In honor of the Cornell-Kentucky basketball game, it seems appropriate to take a look at the story of David and Goliath. Hopefully, the result will be similar tonight. (I graduated from Cornell in ’85.)

You know the story. Goliath is huge. He’s over nine feet tall. Think about that for a minute. Nine feet. Cornell’s center is seven feet tall. Goliath makes him look short.

Then we have David. He couldn’t even wear Saul’s armor because it was too big for him. And yet we all know what happened–David uses a sling to sink a stone into Goliath’s forehead. Game over. Cornell wins.

There’s much more to the story though. Let’s take a look.

By the time David gets to the battle line, Goliath has been taunting the army of Israel for 40 days. Every morning and every evening. That’s 80 taunting sessions.

David had three older brothers who were at the battle line. They were there for all 80 taunts. That’s 80 opportunities to do something. But they did nothing. Neither did anyone else.

I wonder how many times we let opportunities to make a difference slip by us. Because we’re afraid. Or embarrassed.

What’s interesting is how David’s oldest brother, Eliab, reacts when David asks what will be done for the man who kills Goliath. Eliab burns with anger toward David and ridicules him. Was Eliab ashamed because of his own inaction? Was he jealous of David?

I wonder how many times we take shots at someone else even though we’re afraid to get in the battle ourselves.

David’s conversation with some of the men is reported to Saul, the king, so Saul sends for him. When David appears before Saul, he says, “Let no one lose heart heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” Up to this point, David has only been a shepherd. What I find amazing is the fact that a little shepherd boy is telling the king not to lose heart.

Do you know that your title or position is irrelevant? God is not limited to only using kings and super-star athletes and pastors with their own television programs. God uses ordinary people who simply choose to believe Him.

David has gained great confidence from his experiences watching over the sheep. He tells Saul that he has already killed a lion and a bear. Then David says, “…this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.”

David had greater concern for God’s reputation than for his own safety. I think I get that reversed. More often than I’d like. What about you?

After trying on Saul’s armor and discarding it, David goes out to meet Goliath. We get a glimpse into David’s heart and motives when he says to Goliath:

“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

David wasn’t relying on a sword or spear or even the sling and stones. He used his sling to throw the stone, but he was coming against Goliath in the name of the LORD Almighty. The battle was not David’s, it was the LORD’s. And what was on David’s heart? That “the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.”

After David kills Goliath, the Philistine army turns and runs and the army of Israel pursues and defeats them. All because of a little shepherd boy’s courage.

I wonder if we lack the courage and passion of David, because we’re just not all that concerned with the whole world knowing. And so with nothing greater than ourselves to live for, we shrink back in fear and miss countless opportunities to make a difference.

What if though…our primary focus was on God and the advancement of His kingdom? What if everything else was secondary?

What if our courage and confidence came from the LORD…whose battle it is anyway?

What if our acts of faith encourage others to act as well?

What if your courageous step of faith is meant to be the start of something big?

What if?