The battle of David and Goliath is probably one of the most well-known stories throughout all of Christendom. There are several lessons that we might learn from this story, but the one I want to focus on is having faith in the Lord to help fight our battles. If you remember from the story, before David meets Goliath, he was clothed with Saul’s armor and given his sword, but he recognized that having the armor on was too difficult for him. He hadn’t worn it before and it was getting in the way. So, he took it off, retrieved some smooth round stones from the brook and faced Goliath. Goliath made fun of him, cursed him, and threatened to feed him to the beasts.

What David says next is remarkable:

“Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee… And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s” (1 Samuel 17:45-47; emphasis added).

President Thomas S. Monson gave a talk several years ago entitled, “Meeting Your Goliath.” He asks the question: “Is there a Goliath in your life?”[i] He mentions several things that we must arm ourselves with in order to face our Goliaths, but what I think David emphasizes through his speech as he meets Goliath head on is the “sling of faith”[ii]. How much faith do we have that God will help us fight our physical, emotional, and spiritual battles?

When our faith is waning, do we ask for help? The Lord has made some promises to those of who are walking the treacherous paths of the last days: “Behold, I will go before you and be your rearward; and I will be in your midst, and you shall not be confounded” (D&C 49:27; see also Isaiah 52:12; 3 Nephi 20:42).

Whatever battles we are facing, the Lord already paved the way before us in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is behind us, bolstering our strength, supporting, and defending us. He is ever near us, encouraging us to continue and endure to the end. Like David, we can conquer our Goliaths as long as we put our faith and trust in God to help us.

[i] Thomas S. Monson, Conference Report, October 1967, pp. 129-133

[ii] Ibid.

“Be strong and of a good courage,” is the counsel that the Lord gives to Joshua several times before he leads the children of Israel into the promised land (Joshua 1: 6-7, 9, 18). Along with the counsel to be courageous, the Lord includes additional instruction to prepare Joshua and the children of Israel for the last leg of their journey into the land of Canaan. If we accept how the book of Joshua might be a metaphor for our journey during the last days, then we too can benefit from the same counsel.

Walk the straight and narrow and keep the commandments.

The children of Israel had wandered for 40 years. They were now ready and worthy to enter into the promised land and obtain the rest that the Lord promised them. The Lord tells Joshua: “Turn not from [the law] to the right hand or to the left” (Joshua 1:7). The promise given with this command is that the children of Israel would prosper wherever they went.

We have been told for several years now that we are in the 11^th hour. The coming of the Lord is nigh. The Lord’s reign on earth and the promised rest from our trials and sorrows is near. Now is the time to buckle down and have the courage to stay on the covenant path. We cannot deviate from it if we want the Lord’s blessings.

Read and ponder on the scriptures daily.

Another promise given to Joshua, and to us, is that we will be successful in being able to remain true to our covenants if we read and ponder on the scriptures every day (Joshua 1:8). I know this promise is true. When I study and ponder the scriptures, I have greater strength throughout the day to keep the commandments and to endure.

Be not afraid. Don’t get stressed out.

The promise here is that the Lord is always with us. The past year has been one of the most difficult years ever for many people throughout the world. The Covid-19 pandemic caused a lot of fear and stress. We were all affected by it. I wonder how many of us turned to the Lord and trusted in His promises. Did we recognize His guiding hand? I know that there were times that I forgot. When that happens, we must pick up and move on. When our courage fails, all we need to do is turn to the Lord and He will be there for us again and again.

The Lord fulfills all of His promises.

In the 21^st chapter of Joshua, it reads: “There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass” (vs. 45). I know that the Lord is true and faithful. I know that if we follow His counsel, He will bless us. I know that if we put our trust in Him and have faith, He will strengthen us and give us the necessary courage to endure.

The children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years because of their foolishness and unbelief. Throughout their experience they were reminded that the Lord was their guide (Numbers 10:11-12;33-34) and that He would provide for them (Numbers 11:4-9;18). One of the greatest miracles that He provided for them was healing them from the bite of the fiery serpents if they would just look at the serpent of brass that Moses had fashioned to a pole (Number 21:8-9). Nevertheless, many of them refused to look; lacking the faith necessary to believe that such a simple thing could cure them.

In what ways, today, do we refuse to recognize how God is manifest in our lives? Do we wallow in self-pity thinking that God has abandoned us? Do expect God to provide more without recognizing how much He has already done? Do we, ourselves, refuse to look up? I know that I can take lessons from the mistakes that the children of Israel made. I know that I don’t have to wander or wonder.

