“Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. ‘I cannot go in these,’ he said to Saul, ‘because I am not used to them.’ So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.”
We all know the story of David and Goliath. We know about the giant, the stone, and the victory. But before David ever stepped onto the battlefield, he had to win a different kind of battle. He had to win the battle for his own identity.
When David volunteered to fight, King Saul tried to help. He dressed David in his own royal tunic and put a bronze helmet on his head. It must have looked very impressive. After all, it was the King's own gear. It was shiny, expensive, and powerful. But there was one big problem. It wasn't David.
David walked around and realised immediately that he couldn't fight in it. It was too heavy. It was clunky. As Mark Batterson writes in Soulprint, "David could have gone into battle dressed like a king... But David said, 'I cannot go in these, because I am not used to them.' So he took them off".
If David had walked into that valley wearing Saul’s armour, he likely would have lost. He wasn't trained as a swordsman. He was a shepherd. He would have been tripping over the tunic while Goliath moved in for the kill. To win, David had to be David.
I wonder if you are wearing someone else's armour today.
We do this all the time without realising it. We put on the heavy expectations of other people. Maybe you are trying to live out a career path your parents chose for you, but it doesn't fit your heart. Maybe you are leading a team at work and trying to copy your boss's loud, aggressive style, even though God made you a quiet, thoughtful encourager. Maybe you are scrolling through social media, feeling the pressure to dress or act like the "perfect" people you see online.
This is what Batterson calls living a "second-hand life". It is exhausting. It wears us out because we are carrying weight we were never designed to carry. We think that if we just act like someone more successful or more spiritual, God will use us more. But the opposite is true.
God cannot use a fake version of you. He can only use the real you.
Batterson puts it brilliantly when he says, "God isn’t going to ask, 'Why weren’t you more like Billy Graham or Mother Teresa?'... God is going to ask, 'Why weren’t you more like you?'".
It takes a lot of courage to take off the armour. It feels safer to hide behind a mask or a title. When David took off the armour, he felt vulnerable. He was just a boy with a shepherd's stick and five smooth stones. It didn't look like much to the world, but it was exactly what God needed. God didn't need a second-rate soldier; He needed a first-rate shepherd.
What is in your hand today? It might seem small. It might seem simple. But if it is who God made you to be, it is enough. You owe it to the One who designed you to be yourself. So, take a deep breath. Unbuckle the heavy expectations of others. Put down the mask.
Be you. That is who God loves, and that is who God will use to bring down giants.
Prayer of the Day:
Dear Lord, thank You for making me unique. Forgive me for the times I have tried to hide behind a mask or wear armour that doesn't fit me. Help me to put down the heavy weight of other people's expectations. Give me the courage to be the person You created me to be. I trust that what You have given me is enough for the battles I face. In Jesus’ name, Amen.