Adversity is no stranger to most of us.  If we live long enough, we will eventually meet it face to face. As you probably know, most people who read this blog are parents of children with social, emotional or behavioral challenges. Certainly living with a disability or raising a child with significant challenges will introduce you to adversity soon enough.  The topic of this blog relates to everyone, however, as all people face limitations and adversity of some kind. I especially hope that this blog will be passed on to children and adults with disabilities who may feel the odds are stacked against them compared to the world with which they interact.

God has so much to tell us about facing adversity. I read 1 Samuel 17 yesterday. This book and chapter tell the story of David and Goliath, which is probably familiar to most of you as it is to me. However, I gleaned some valuable lessons from yesterday’s reading that I want to share.

In verse 3, the Bible tells us that that the enemy army (the Philistines) was situated on a hill, facing our hero army (the Israelites) who were on another hill and there was a valley between them.  Verse 8 tells us that the champion villain of our story, the 9-foot giant Goliath, shouted out to Israel to choose a man to go “down to me” and to face him in that valley. That meant leaving the cover of rocks, brush and fellow soldiers on the hill to enter a valley that exposed the warriors clearly to one another.  Verse 11 tells us that King Saul and the Israelite army were “terrified.” Nobody was going to willingly walk straight into that kind of adversity.  I get that– I tend to try to avoid adversity myself– I fear I would have had to be pushed off that hill and into the valley to face Goliath that day.

Meanwhile, literally back at the ranch, the teenager David was tending to sheep when his father sent him to bring supplies and to check on his big brothers in the battle.  Obedient to his father, David went to the front lines and saw how Goliath was defying the Israelite army to find a man brave enough to fight him.  David was a child, certainly hampered by lack of warrior training and experience, and uncomfortable with and unable to use basic armor to protect himself. However, he boldly volunteered to go into the valley to meet Goliath. Verse 58  tells us David “ran quickly toward the battle line.” It seems he had an uncanny amount of confidence, not really in himself, but in his God.  We know this because he says, “The Lord who delivered me” (from past adversity) “will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (verse 37).  He also claimed that “the battle is the Lord’s” (verse 47).  You know the end of the story– David triumphed (verse 50), and “the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines” (verse 52).

I tend to ask myself some important questions after reading this story:

1.  Do I “run quickly” and boldly (like David) into the valley where my heavenly Father sends me, even if my resources and experience to face the challenge seem substandard or incomplete?

2.  Like David, do I expect God to bring me out of my valley with victory?

3.  Do people who watch me go down and then come out of the valley see God in the victory?  Do I point to His strength and not my own?

4.  After watching me, are others  inspired to “surge forward” to face their personal “Philistines”?

5.  How different would my life and attitude be if I faced my problems boldly with the resources and training God has given me, instead of focusing on my lack of ability, training or preparation?

The answer to these questions tell me something about my level of confidence in God to help me win the battles I come across in life.  Of course, it could be true that David was a confident boy by nature. You and I both know people who assume they can do most everything. However, 1 Samuel 16:13 tells us the “Spirit of the Lord (was) upon David in power” once he was anointed by the prophet Samuel. I propose that God’s Spirit mightily contributed to David’s boldness in adversity.  This brings up one more question:

6  Are we grasping the power of God’s Spirit to override our fear against our adversaries or challenges?

These are valuable questions for us personally to consider.  I would love to hear your comments on these questions, David’s example to us, or how God has influenced the way you face challenges.  Please post in the comment section of this blog post!  I’d love to know you are out there!