’ve been through the tough times and you discover they aren’t so tough after all.”

— Malcom Gladwell

Does that mean those who trust God win? We are never allowed into the locker room of South Bend Central. It is hard to imagine a team from South Bend, Indiana, did not pray before a game in 1954. Were one team’s prayers better than the other team’s prayers?

Not every Godless team loses. Just look at the New England Patriots. (That is a joke from a disgruntled Cleveland Brown fan.) But, joking aside, trust in God does not equal victory in every contest in life. Truth is, David’s slingshot killed Goliath, not God.

I think Goliath is more than a giant. I think he represents fear. This fear of being abandoned or left on our own when facing difficult circumstances. The Israelite army wonders, who will come and save them, but not David. He knows the same God who saved him from lions and bears will save him from Goliath.

In these times of uncertainty and fear, we would do well to remember that the God who did save continues to save. For our strength does not come from how we live but who lives in us. When we understand who lives in us, we discover a strength that comes from heaven cannot be defeated. Trust in this strength is like a stone we are able to sling to defeat the fear in our lives.

Click to read 1 Samuel 17: 32-49