Take down this Giant

Among my favorite characters in the Bible are people who defy tradition, challenge the validity of prevailing thinking, and go against popular opinion to do great things and fulfill their destiny. Hence my preference for Caleb, David, Paul, the five daughters of Zelophehad, and others of their ilk.

Sometimes a person may have been prepared and anointed for a task, they have a cause burning within them. But around them, others, younger or older in the faith, for the most part do not carry the same burden and / or simply refuse to see it. On the contrary, they find themselves vilified because of their passion. And for a time, it does not seem to matter, but one day, they reach a turning point. They must decide whether to follow their destiny, to release the cry they carry within and throw themselves into the arena, alone, if necessary; or to cowardly back down to maintain general approval, to not make waves, and then remain mired in mediocrity.

David had such a day. He had indeed been anointed, but he continued to care for his sheep in simplicity. But one day, he found himself on the battlefield, he heard Goliath, and something began to stir within him. While the others trembled with fear, David stood up in faith and pronounced Goliath's death sentence. No one else grasped it; some must have considered, like David's older brother, that the boy was ridiculous, and others, like Saul, that he was courageous but rather reckless and foolhardy. But God had anointed him to be a deliverer, and even if he was not yet fully aware of it, at least he knew that God had formed him in the secret place and that he could not allow this affront to God to continue. His passion was provoked. He followed the cry of his heart, he challenged the impossible, and he brought down the giant.

You, too, have a giant to bring down. To succeed in the task entrusted to you, you will have to choose between cowardice or courage, compromise or audacity. You cannot let your passion crumble and disappear because no one has formed a committee to support you. It is highly likely that the test of the quality of what you carry within you will be in the degree of opposition you face before you can unleash it. After all, if you are not strong enough to withstand the mockery of those in your own camp, how will you stand against the relentless pressure of the opposition?

And when they scoff, remember this: most people don't know how to celebrate potential, they only celebrate work done, you're going to have to go for it without their encouragement. The future of the church will be determined by men and women filled with an overflowing passion for God and His kingdom, a passion that cannot be smothered by the disdain of unjust men, and whose flames cannot be extinguished by the cowardly complacency of cynical elders and unwilling hierarchies; men and women who will say, like David, 'Is there nothing to it?'

I believe you're in a position to be one of those people. And if today you don't see anyone at the start of the race to cheer you on, which is quite possible, believe me, when you cross the finish line, they'll all be there applauding you. So go out there and take down that giant. You were created for this.