Devotion: Are You Fighting Your Saul Like a Goliath?

“Courage doesn’t always roar, sometimes it’s the quiet voice at the end of the day whispering ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” ~Mary Anne Radmacher

I have always told people that weight loss, along with all its side dish issues, is a Goliath in my life. It’s not just food or fighting my flesh, but the combination of these matters, which cumulatively create a giant. Naturally, I have considered myself a small David fighting this larger-than-life foe with my sling and stones.

This past summer I kept encountering sermons, Bible stories, and illustrations about David’s life. It was uncanny how much David, Saul, and Goliath kept coming up. Finally, I stopped in a peaceful corner of my day and asked God to show me what I was supposed to be learning. In my heart, I clearly heard the Holy Spirit say, You need to stop fighting your Saul like a Goliath.

Tears welled in my eyes as I sat and allowed that sentence to saturate the parched terrain within me.

I’ve been considering this statement for months. I keep gleaning something new each time I revisit its applications.

Goliath and Saul were two of David’s enemies, and they were vastly different. Goliath was not an Israelite. He had clear intentions. He was a scary giant. He did not know God. He wanted a fight, trashed talked David to his face, shouted insults, and was in David’s life for a single encounter.

Saul, by contrast, was an Israelite. He was tall and handsome. He knew God. He inwardly despised David. Perhaps the most striking difference is that Saul’s resentment of  David spanned decades.

With Goliath, David’s calling was clear: kill him. Strategically aim the stone, save your people, and be a hero. The whole thing was black and white.

The battle with Saul was unclear. Saul wasn’t always in a right state of mind. He sometimes acted lovingly toward David and sometimes acted irrationally. He wasn’t an enemy by political definition because he was Israel’s king, and after he gave his daughter Michal as a wife to David, he became his father-in-law too. David fled from Saul, hid in caves, dodged Saul’s spears, and outwitted him time and again. If there is any word that describes this season of David’s life, it’s “complicated.”

Here’s what I’m pulling out for us:

• You are not less of a person if your sins don’t die in a single encounter.
• A king isn’t made in one verse, valley, or victory.
• If anything is constant in the chaos of your life, let it be the pursuit of Christ.
• The best songs to sing are the ones that are sacrifices of praise.

When he battled Goliath, David stood on the front lines with the crowd cheering and his adrenaline surging. In contrast, when David he battled Saul, it was in the depths of a cave, in silence, and overwhelmed by the exhaustion that only comes from a fight that lasts for years.

It’s easier to imagine a hero emerging victorious from a contest in front of a crowd, but David’s character was built in the quiet of a cave.

Fighting your flesh is not so much about size or body fat percentage as it is about honoring God in the hidden choices of your heart. It benefits to focus less on the scale and more on our Savior because the truth is, this weight loss monster isn’t a Goliath. It’s a Saul. There is no one-time encounter. There is no easy way out.

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We gain freedom when we learn to do what David did: sing songs of honesty. Praise God in the complicated mess. Seek him. Trust him. Wait upon him. Declare his goodness. Know that he is with you. Life is less about the before and after and more about the during. During is the place where we spend the most time learning who our Father is and how unchanging his love is.

So is weight loss a Goliath in my life? No. It’s a Saul. Is it taking a while to work through what God is teaching me? Yes, much longer than I anticipated. How do I fight? Not so much with a sling and stones, but more with songs of honesty, sacrifices of praise, and faithful choices made in the quiet spaces.

How much weight have I lost?

You’re asking me the wrong question. Let me tell you what I’ve gained in Christ.

Dear heavenly Father, Let us never seek solutions more than we seek our Savior. May the most constant pursuit in our lives be the pursuit of knowing and loving you more. Never let me miss the divine opportunity that comes when I’m hungry and in need of your overflowing and all-sufficient grace to fill me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures for Reflection

“As they make music they will sing, “All my fountains are in you.” (Psalm 87:7 NIV)

“The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.” (Ecclesiastes 7:8 NIV)

“For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again.” (Proverbs 24:16a NIV)

Reach for More

This week’s challenge is to recognize one battle you might be fighting like it’s a Goliath when you really need to fight it like a Saul.

Please come back and leave a comment telling us how you offered a sacrifice of praise during the battle this week, or share your progress on social media using the hashtag #tgtreachformore. We would love to hear from you.

Lindsey Feldpausch is a creative writer, graphic design enthusiast, social media coordinator, and sinner saved by grace who lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her worship leader/youth pastor husband and four delightful kiddos fill life with unbelievably amusing quotes and sweet snuggles. She thinks God is awesome and that the best adventure starts with saying yes to that still, small voice.

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