A leader of giant slayers: Part 2

What motivated David to do what others were afraid to attempt? What can we learn from the Life of David that will help to be the kind of leaders that open doors for others to follow? Here are a few practical insights.

David was a man of principles.

When faced with a Goliath, we can either respond by our principles or by our emotions. The army of Israel responded to Goliath’s challenge with fear. They allowed their emotions to dictate their actions. Instead of trusting God and facing Goliath, they retreated. “When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.” (1 Samuel 17:11) From the King on down to the lowliest of soldier, they were griped with terror and fled from his presence. King Saul even offered a great reward to the one who would fight with Goliath, “And it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.” (1 Samuel 17:25) Even the prospect of great wealth was not enough to move the warriors of Israel from fear to action.

It would be naive to assume that David was not scared. I’m sure he was just as scared as everyone else, but he was also courageous. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to respond in a godly way in spite of your fear. In his present situation, David chose to respond by his principals and not his emotions. David’s response to Israel’s problem of Goliath was, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26) David’s sense if right and wrong overtook his fears for his own life and the lives those around him. David chose to respond to what he knew to be true not to what his emotions were telling him.

While I have never had to defend myself against a giant, I daily face the same decisions that David faced. Whether to live my life by my emotions or to live it based on God’s principles. For example, in my marriage, I have been encouraged by the following proverb of Solomon, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10) There are times in my marriage when I am down and my wife is there to life me up. There are other times when my wife is down and I am able to life her up. However, there are sometimes when we are both down, what then? In those times I have come to understand that it is up to me, as the head of my house, to put aside my own needs and attend to her needs. In those times, I must be the one to lift her up even if my own needs go unmet. My emotions may be all over the map, but I must respond by what is right, I must respond by God’s principles. I wish I could say that I do this perfectly one hundred percent of the time, I don’t, but as I am growing in God, I’m getting better.

When we respond by principals rather than emotions, we set an example for others that they too can chose what’s right over choosing for their emotions. Some people have never learned that they can live apart from their emotions. Part of our salvation is meant to free us from a life of reacting to our feelings and instead to live a life lead by the Sprit. “So that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit , the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:4-6) When we walk by the Spirit, we show others that they can too. We show then the freedom that is in God to obey Him and to live according to His will. Hopefully, once learning this, they too will become giant slayers.

David Robison