The Covid-19 pandemic is not unlike the plagues that tormented the children of Israel. I, for one, am tired of the afflictions and the restrictions of it. It was easy for me to start feeling a little put out and murmur about how long it has lingered, but I have endeavored to remain faithful to study and prayer and to endure through repentance. Just those few things have brought blessings to me throughout the pandemic. I may have suffered physically, but the Lord has blessed me spiritually. He has answered my prayers, and He has revealed important things to me which have helped me fulfill my responsibilities.

One experience, in particular, is obvious. I was recently called to serve as the young women president in my ward. Before the calling was extended, there was a sudden influx of names of sisters in my ward that came into my mind. I couldn’t account for it. I wondered if maybe I would receive a calling with responsibility, but it didn’t make sense to me. I put it out of my mind. Over and over again, those names kept coming. Over and over again, I wondered why. In one case, I had never met the sister. Instead of a name (I didn’t know her name.) , I saw a face. When the bishop of my ward finally called me, it all made sense. I knew that those sisters would serve with me.

It doesn’t take great strides for us to receive blessings (although the Lord does expect those from us too at times). I have a testimony that the Lord has blessed you and me throughout this pandemic. He has provided a way (and still does) for us to have peace and be blessed. I also have a testimony that doing simple things brings great blessings. I hope we recognize His hand in all things and that we look to Him and live happily.

My family and I attended the Presbyterian church for some years before I was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of the first things I learned when I was taught the ‘discussions’ by the missionaries is that God and Jesus are two separate beings and that they both had physical bodies like yours and mine—though perfected. That truth resonated with me because I had been taught something different as a Presbyterian. The Presbyterian faith believes that God and Jesus are the same being and that they are beings who cannot be touched. That was very confusing to me as a child and something I refused to believe. It didn’t make sense to me. Especially, when I learned things like, “And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend” (Exodus 33:11). My child mind couldn’t reconcile the Lord of the Old Testament and the resurrected Jesus of the New Testament as a being who could not be touched and no longer had a body.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, my beliefs are different from my former faith. I believe that God and Jesus are Father and Son. They, along with the Holy Ghost, constitute the Godhead: Three separate and distinct beings. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have perfected bodies of flesh and bones. They have spoken to man face to face and they continue to do so. Jesus Christ is at the head of our church. He speaks to His prophet on earth, President Russell M. Nelson. He directs the church by revealing His will to our prophet. He also reveals the doctrine and principles that we are to live by—which doctrines are eternal. I know these things to be true because they have been revealed to me to be true through the spirit of the Holy Ghost.

There are several stories throughout The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint’s scriptural cannon (including the Bible) which illuminate how God saves His people when they allow Him to prevail in their lives. I read about one of those individuals this last week in my Old Testament class.

Joseph of Egypt was the 11^th son of his father, Jacob, and Rachel’s firstborn. Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him because he was his father’s favorite. They conspired to kill him, but sold him to some merchants instead. He ended up in Potiphar’s house and was unfairly cast into prison because he refused the advances of Potiphar’s wife. While in prison, Joseph gained favor with Pharaoh by interpreting his dream and saved Egypt from famine. Eventually, Joseph reunited with his family and saw his father before he died. Now that was an extremely condensed version of Joseph’s story that we find in Genesis 37-50.

What I find remarkable about Joseph is his faithfulness and willingness to let God prevail in his life. In the most recent General Conference, President Nelson asked these questions:

Are you willing to let God be the most important influence in your life? Will you allow His words, His commandments, and His covenants to influence what you do each day? Will you allow His voice to take priority over any other? Are you willing to let whatever He needs you to do take precedence over every other ambition? Are you willing to have your will swallowed up in His? (Nelson, 2020).

Joseph of Egypt is a great example of these questions put into action. Joseph allowed God to be the most important influence in his life when he refused Potiphar’s wife by saying, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). How often do we refuse to entertain the influence of destructive social media in our lives? Do we set it aside and allow sweet influence of the Spirit to be our guide?

Joseph knew that he would one day rule over his brothers. When they came to him for help in Egypt, he didn’t refuse them. He didn’t take revenge by casting them into prison. Instead, he gave them whatever they needed, even giving them back their money, and sent them on their way with the condition that they bring his youngest brother back to him. When he finally revealed himself, they bowed down to them and he forgave them. He ruled over his brothers, yet he allowed his faith in God to take precedence over worldly ambition.

I love how Joseph shares with his brothers the blessings that came from his trials. He comforts them in their grief by telling them that God allowed him to be sold so that life would be preserved (Genesis 45:5) and that much good will come to pass because of it (Genesis 50:20).

I think about the countless millions of our Father’s children who have been saved because of Joseph’s willingness to let God prevail in his life. When we allow God to prevail in our lives, we too can be saved. I know that temporal and eternal blessings come from letting our will be swallowed up in God’s will.

Nelson, R. (2020). Let God Prevail. Churchofjesuschrist.org. Retrieved 30 January 2021, from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/10/46nelson?lang=eng.