“And David to Saul, ’Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” I Samuel 17:32


An insightful person remarked “A problem is nothing more than a miracle before God gets a hold of it!” What a refreshing perspective on problem solving! The truth is God is always greater than our present problem. The bigger the problem, the bigger God’s solution is.

Facing a problem of gigantic proportions? Does your dilemma look so big that you feel overwhelmed and there is nothing you can do about it? Think again. Turn in your Bible to I Samuel 17 and take heart from the true, inspirational story of a lowly shepherd boy named David who defeated a nasty old giant named Goliath.

Israel faced a problem—a giant-sized one who towered over nine feet tall and had the army of God cowering in their combat sandals on the battlefield sidelines. Paralyzed by fear, Israel decided Goliath was too big for them to conquer.

It has been said the surest way to mishandle a problem is to avoid facing up to it. Face to face with Goliath, Israel retreated. God’s army bogged down in the shadow of Goliath. They thought he was too big for them to handle.

Problems can stop us temporarily, but we are the only one who can do it permanently.

It’s a fact of life: How you size up a problem determines how you solve it. If your problem is too big for you and your God—you problem will defeat you. If your God and your faith in Him is big enough--you will defeat your problem.

Enter David. David sized up Goliath as no big deal. Israel’s soldiers shrank back from Goliath in fear. Their errant conclusion: This mammoth man is too big to hit. Full of faith, David ran to fight Goliath. His conclusion: This big, mouthy menace is too big to miss!

What a target! Big bullseye right between his eyes. David told King Saul that with God’s help I once killed a lion and a bear and they were nowhere near the size of this overgrown, mutated mocker of the living God! This is a piece of cake. How could I possibly miss this massive mountain of ugly, ungodly man?

The young man of fiery faith and godly courage spoke back to the trash-talking infidel, told Goliath how the day would end up, and then took bold action. David charged Goliath, knocked him out cold with a slingshot, then cut off his huge head with the fallen warriors’ own sword. That’s what I call solving a problem!

The doubters and pouters shouted and no one doubted who the Living God was that day. Glory to God! Goliath was gone.

Faith attacks problems. Fear retreats from problems. Giants either scare us into inaction, or stir us up to action. We choose whether to allow a Goliath (big problem) to dominate us our not. Goliath is not the issue. Our faith in a God who eats Goliath’s for lunch is. (Just kidding about the eating!)

Do you have a Goliath taunting you? Mocking you? Trying to frighten you? You decide if this giant is too big to hit, or TOO BIG TO MISS!!!

With the eye of faith, view your problem as a possibility, not an impossibility. Remember:The things thought impossible with men ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD! (Matthew 19:26)

Don’t let your heart fail because of a gigantic problem. Face your Goliath with faith and solve your problem like David did. Trust God and take action.

A Word For Your Week: Size up your Goliath according to God’s Word and slay it by faith in Jesus’ giant-killing name.