Start with story from President Hinckley (January 2002 Friend)
Overpowering the Goliaths in Our Lives
Some
years ago I spoke to the young men of the Church about overcoming the
Goliaths in their lives. I would like to apply that same theme to all of
us, for few of us do not have at least one Goliath to contend with. As
we study the Old Testament this year, we will come to realize that the
story of David and Goliath is a wonderful example of what we can learn
from the pages of this great book of scripture. I recount only a portion
of the story, for I am confident you are already familiar with it. It
is the story of David, the son of Jesse.
As
you recall, the army of Israel under the leadership of King Saul was
engaged in a deadly war with the army of the Philistines. One army
poised on one hill, the other on an opposite hill, with a valley in
between. Now, the Philistines had among their number a great giant of a
man named Goliath of Gath. His height was six cubits and a span. If I
have figured correctly, that would put him somewhere in the neighborhood
of nine feet tall. What a basketball center he might have made!
Clad in his armor, he came down to the valley and called out to the army of Israel:
“Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.
“If
he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your
servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be
our servants, and serve us.
“… I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together” (1 Sam. 17:8–10).
When
Saul and the army of Israel looked at this giant and heard his chilling
challenge, they were frightened because they had no one of their own of
such stature.
Now,
while all of this was going on, Jesse, David’s father, asked his young
son to take some food to his three brothers in the army. When he arrived
at the battleground, Goliath came out again, issuing the same
challenge, which David heard. There was fear throughout the army of
Israel. David, who was no more than a boy, said to the king (and I
paraphrase his language): “King, why are you so afraid of this giant? I
will go and fight him.”
Saul
replied, “Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with
him: for thou art but a youth, and he [is] a man of war [trained] from
his youth” (1 Sam. 17:33).
David Armed with Faith
David
then persuaded Saul to let him try. He told the king of how he had
fought with a lion and a bear to save his father’s sheep and concluded
by saying that the Lord would deliver him out of the hand of the
Philistine. Saul, possibly thinking that one more life lost would not be
serious among the great losses they had already sustained, said to
David, “Go, and the Lord be with thee” (1 Sam. 17:37).
Saul
then placed armor on David until the boy could scarcely walk. David
said to the king, “I cannot wear this,” and he took the armor off.
He
then “took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out
of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had … ; and his
sling was in his hand” (1 Sam. 17:40).
This
stripling of a boy, with only a sling and five stones, and without any
armor other than the armor of faith, went down into the valley to face
Goliath.
Goliath Armed with Sword, Spear, and Shield
“And
when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for
he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.
“And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?”
And
Goliath swore at David, saying, “Come to me, and I will give thy flesh
unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.”
Then
David spoke these great words: “Thou comest to me with a sword, and
with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the
Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
“This
day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee,
and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host
of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild
beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in
Israel” (see 1 Sam. 17:42–46).
That was brave talk for a boy who stood against a nine-foot giant.
In
anger Goliath came at him. Then David, running toward the giant, “put
his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote
the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead;
and he fell upon his face to the earth” (1 Sam. 17:49).
Evil Giants in Our Lives
I
would like to apply this story to our lives. There are Goliaths all
around us, hulking giants with evil intent to destroy. These are not
nine-foot-tall men, but they are people and institutions that control
attractive but evil things that may challenge and weaken and destroy us.
Included in these are beer and other liquors and tobacco. Those who
market these products would like to enslave you into their use. There
are illegal drugs of various kinds which, I am told, are relatively easy
to obtain. For those who peddle them this is a multibillion-dollar
industry, a giant web of evil.
There
is pornography, seductive and interesting and inviting. It has become a
giant industry, producing magazines, films, and other materials. It is
available on the Internet and, if you allow, it will intrude into your
home via your television. It is designed to take your money and lead you
toward activities that utterly destroy.
The
giants who are behind these efforts are formidable and skillful. They
have gained vast experience in the war they are carrying on. They would
like to ensnare you.
