Sometimes, the Giants Win

Have you ever composed an email with the best of intentions only to have it received the wrong way by the intended recipient? That happened to me not long ago. I was asked by one (via email) to comment on my experiences with some particular teachers. I replied (via email) with some positive remarks about the teachers in question and added a couple of comments of my own. The recipient of the email read more into my comments than I intended and walked away from that email deeply offended and very upset with me. Emails can be tricky things. Sometimes, people read into emails something other than what the author intended.

Have you ever composed an email with the best of intentions only to have it received the wrong way by the intended recipient? That happened to me not long ago. I was asked by one (via email) to comment on my experiences with some particular teachers. I replied (via email) with some positive remarks about the teachers in question and added a couple of comments of my own. The recipient of the email read more into my comments than I intended and walked away from that email deeply offended and very upset with me. Emails can be tricky things. Sometimes, people read into emails something other than what the author intended.

Reading and interpreting Scripture can yield similar results. Often, more (or less) is read into Scripture than was originally intended by the Author. Take for example the story of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17). When this biblical account is taught to children, the main point is usually that God gives the courageous little guy the power to defeat the giant. Yes, God sometimes helps us defeat our giants, but other times, the giants win. Imagine what could happen to the faith of a child when all he has repeatedly heard is that God gives us the power to defeat our giants and then the giant wins. Did God fail him? Did he fail God? Was God simply unable to defeat his giant?
 

While the human battle between the shepherd boy and the seasoned warrior is a focal point of this passage, there is so much more to this story and more than can be learned from it. 1 Samuel 17 is also about a battle between the Philistine gods and the God of Israel. Goliath not only represented the Philistine people, he also represented the Philistine gods and David, representing the Israelites and Jehovah God, was able to defeat Goliath with little to no effort.
 

1 Samuel 17 teaches us that God is sovereign and that His will cannot be thwarted. David was able to defeat this giant because it served God’s plan to demonstrate to both the Philistines and the Israelites of His existence and of His omnipotence. We should not read more into this account than is there. We should not assume nor should we teach that because God enabled David to defeat Goliath, He will enable us to defeat all our giants. That simply is not the case. Sometimes, the giants win.
 

What 1 Samuel does teach is that God allows us to participate in His work and when we willingly do so (as David did), we get to experience God in ways we may not otherwise. It teaches us that when we refuse to be a part of God’s work (as Saul did) we miss out on the blessings God has for us.
 

A solid biblical foundation and a proper understanding of who God is are crucial to the spiritual formation of a child. When we handle the word of God accurately (as we are told to in 2 Tim 2:15), we honor God by providing the children with an eternally solid foundation of God upon which they can confidently stand.