Elevate Alabang: Fearless: So You Wanna Be FEARLESS?

Fearless 1
*all images taken from Google images

So You Wanna Be Fearless?

Speaker: Jeremy Sanchez

written by Ashley Petallano & Joanne Napicol

We all have fears. Admit it, even YOU are scared of something.

Spiders?! Spiders! SPIDERS?!

Even the man who possesses the biggest muscles in the world is scared of something or someone. Most of us are easily spooked by the following: imaginary monsters, creepy bugs, wild dogs. Other types of fears may involve our friends leaving us, people constantly breaking our hearts (there, there, here's an imaginary tissue), or even school work.

Sometimes we also fear facing the impossible. It can be something as simple (yet very traumatic) as forgetting to submit a project that is due TODAY. Beads of sweat break on your forehead as you try to think of a solution. Sadly, there's none. You can't help but think: "This is impossible!"

It's impossible! *insert panicking face here*

During times like these, we find ourselves in a similar situation with a Bible character named David. We all know David from his famous encounter with the Philistine giant named Goliath:

⁴Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was over nine feet^[a] tall! ⁵He wore a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds.^[b] ⁶He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. ⁷The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds.^[c]His armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield

1 Samuel 17:4-7

Goliath was the champion of the Philistines. He was definitely big and very strong. He was the very image of a warrior- tall, muscular and trained for battle. No one stood a chance against him and he made sure they were aware of that.

The Israelites were losing hope. They created an agreement with the Philistines: the winner of the battle takes the losers as slaves. But with someone like Goliath on the opposing team, the Israelites knew they were fighting a losing battle. They were scared and saddened by this. The end didn't seem bright for them.

The Israelites: "We're gonna lose, lose, lose!" #sad

David on the other hand was just this teenage boy. Scholars estimate that he was 19 when he challenged the giant. From the perspective of a stranger, he was a nobody, just a mere shepherd. He was also the youngest of Jesse's son, which was probably why his father did not offer him first when Samuel asked for his sons.

¹¹Then Samuel asked, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied. “But he’s out in the fields watching the sheep and goats.”

1 Samuel 16:11

No one thought much about David. To them, he was just a boy. The idea of him being thrown into battle and facing someone like Goliath was laughable and ridiculous. He was basically a reject. But God had bigger plans for the little hero:

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7

Sometimes, we feel like David. We think that we're not fit to fulfill the challenge and that the impossible will eat us up. But we all know that's not how David dealt with his challenge.

Being the typical David (a boy after God's own heart), he asked to see King Saul to offer his services. Despite most of the king's armies (which included his own brothers) losing hope, David stood up and volunteered.

We can only imagine how the royal court reacted.

Fast forward to the battle, there stands David against the giant Goliath. 1 Samuel 17:48-54 recounts of how the two opposing groups faced one another. Goliath, at the sight of David, laughed mercilessly and taunted the boy, belittling him even more.He was suited for war with his bronze armor, javelin and sword. David on the other hand only had five smooth stones.

Impossible and unfair, right?

With God? NOPE.

We all know how this ended. David charges towards his enemy, swings his sling and releases the rock. It only took one stone to hit Goliath in the forehead and kill him instantly.

ONE.

In the end, David wins.

People must have been astounded with what happened. A small boy with nothing but stones beats a giant warrior? IMPOSSIBLE!

WOOOW

In the end, we see a fearless David standing over his enemy's dead body. No one could have guessed that he'd win. How? How did he do it?

1. David knew God

In 1 Samuel 17:37, David answered Saul: “The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” David being a shepherd has probably encountered bears and lions protecting the flocks of sheep from them. He has experienced God’s power and protection and knew that his God is a big God, allowing him to be confident and fearless when he faced Goliath.

David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! ⁴⁷And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

1 Samuel 17:45-47

If we want to be fearless like David, we should ask ourselves how much do we know that God he knew. David was very much confident with God despite what seemed like an impossible situation. What he did is difficult for some of us.

When we find ourselves facing an impossible challenge, we're easily frightened. However, if we know God, then we need not fear because we know He's got us. We don't have to worry ourselves to death. We are weak, yes, but we have a strong God.

2. David walked with God

Observe how David was described in Acts 13:22:

²²But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’^[a]

Isn't that amazing? God said that about David. David obeyed the Lord. He is famously tagged as a man after God's own heart.

If we want to be fearless, we must walk with God. We can do so by reading our Bible every day and allowing our lives to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. We should try our best to obey His Word and not let our fears overcome us. We should be guys and girls after God's heart.

3. David feared God

Fearless David feared the Lord. We're not talking about the fear that equates to being scared.This kind of fear equals to respect. Proverbs 1:7 says that fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge and only fools despise wisdom. David respected God so much that he trusted Him to fight the battle. In the end, the Lord used David to defeat Goliath.

From David, we should also see that he was able to trust and fear God because he knew Him and walked with Him, therefore being FEARLESS as he faced a battle which others deemed impossible.

So, for us to be fearless we must fear our God by respecting Him and following His ways. Rest assured, our worries and challenges that appear big and impossible will shrink because let's face it- it is through our weakness that God proves His strength.

Just like David, don't let fear get the best out of you. God's got you.