“ So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone…”

1 Samuel 17:50

My thoughts often wander towards my son’s death. For example, I’m listening to a new devotional series on the way to work every morning. It’s about how we should allow God to kill the giants in our lives. I’ve only listened to the first part in the series so far. But, my immediate reaction was this. “What if God doesn’t kill Goliath?”

In my way of thinking, if God were going to slay my giant, he would make Brandon’s death all a bad dream. Then I, we, would be victorious. Brandon would be alive. All would be well.

Somehow, I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Sometimes, He doesn’t kill the giants. Or at least that’s the way it appears.

Think about those Israelites, a whole army of them. These were the warriors representing God’s chosen people. And for 40 days they had stood there watching that mountain of a man swanker out into the valley. For 40 days they had listened to his insults and his taunts. And for 40 days, I’m sure that they prayed.

They prayed that God would defeat that egotistical enemy,

They prayed that the Lord would demolish that belligerent brawler.

They prayed that Yaweh would destroy that self-important soldier.

But God had not.

God didn’t kill Goliath. At least not in the way they might have wished.

Instead, God used the courage of a soft-spoken shepherd boy, a meek musician, a simple sibling. I’m sure the Israelites never imagined beating Goliath with a stone or being lead into battle by a shepherd child. But David threw the stone; then, God directed its path.

Brandon’s death is a Goliath in my life. But maybe triumph over that giant looks a little differently than I would like. Maybe it’s not about God miraculously bringing Brandon back to life. Maybe it’s about Him working through me to give me strength to go on, courage to move forward.

Maybe my words are my stones. Maybe as I write, teach, and speak, I am David with my little sling. Maybe, God’s asking me to trust that He is going to use my words to help kill this giant that looms so heavily in front of me. Maybe, just maybe, victory will look very different than what I expected. But it will still be a victory.

Sometimes God doesn’t kill the giants, at least not until we’ve thrown the rock.

We can keep standing by, waiting for a miracle. Or with prayer and the courage of the Lord, we can pick up that pebble and let it fly.