HOUSE OF ROBERTS BLOG

HEY DAD,

You have to fight the lions and the bears first...

I grew up in the flannel board era of children’s church, so I learned a lot of the Bible by looking at cutouts that were stuck to a board. One of the most common stories that you would see up on that board would be the story of David and Goliath. You know the shepherd who knocked out a giant with a slingshot and then proceeded to cut his head off? I don’t know why they never had the image of David holding Goliath’s decapitated head on the flannel board…Anyway, in the telling of that story, we learned that before David would ever step onto the national scene and become a giant killer he was a shepherd who once killed a lion and a bear when no one was around. Why kill the lion and the bear? They were a threat to his flock and his life; that fight wasn’t for glory or to win some prize, it was part of his responsibility as a shepherd. I think those two fights were important because those private battles with the lion and the bear prepared David for his public battle with Goliath. 

That battle with Goliath changed everything for David, it was his next step in what God had for him, and He was ready for it because he had fought the private battles first. Dad, there is greatness in you and maybe you have even sensed that. You know there is something on your life, or at least you desire to do something great with it. I know that feeling, and when you sense that you sometimes think that all you need is just an opportunity. You need that moment where a “Goliath” shows up and you take it out. As a result, you wait for that break to come, but it doesn’t seem to be coming. 

Let me propose something to you. David didn’t need Goliath to make him a warrior, he needed the lion and the bear. It was the lion and the bear, the private battles, that made David the warrior that He was. Goliath was a moment for everyone else to see publicly what David had become privately. I wonder if there are some private battles that you need to be fighting right now. They are battles for your purity, for your integrity; they are battles against your anger issue or your substance abuse problem. These are lions and bears that are trying to take you out Dad; they are trying to mess with your marriage and children, and they need to be confronted and killed. 

How you go about that will be unique to your circumstances, but I do know some basic fighting principles that will help you confront the lions and the bears. One, don’t fight alone, part of the reason this thing has been allowed to stay is because you’ve tried to fight on your own. Include your spouse, a close friend, a pastor, a leader, someone who will stand with you. Two, confession is necessary for healing. I know that it will be scary to do that, but know that you are only as sick as your secrets and you won’t kill that thing without this step. Three, find scriptures to help you. The Bible is powerful and active, and part of your problem is you lack the supernatural help in your life that you need. Partner with God’s Word and with the help of the Holy Spirit you will be able to fight and win. 

There are some public Goliaths out there for you to fight Dad, but first start with the private lions and bears. You can do this!