Tim Clinton: As David Shows Us, a ‘Man’s Giant May Be His Opportunity’

You never know when, where, why, or how—but we must be ready to meet the challenges of the day. What started out as a routine lunch errand for David turned into something way bigger. It became a “giant opportunity.”

Pun intended.

Though anointed to be the next king, David had remained in obscurity, faithfully tending sheep on the backside of a mountain. But everything was about to change. As David was handing out lunch, Goliath stepped onto the scene and issued his challenge. And David stepped up.

Little did David know that taking on Goliath would launch him into his destiny. Without the challenge of an enemy in the presence of his peers, David would have never been promoted to the next level.

Hear me on this: God often uses an enemy to catapult us into our calling. But we must step up. A man’s giant may be his opportunity.

The task of facing giants is often preceded by routine tasks. It is key not to despise mundane assignments. If David had balked at the chore of taking lunch to his brothers, he would have missed his opportunity. If he had not been prepared mentally, physically, and spiritually to face a giant, he would have missed his opportunity.

Be ready. Live ready. You never know when your giant is going to show up and issue a challenge.

Another example: In 1968, after earning All-Gulf States Conference honors as a running back at Louisiana Tech, Bob Brunet was drafted by the Washington Redskins. After ten seasons in the NFL and a Super Bowl appearance, Bob was inducted into the Louisiana Tech Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015.

During his induction, Brunet was tagged as the “most improbable ever” to be inducted to the Hall of Fame.

What made his career so improbable? Bob got his opportunity while living in obscurity and faithfully delivering lunch to his brothers. When his giant showed up, Bob stepped up to the challenge.

You see, Brunet encountered one unfortunate event after another that kept him from playing football until the playoffs of his high school senior year in the tiny, south Louisiana town of Larose.

As Brunet recalled, “They started a Pee Wee League when I was in the sixth grade. They had so many kids come out that they chose players for the teams by running a race. I was always fast and would have made the team, but I had been very ill for a week. When I tried to run, I couldn’t do it—and I didn’t make the team.”

Brunet couldn’t play the next year because of his after-school job.

For the next two years, he was sidelined by injuries. Coach Lynn LeBlanc finally let him be on the team as a junior in high school, but he didn’t make the “traveling squad.” Then, before football season of his senior year, Brunet was diagnosed with a slipped disc; but Coach LeBlanc let him stay on as equipment manager.

Brunet’s opportunity showed up when two running backs went down in a state championship game and the opposing team was the threatening giant. He had to make a choice to lay down the water bucket and respond to the coach’s call. I’m sure it was intimidating. After all, he had not been practicing or playing with the team. But he was ready because he knew he had been faithful.

During the game, a coach for Louisiana Tech was in the stands. He had come to watch some other players, but he liked what he saw in Brunet. That night, the Louisiana Tech coach offered Bob Brunet a scholarship, and he accepted (though he had never heard of Louisiana Tech). And the rest is history.

Here’s a question for you: To whom are you bringing lunch today? Your colleagues? Your teammates? Coworkers? Extended family?

Maybe your “lunch” is being faithful to your present assignment and paying attention to what’s happening around you. What type of giant may be looming on the horizon? The people in your circle of influence may need someone to step up for them, a champion fighter to stand in the face of the enemy.

Maybe the giants you are dealing with are personal. They have been taunting you with fear, shame, rejection, failure, anger, addiction. These giants often have strongholds that the enemy has fortified in you over the years.

Giants can be people, mind games that derail you, things from your past that torment you, or negative thinking patterns, all of which seek to demoralize you and keep you from following the path God has marked for you. But rise up. And look up.

See the situation from God’s perspective.

Often, before you can walk through the door of opportunity into a new season, you have to face the giant.

Related: Three Lies About Hard Work That Could Be Ruining Your Life

“For a great and effective door has opened to me,” wrote Paul, “and there are many adversaries.”

Open doors are accompanied by adversaries.

Just as David was launched by his giant, you can be launched into your destiny by your giant.

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Tim Clinton, Ed. D., LPC, LMFT is president of the nearly 50,000-member American Association of Christian Counselors, the largest and most diverse Christian counseling association in the world. He serves as executive director and dean of education for the James Dobson Family Institute and is recurring cohost of Dr. Dobson’s signature radio program, “Family Talk.” The author of over 30 books, Clinton is professor of counseling and pastoral care and executive director of the James C. Dobson Center for Child Development, Marriage and Family Studies at Liberty University. Follow him @DrTimClinton. The above article is adapted from Dr. Tim Clinton’s new book, Take It Back: Reclaiming Biblical Masculinity—The Heart and Strength of Being a Man (Charisma House, April 2021), and is used by permission.