It
is almost impossible to entirely avoid exposure to their products. You
see these materials on all sides. But you need not fear if you have the
slingshot of truth in your hands. You have been counseled and taught and
advised. You have the stones of virtue and honor and integrity to use
against these enemies who would like to conquer you. When they challenge
you, you can hit them “between the eyes,” to use a figurative
expression. You can triumph over them by disciplining yourself to avoid
them. You can say to the whole lot of them as David said to Goliath,
“Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield:
but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the
armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.”
Victory
will be yours. There is not a person in this Church who needs to
succumb to any of these forces. You are a child of God. You have His
power within you to sustain you. You have the right to call upon God to
protect you. Do not let Goliath frighten you. Stand your ground and hold
your place, and you will be triumphant. As the years pass, you will
look back with satisfaction upon the battles you have won in your
individual lives.
When
temptation comes your way, name that boastful, deceitful giant
“Goliath!” and do with it as David did to the Philistine of Gath. I
humbly pray that God will bless each of you.
10 Stones to Ward Off Satan & Goliaths in our Lives
1.
Power of Prayer: Pour out your whole heart to
the Lord over everything that concerns you (Alma 37:37). The Lord cares about
the details of our lives. If it’s important to us, it’s important to Him. “Prayer
keeps man from sin and sin keeps man from sin.” (Brigham Young)
2. Scripture Feast: Learning from the scriptures
gives us power to withstand Satan and is full of life’s answers (2 Nephi 32:3)
if we take time to feast and not snack. Feasting means enjoying, nourishment,
and having many options to satisfy our needs.
3.
Know How the Holy Ghost Speaks to You: First
off, learn the Spirit’s communication to you and recognize it daily. Seek it
and we shall find it. President Kimball also said: “They who reach down into
the depths of life where, in the stillness, the voice of God has been heard,
have the stabilizing power which carries them poised and serene through the
hurricane of difficulties” (Ensign, May 1979, p. 6). Stand in holy
places and live worthy of it.
4. Have faith the Lord will keep his promises. When
we do what He has asked, the Lord always blesses us in His time and way
(D&C 82:10). We can’t expect blessings if we don’t do the work, as in
exercising our faith. He loves us and knows what blessings we need vs. what we
want. Sometimes blessings come after the trial of our faith, after we overcame
our Goliath.
5. Have faith to accept the Lord’s will: His will
may be the opposite of what we want, so we have to be humble enough to align
our will with His. Pray for understanding of the Lord’s will. President Bednar
said to a young married couple whose husband had cancer. Dan’s wife story. Orson F. Whitney said: “No pain that we
suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education,
to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and
humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure
it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls,
and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children
of God … and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we
gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more
like our Father and Mother in heaven” (cited in Spencer W. Kimball, Faith
Precedes the Miracle, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1972, p. 98).
6. Worthy pursuits: There is nothing more inspiring
than worthy music (In His Embrace). Fill your life with wholesome people,
places and media to overcome Satan. Visiting teaching is the best way to fill
our lives with awesome people. Come to our activities. Be engaged in the
gospel.
7. Understand your Weaknesses and how Satan Attacks
Them: Outsmart Satan by seeing him come our way. Focus on one at a Time to turn
it into a strength. We learn line upon line, precept on precept.
8. Service: If we lose our lives in service, we
will find our lives (Matthew 10:39). We will recognize our own strength and our
blessings. We find the joy of helping others, the joy of Christlike charity. Nothing
is as sweet as that.
9. Priesthood blessings: Ask for one or read our
patriarchal blessings. They can be a huge strength to us when we feel hopeless.
They can show us how the Lord sees us and His eyes are perfectly accurate.
10. Temple attendance: Eternal perspective at the
temple is the best place to strengthen our spiritual armor to overcome Satan.
It’s THE best place for revelation because it’s the Lord’s house.
-Angie Staples
