We all have a Goliath, don't we?

There are times in life when God calls you to go after your giant with the five smooth stones that you have found in your hand. He calls you to be relentless and bold and audacious as you come against that monstrous and mountainous thing that stands in your way.

Goliath was that behemoth of a man that taunted the armies of the living God. He was too big for his britches, and he wore some mighty big britches. Goliath and his buddies were a bloodthirsty gang of hoodlums who were looking for a fight with the people of God.

What Is Your Goliath?  

What is that thing that has smack-talked to you for the past season of your life?  Your Goliath may not carry a sword or a shield, but he brandishes weapons of life-killing intent in every encounter. Your Goliath might charge at you with unemployment, infertility, sexual abuse, loneliness, depression, divorce or rebellious children.

 David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, "What will be done for the man that kills this Philistine and takes away this reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Sam. 17:26).

The more experienced soldiers had run away from the threats of Goliath, but not David. The shepherd boy started telling the giant Goliath what his fate was going to be before one blow was even taken.

"This day will the Lord deliver you into my hand. And I will strike you down and cut off your head. Then I will give the corpses of the Philistine camp this day to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel" (1 Sam. 17:46).

The true victory was won before David even put the little stone into his boyhood slingshot. When David began to declare the power of God over his enemy, the entire heavenly host came to the shepherd boy's aid.

"So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone. And he struck down the Philistine and slew him, but there was no sword in the hand of David" (1 Sam. 17:50).

David didn't need a sword in his hand because the sword was in his mouth. He took down the enemy the very instant that he began talking about the name and the power of God.

I have killed some giants in my day. I have charged situations and challenges; I have been known to declare victory before the battle even had begun. I have stormed the forces of hell and fought the good fight of faith with nothing but worship and the Word of God.

When the enemy sees me coming, he has been known to say, "Here comes one relentless woman!"

Sometimes, however, our Goliath becomes an Isaac and rather than being a David, we are called to be Abraham.

Do you remember the story of Abraham and Sarah?  They had no children until she was almost 90 and Abraham was knocking on the door of 100 years old. They were mostly toothless, forgetful and that honeymoon glow had long disappeared.

And yet God gave them a little boy named Isaac. What joy! What a miracle!

But when Isaac was a strapping young man, filled with potential and destiny, God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on the altar as a burnt offering.

One of the most breathtaking miracles of this story is that Abraham didn't argue with God. Abraham didn't tell God all of the reasons why Isaac shouldn't die.

The Bible tells us that early the next morning, after hearing the voice of God, Abraham took Isaac up the mountain.

What an arduous climb that must have been!

Abraham loved God more than he loved his son. Abraham had heard the voice of God and knew of no other way to live than to simply obey God.

Abraham bound up his son, laid him on the altar and as the knife was poised in the air, ready to pierce the chest of Isaac, God intervened.

An angel of the Lord appeared on the scene and told Abraham that he had passed God's test.

"Then He said, 'Do not lay your hands on the boy or do anything to him, because now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your only son from Me''" (Gen. 22:12).

What Is God Asking You to Surrender Today?

Maybe God is asking you to give up your vacation this year and go on a mission's trip instead.

Maybe God is quietly whispering in your ear that it is time for you to surrender a habit, an addiction or an opinion.

Is God calling you to a David moment?  Is it time for you to charge your giant with the Word of God? If it is ... do it with all of your might! You serve a mighty big God, my friend.

Or have you been called, at this season in your life, to an Abrahamic moment? Is it time for you to experience the sweetness of surrender?  If this is your calling today, I will see you there—on the mountain of surrender— inhaling the atmosphere of heaven.

Carol McLeod is an author and popular speaker at women's conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor. She has written five books: No More Ordinary, Holy Estrogen!, The Rooms of a Woman's Heart and Defiant Joy! Her most recent book, Refined: Finding Joy in the Midst of the Fire, will be released on August 1. Her teaching DVD The Rooms of a Woman's Heart won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award for excellence in religious programming.

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