1 Samuel 17

How often do you take time to stop and consider all that God has done for you? How often have you thought about both the big things and the small things that God has done in your life? I ask that question because remembering what God has done will help strengthen you when you need God’s help in the present. I have experienced God provide for me in small ways like having someone place a $20 bill in a diaper bag when we had no money to buy diapers. I have experienced God provide in large ways like having a grandmother survive a horrible accident and live to be 99. Both of these showed God’s provision and stick in my mind because at the time each presented a crisis of sort. A crisis that God worked through and provided. But let’s not forget that God does amazing things everyday. Each sunrise is a gift of God. Each breath we take is a gift of God. Every moment of success is something that God has helped us achieve. David was a man who understood God’s provision. If you read many of his Psalms you see David encourage us to give thanks to God for all he has done. We also see this in 1 Samuel 17. We know this chapter because it records David defeating the giant Goliath. It makes sense that we would remember this chapter because of that event since David did win an improbable victory. However, this victory was possible because David understood God’s provisions in the past. Verse 37 is key to this passage because there David says, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” David’s confidence in the moment rested on his experience in the past of God delivering. Because David was keenly aware of how God worked in the past he was confident in the challenge of the present. Take time today to consider all that God has done for you in the past. If you will truly consider all that he has done, you will be able to have confidence in whatever challenge you are facing today. I can assure you that God will provide if you look to Him. Look today and be reminded of the greatness of God in order that whatever lies before you can seem small. Victory over the giant Goliath looked like a small task to David because he understood the provision of His BIG God.