To Fight the Impossible Fight-part one

At the beginning of my newly completed novel, In the Valley of Elah, I paraphrased and condensed the Bible account of David and Goliath. As you read, ask yourself, what are your "Goliaths"? What do you fear every day that seems like an unconquerable enemy? How can faith and trust and complete dependence on the Lord, your God, fight your battles for you?

"In ancient times, the Philistines and the Israelites got ready for war. They set up their troops on opposite sides of the Valley of Elah. The evil Philistine army had a champion, named Goliath from the town of Gath. He was over nine feet tall. Each day, Goliath walked out onto the Valley of Elah and shouted a challenge to the Israelite army: "Choose someone to fight me!"

But the Israelite King, Saul, and his men were terrified of Goliath.

One day, David, a shepherd boy, and the youngest son of Jesse, heard the giant's challenge. "Who does that worthless Philistine think he is? He's making fun of the armies of the living God."

David went before King Saul. "Your Majesty, let me go out and fight this man. The Lord has rescued me from the claws of lions and bears, and He will keep me safe from the hands of this Philistine."

"All right," said King Saul, convinced. "Go out and fight him."

Then David took his sling and five smooth stones and went out to meet the giant.

When Goliath saw the boy approaching, he cursed him by the names of his gods.

But David said, "You've come out to fight me with a sword and spear and javelin. But I've come out to fight you in the name of the Lord, All Powerful. Today the Lord will help me defeat you. And everybody will see that it is not by might or by sword or spear, but by the Lord's power that our battles are won."

Then David ran out toward Goliath. Taking a stone, he placed it in his sling and swung it hard. The stone flew and struck Goliath between the eyes. The giant fell face down. David ran up, took the giant's own sword and cut off his head. So David defeated Goliath with only a sling and a stone." (paraphrased and condensed from 1st Samuel, chapter 17)

The Israelites were in a quandary. How do you fight an enemy that is more powerful than you are with the usual human implements of warfare?

In future blog posts I'll be sharing other "impossible" wars from the scriptures, and what God did to defeat Israel's enemy.