Running Toward Your Problems

Published: Wed, 07/22/20

 

 

Sessions Include:

1 Facing Your Giants / 1 Samuel 17 / David and Goliath

2 Silent Phones / 1 Samuel 16 / The Lord Rejects Saul

3 Raging Sauls / 1 Samuel 18 / Saul’s Growing Fear of David

4 Desperate Days / 1 Samuel 21.1 - 9 / David at Nob

5 Dry Seasons / 1 Samuel 21.10 – 22.2 / David Pretends to be Crazy

6 Grief-Givers / 1 Samuel 24 / David Spares Saul’s Life

7 Barbaric Behavior / 1 Samuel 25 / David, Nabal and Abigail

8 Slump Guns / 1 Samuel 27 / David Among the Philistines

9 Plopping Points / 1 Samuel 30 / David Destroys the Amalekites

10 Unspeakable Grief / 2 Samuel 1 / David Hears of Saul’s Death

11 Blind Intersections / 2 Samuel 2 / David Anointed King

12 Strongholds / 2 Samuel 5 / David Becomes King

13 Distant Deity / 2 Samuel 6 / The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

14 Tough Promises / 2 Samuel 9 / David and Mephibosheth

15 Thin Air-ogance / 2 Samuel 11 / David and Bathsheba

16 Colossal Collapses / 2 Samuel 12 / Nathan rebukes David

17 Family Matters / 2 Samuel 15 / Absalom’s conspiracy

18 Dashed Hopes / 1 Chronicles 28 / David Plans to Build a Temple

19 Take Goliath Down! / 1 Samuel 17 / Five Smooth Stones

As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it from his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face downward to the ground. (17:48–49 NLT)

David ran, not away from, but toward his giant. On one side of the battlefield, Saul and his cowardly army gulped. On the other, Goliath and his skull-splitters scoffed. In the middle, the shepherd boy ran on his spindly legs. Who bet on David? Who put money on the kid from Bethlehem? Not the Philistines. Not the Hebrews. Not David’s siblings or David’s king. But God did.

And since God did, and since David knew God did, the skinny runt became a blur of pumping knees and a swirling sling. He ran toward his giant.

Do the same! What good has problem-pondering gotten you? You’ve stared so long you can number the hairs on Goliath’s chest. Has it helped?

No. Listing hurts won’t heal them. Itemizing problems won’t solve them. Categorizing rejections won’t remove them. David lobotomized the giant because he emphasized the Lord. Let your ring finger remind you to take up the stone of passion.

Max Lucado, Facing Your Giants (Nashville: W Pub. Group, 2006), 3–4.


We have just released a new Bible study on the life of David using Max Lucado's book, Facing Your Giants as a guide.

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