Many of us have heard of the story of David and Goliath, but many of us haven’t heard that there’s more to this true story that occurred many years ago in history.
Here’s the story in a nutshell. David was a teenage boy whose only job was to take care of his family’s sheep. He was instructed by his father to take lunch to his brothers who were fighting the Philistines in the Valley of Elah.
David took the lunch (they didn’t have Grubhub back then) and went to see his brothers at the front line, where the fighting was taking place. While he was there, a man named Goliath, who stood about 9 feet tall — an intimidating sight — cursed the people of Israel for 40 days. Goliath laid it on them about the God they worshipped, who in his eyes was a nobody.
David got upset, stepped up and said he was going to take Goliath down by himself.
David had no military experience and had not used any type of sword or armor as a shepherd for his family. The only weapon he had experience with was a slingshot. He had used that to kill many wild animals while guarding the sheep.
David took five stones with him and went out to face Goliath in battle. David put one stone in the slingshot, launched it and hit Goliath right in the middle of the forehead. Goliath went down,and David made sure he was dead.
My question is this: Why did David take five stones instead of one? Did he think he was going to miss? Did he think he might have to hit him more than once in the same spot? Were all the stones the same size, or did he want to save the largest one for plan B?
I think the reason David took five stones was so he could take care of the complete problem with the Goliath family. Goliath had a brother and three sons. Each of them was just as large a person as he was, so David needed the other four stones in case the rest of the family jumped into the fight.
Now you know the rest of the story.
So, what’s the takeaway from this story for me as a parent, a good friend or a businessperson? As I think of the five stones, I equate them with being prepared to deal with whatever happens in life, from taking care of problems to steering clear of them. And I think about five attitudes. I believe there are five attitudes we need to be prepared for when we wake up to face a new day and whatever challenges it may bring: gratitude for the people who have helped us; love for those who have given us so much and aided our success; forgiveness for ourselves and others; understanding that people have different backgrounds, and respect for who they are; and commitment to show our children that they are more important than anything in this one life.
Live inspired,
Jimmy
MJ says
Thank you for this reminder—