Stand up to Goliath

“As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.” 1 Samuel 17:23,24 NIV

Reacting to a British cycling race eliminating gender categories Sunday, Fox News contributor and author Douglas Murray weighed in on the "all too predictable" announcement saying: This is all too predictable. Remember, a few years ago, I said the moment you allow biological men into women's sports, it's the end of women's sports. And since then, we've seen things like the Lia Thomas case, a swimmer who took first place in the [NCAA] swimming [championship]. Now, we have yet another case, by the way, this isn't at all uncommon -- this has happened a number of times [with] male cyclists, of course, beating female cyclists. It seems that there are some people who think that we will not be a free society until biological men stand on all of the top podiums in every sport. So it's like, transgender athlete at number one, great! What a terrific advance for minority rights. Now it's podium one and podium two. That's fantastic. So until all the women are cleared from the podium, it seems that we won't really be living in a free and equal society. And I suspect that quite a lot of people viewing would agree with me there's something wrong with that.

And you know, while there are definitely "quite a lot of people" who would agree with Murray that “there’s something wrong with that,” there aren’t a lot of people who are willing to speak up about the issue or to fight to keep injustices like this from happening. Why? “Great fear.” Fear of the negative consequences— like losing friendships, being labeled a bigot, or being ‘canceled’—that speaking up for the truths laid out in the Bible will create. In a sense you could say then that issues like this are the Goliath of our day. And although the sight of Goliath made “all” the Israelites flee, there was one person who had the courage to battle the enemy. Think about that for a moment.... David “heard” the same threats the Israelites did and even “saw” the same giant they did but, confident that God was by his side, David was wasn’t afraid to fight. And as the story goes, David killed Goliath with only a sling and a stone. Is that an example of courage to follow or what? 

So knowing that the same God who was with David then is the same God who is with us today, let us refuse to flee from speaking up for truth and defending our rights along with the rights of our brothers and sisters when it is our moral and biblical duty to do so my friend. Let us each be that “one person” who will boldly face the giants in our world today. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us examples like David, Esther, Paul, Daniel, and Deborah in the Bible who refused to stay silent in the midst of persecution and injustice. Lord give us warrior's hearts like these men and women had that we would not flee from the battle but boldly go in wearing the Armor you so graciously provided us. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.

Happy Running!