All Israel shivered. The loud bravado from the Valley of Elah had a bully’s ring to it. Goliath, the Philistine’s monster marine, issued his menacing call for a challenger, daily. “But” it was met with silence. For when “Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid” (1 Samuel 17:11).

You know how they felt. From time to time, some Goliath-sized “but” has issued a taunt against your faith and left you “dismayed and greatly afraid.” The bully sneers, “BUT you’ll never get out of debt…” or “BUT your marriage can’t be restored…” The jeers of the giants – fear, insecurity, addiction – have cast their long shadow over your valley of dreams.

Into just such a shadowy valley came a sunbeam of courage named David. While others cringed at Goliath’s, fear producing “buts”, David didn’t even consider them. His focus found a higher reality: “The battle is the Lord’s” (1 Samuel 17:47). David’s secret? A regimen of P.O.W.E.R. producing principles from God’s Word:

P- Perceive Sovereignty. David saw past the humanly impossible to the divinely possible. For he knew that “from him and through him and to him are all things” (Romans 11:36). Including the “Goliaths” of the world. Is a “but” taunting you? Then perceive God’s supreme sovereignty over it.

O- Obey God. David was “obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching” (Romans 6:17). His courage came from obeying God’s commands rather than the bully’s taunts. When “buts” intimidate you, take the next simple step of obedience to God.

W- Witness Faithfulness. David had seen God’s faithfulness before, and that emboldened him. You too “will be [His] witnesses” of faithfulness (Acts 1:8). Don’t let “spiritual amnesia” about God’s past provisions weaken your resolve.

E- Embrace Weakness. Sure, young David couldn’t have defeated Goliath on his own. But he didn’t try! “My power is made perfect in weakness,” God said (2 Corinthians 12:9). So, David embraced his limitations and God’s limitlessness.

R- Rely on Strength. David didn’t “lean on [his] own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). He trusted in God’s superior ability. For “from him and through him and to him are all things” – including the victory over your spiritual Goliaths.

Friends, the BUT-taunts may be “Goliath” loud, BUT “the battle belongs to the Lord!”