David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and said the same words; and David heard them. All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were terrified. 1 Samuel 17:22-24 WEB.

When Goliath walked out onto the battlefield, all the men of Israel fled from before him. Not even King Saul would face this nine-foot-tall giant of a man. For forty days, Goliath continued to taunt the Israelite army. Then, a young shepherd boy named David came to deliver some supplies to his brothers and heard Goliath insulting them.

David spent time alone with God in the fields while tending sheep. It was a boring job. David learned to play the harp quite well and began to write psalms. He practiced with a sling, and when lions or bears came, he defended his flock from them. David came to know the Lord in a deeper way than others did.

When David heard Goliath taunting Israel, the Holy Spirit urged him to go out there and face the giant, but then David had to make a choice and move his feet. David's door to promotion in the kingdom required him to face Goliath. In the same way, God's door of promotion is often behind that scary circumstance in your life. Fear is the guardian of the treasure. You can get the prize inside if you are strong enough to face it. David faced the giant, and it was a turning point in his life. It began his journey to become the next king of Israel.

In the late 80s / early 90s, I worked on computers after work as a hobby. One day, an insurance company called me, and they had twelve computers networked together running DOS. One of the computers had lost connection with the others, and they could no longer use it. So they wanted me to come and look at it. A software company from out of state had originally set up the network for them, but now they were unreachable.

In the rural area where I lived, no one had Internet. There was no way to research anything, no books to be had, and no one to call for advice. Computers used command lines then and ran from floppy drives. I grew up on a farm and had never seen a computer network before. But they had gotten my number from someone else and called me out of desperation. So I explained that I didn't work on computer networks, but they wouldn't take no for an answer. I started to say, "I really can't help you with that." But I felt the Holy Spirit quietly whisper: "Go, and I will go with you." So I agreed to go look at it.

It was about a twenty-five-minute drive, and I prayed all the way there. "Lord, I can't do this without You. Please help me!" I thought, "I am going to look like a fool. What am I doing? Turn around!" Then I quoted Moses: "If Your presence does not go with me, don't send me up from here!" (Exodus 33:15). All the while, He was quiet while I wrestled with the fear inside myself.

I arrived at their office and met the owner. He showed me the broken computer, and we walked around the office. We finally stopped at a filing cabinet to talk for a moment, and I was already out of ideas. My heart was racing, and I was ready to tell him, "I don't think I can help you." When a flashing box on top of the filing cabinet we were standing by caught my attention. While the manager talked, I rested my hand on the flashing box, and another light came on. When I picked up my hand, the light went out.

After closer inspection, I found that a wire had worked itself loose on the back of the network hub. That was the entire problem. I fixed the network cable, the computer came back online, and the manager thought I was a network guru. That company became a regular client for the next seventeen years. Then, "coincidences" like that began to happen every day. It was the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

That was a long time ago, and today, computer networks are everywhere. All of this is now common knowledge. But at the time, I had never seen a network hub, network cable, or even read about one in my life. Yet, I had the Holy Spirit within me, and that's all it took. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). That literally means all things that He gives you to do. If He brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

God doesn't call the equipped. He equips the called, and He will provide all they need to accomplish their task. Like David, if you step out when the Lord calls you to do something, then He will back you up, and the giant will go down. The water became solid when Peter stepped out on it, but he began to sink when he was overcome with fear. Fear is the guardian you must face to get the treasure waiting behind it.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank You for bringing me this far. I am excited about what you are doing on Earth. Please make me a part of it! Use me, Lord. Speak to me and through me. Put me where I need to be. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

Note: Today is "Feel Good Friday" at the FAAD (Fight Against Anxiety & Depression) group! On this day, we uplift each other with posts of encouragement and joy! All are welcome to join and participate! As always, if you have a prayer need, we are here for you! We and the prayer team are ready to lift you up at our private prayer page: RHM Prayer Network. If you are interested in joining the prayer team, here is how to get started Prayer Partners.