Max Lucado
© 2006 Max Lucado
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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.
Other Scripture references are from the following sources:
The American Standard Version (ASV). God's Word (God's Word) is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations Bible Society. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the Nations Bible Society. All rights reserved. The Good News Bible: The Bible in Today's English Version (TEV) copyright 1992 by the American Bible Society. The King James Version of the Bible (KJV). The Living Bible (TLB), copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Ill. Used by permission. The Message (MSG), copyright © 1993. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. New American Standard Bible (NASB), © 1960, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. The New Century Version® (NCV), © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT), copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV), © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. J. B. Phillips: The New Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition (PHILLIPS). Copyright © J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lucado, Max.
Facing your giants / Max Lucado.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8499-0181-2
ISBN 978-0-8499-9149-3 (International Edition)
ISBN 978-0-8811-3350-9 (Spanish Edition)
1. David, King of Israel. 2. Goliath (Biblical giant) 3. Christian life. 4. Spirituality. I. Title.
BS580.D3L83 2006
222'.4092âdc22
2006019176
Printed in the United States of America
07 08 09 10 11 RRD 8 7 6 5 4
Denalyn and I gladly dedicate this volume to
Rod and Tina Chisholmâ
faithful, dependable, and joyful servants.
We thank God for more than two decades of friendship.
ALSO BY MAX LUCADO
INSPIRATIONAL
A Gentle Thunder
A Love Worth Giving
And the Angels Were Silent
Come Thirsty
Cure for the Common Life
God Came Near
He Chose the Nails
He Still Moves Stones
In the Eye of the Storm
In the Grip of Grace
It's Not about Me
Just Like Jesus
Next Door Savior
No Wonder They Call Him the Savior
On the Anvil
Six Hours One Friday
The Applause of Heaven
The Great House of God
Traveling Light
When Christ Comes
When God Whispers Your Name
CHILDREN'S BOOKS
A Hat for Ivan
Alabaster's Song
All You Ever Need
Because I Love You
Best of All
He Chose You
Hermie, a Common Caterpillar
If Only I Had a Green Nose
Jacob's Gift
Just in Case You Ever Wonder
Just Like Jesus (for teens)
Just the Way You Are
Next Door Savior (for teens)
Punchinello and the Most Marvelous Gift
Small Gifts in God's Hands
Stanley the Stinkbag
Tell Me the Secrets
Tell Me the Story
The Crippled Lamb
The Way Home
With You All the Way
You Are Mine
You Are Special
Your Special Gift
GIFT BOOKS
A Heart Like Jesus
Everyday Blessings
For These Tough Times
God's Mirror
God's Promises for You
God Thinks You're Wonderful
Grace for the Moment, Vol. I & II
Grace for the Moment Journal
In the Beginning
Just for You
Just Like Jesus Devotional
Let the Journey Begin
Mocha with Max
One Incredible Moment
Safe in the Shepherd's Arms
Shaped by God
The Cross
The Gift for All People
The Greatest Moments
Traveling Light for Mothers
Turn
FICTION
An Angel's Story
The Christmas Candle
The Christmas Child
BIBLES (GENERAL EDITOR)
He Did This Just for You (New Testament)
The Devotional Bible
Grace for the Moment Daily Bible
CONTENTS
Afterword: What Began in Bethlehem
The list of people who midwifed this book is long. Each deserves a standing ovation and early retirement.
Editors Liz Heaney and Karen Hill. When it comes to prompting thick-headed authors, you wrote the book.
Steve and Cheryl Green. If the country had overseers like you, we'd all sleep better. Thank you for your million and one acts of service.
David Moberg and the W team. The highest standard of publishing.
Susan Ligon. Your devotion to detail is exceeded only by your devotion to Christ. I'm grateful.
Sam Moore, Mike Hyatt, and the Thomas Nelson family. If a better team exists, I've not seen it.
The Oak Hills ministers, staff, and elders. May you continue to be a home for every heart.
The UpWords family of Becky, Margaret, and Tina. What gifts you have and gifts you are!
Eugene Peterson. Each reading of your books touches me.
Leap
Over a Wall
changed me. Where my words sound too much like yours, forgive meâyou get the credit.
Carol Bartley. Scotland Yard should have such a sleuth. I stand in awe of your editorial skills.
Steve Halliday. Thanks for another insightful Study Guide.
David Treat. Your prayers winged these words to heaven.
My three daughters, Jenna, Andrea, and Sara. Every day more beautiful. Every day more godly.
And to Denalyn. If there's a law limiting a husband's love for his wife, you'll have to visit me in prison. After twenty-five years, I'm still starstruck by you.
As Goliath moved closer to attack,
David quickly ran out to meet him.
â1 Samuel 17:48 (NLT)
T
HE SLENDER, beardless boy kneels by the brook. Mud moistens his knees. Bubbling water cools his hand. Were he to T notice, he could study his handsome features in the water. Hair the color of copper. Tanned, sanguine skin and eyes that steal the breath of Hebrew maidens. He searches not for his reflection, however, but for rocks. Stones. Smooth stones. The kind that stack neatly in a shepherd's pouch, rest flush against a shepherd's leather sling. Flat rocks that balance heavy on the palm and missile with comet-crashing force into the head of a lion, a bear, or, in this case, a giant.
Goliath stares down from the hillside. Only disbelief keeps him from laughing. He and his Philistine herd have rendered their half of the valley into a forest of spears; a growling, bloodthirsty gang of hoodlums boasting do-rags, BO, and barbed-wire tattoos. Goliath towers above them all: nine feet, nine inches tall in his stocking feet, wearing 125 pounds of armor, and snarling like the main contender at the World Wide Wrestling Federation championship night. He wears a size-20 collar, a 101/2 hat, and a 56-inch belt. His biceps burst, thigh muscles ripple, and boasts belch through the canyon. “This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other” (1 Sam. 17:10 NIV).
Who will go mano a mano conmigo? Give me
your best shot.
No Hebrew volunteers. Until today. Until David.
David just showed up this morning. He clocked out of sheep watching to deliver bread and cheese to his brothers on the battle-front. That's where David hears Goliath defying God, and that's when David makes his decision. Then he takes his staff in his hand, and he chooses for himself five smooth stones from the brook and puts them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch that he has, and his sling is in his hand. And he draws near to the Philistine (17:40).
1
Goliath scoffs at the kid, nicknames him Twiggy. “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” (17:43 NASB). Skinny, scrawny David. Bulky, brutish Goliath. The toothpick versus the tornado. The minibike attacking the eighteen-wheeler. The toy poodle taking on the rottweiler. What odds do you give David against his giant?
Better odds, perhaps, than you give yourself against yours.
Your Goliath doesn't carry sword or shield; he brandishes blades of unemployment, abandonment, sexual abuse, or depression. Your giant doesn't parade up and down the hills of Elah; he prances through your office, your bedroom, your classroom. He brings bills you can't pay, grades you can't make, people you can't please, whiskey you can't resist, pornography you can't refuse, a career you can't escape, a past you can't shake, and a future you can't face.
You know well the roar of Goliath.
David faced one who foghorned his challenges morning and night. “For forty days, twice a day, morning and evening, the Philis-tine giant strutted in front of the Israelite army” (17:16 NLT). Yours does the same. First thought of the morning, last worry of the nightâyour Goliath dominates your day and infiltrates your joy.