1. Don’t go empty-handed. Battles are won with the right weapons. As followers of Jesus, some of our more powerful weapons are prayer, scripture study, alone time with God, worship, giving … what are your weapons?
2. Be prepared. Sounds like #1, but actually there’s more to it than that. Remember that David got the giant with the first stone, but he took five. He was prepared for more of a battle than he got. Don’t assume you’ll get your giant on the first hit. Be prepared for the battle.
3. Its on God. Recogonize that no matter how well armed you are and no matter how prepared, ultimately its God’s battle. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’ve got this. Its God’s battle.
4. It won’t be your last battle. Goliath was actually David’s first real battle. For years after that, he lived in conflict with a king who was so jealous of him that he wanted him dead. Every battle from Goliath on made David wiser for the next one, but he never ran out of battles waiting to be fought. And because he leaned so completely on God, he never ran out of steam, either.
That’s a start on why I love those stones. What do you learn from David’s five smooth stones?
