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Sunset, Maui, Hawaii. Photo by Charles F. Stanley.
Daily Devotion

The Victorious Life

We all face giants, but we never have to face them alone—the Lord fights beside us.

1 Samuel 17:32-51

The Philistine army was ready to fight. Sent from home with food for his older brothers, young David arrived at the front lines and heard Goliath taunting Israel across the valley. While seasoned soldiers shrank back, David was outraged. Who was this giant to defy the armies of the living God?

What set David apart wasn’t bravado or military skill. It was perspective. He had spent years in the fields tending sheep and protecting them from wild animals. In those quiet places, he had learned who God was. So now, facing Goliath with a sling and five smooth stones, he wasn’t relying on his own strength; he told the giant plainly that the battle belonged not to him but to the Lord (1 Sam. 17:47).

We face our own giants: a diagnosis, a strained relationship, a fear that won’t let go. Like David, we don’t overcome them by gathering more resources or steeling our nerves. Instead, we overcome by remembering Whose we are and Whose battle it is (Neh. 4:20).

The victorious life isn’t without challenges. It’s a life lived in the steady awareness that God goes before us. The same Lord who stood with David in the valley of Elah stands with us today, and that changes everything about how we step forward.

Bible in One Year: Mark 8-9