- Conquering Mt. Everest
“And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.” 1 Samuel 17:34–37
Every battle you face is preparing you for greater blessings down the road.
In 1924, two climbers were part of an expedition that set out to conquer Mount Everest. As far as is known, they never reached the summit; and they never returned. Somewhere on that gigantic mountain they were overpowered by the elements and died. After the failure of the expedition, the rest of the party returned home. Addressing a meeting in London, one of those who returned described the ill-fated adventure. He then turned to a huge photograph of Mount Everest, mounted on the wall behind him.
“Everest,” he cried, “we tried to conquer you once, but you overpowered us. We tried to conquer you a second time, but again you were too much for us. But, Everest, I want you to know that we are going to conquer you, for you can't grow any bigger, and we can!”
These climbers realized an important lesson: every time they faced the difficulty of scaling Mount Everest, they grew stronger in their knowledge of the mountain and their ability to conquer it. Even so, every time we as Christians face difficulties and rely on God, He makes us stronger for the next difficulty.
As we see in 1 Samuel 17, David gladly offered to fight Goliath. He was confident he would have victory over the giant. What made David so eager to fight Goliath when even the mightiest of men in Israel’s army cowered in fear?
King Saul was curious as to how David thought he could battle the giant and win. Saul saw a young shepherd boy who had just come into the camp and said he was willing to fight the giant. But David was prepared for battle.
David was prepared by previous battles he had faced. Previous challenges David had overcome had prepared him for the present-day battle he was to face. David says in 1 Samuel 17:36, “Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.” God had given David the victory over a lion and bear and David was confident God would deliver the giant into his hands as well.
How could David have faith that God would defeat Goliath? David had seen God work in his life before. You can have confidence that God will work in your life because of previous battles and trials through which God has brought you.
Think of all the trials you have already come through and how much stronger you are because of them! Do not become discouraged or quit in the middle of the battle; simply trust God and rely on Him to help you through.
