1 Samuel 17:28-30 (MSG) 28 Eliab, his older brother, heard David fraternizing with the men and lost his temper: “What are you doing here! Why aren’t you minding your own business, tending that scrawny flock of sheep? I know what you’re up to. You’ve come down here to see the sights, hoping for a ringside seat at a bloody battle!” 29 “What is it with you?” replied David. “All I did was ask a question.” 30 Ignoring his brother, he turned to someone else, asked the same question, and got the same answer as before.
Do you consistently let yourself get overwhelmed by other people’s emotions? In the campaign against living miserable, you and I have to stop letting the insecurities & emotionality of the Eliab’s in life set the our agenda. Some of us aren’t half of what we could be because we stay embroiled in a series of petty conflicts with insecure and defeated people that stand between us and the “Giant” opportunity to be truly difference makers for our family, our church, our community and our workplace. Answer three questions and it will reveal whether you are a giant killer or a drama addict.
- Do you let offenses disrupt & reset your focus?
- Do you consistently get overwhelmed by other people’s emotions?
- Do you let other people’s words define your limitations?
- Are you able to completely lean away from protecting yourself and lean in to making your world better for everybody?
Young shepherd boy David had just heard what the reward would be for defeating the giant Goliath and removing this awful disgrace from the nation of Israel. The warrior in David’s soul rose up. However, his brother Eliab was obviously feeling sensitive to the fact that he and his colleagues were looking defeated in front of his little brother; so he let go with a salvo of accusatory words. Now, we know that David ultimately defeated the Giant, but what you may not realize is that the pivotal moment in the narrative was David’s ability to turn away from a trap to have a fight with his brother instead of with the real enemy of Israel. The first 3 words in the “Message” in verse 30 are key, they are; “ignoring his brother.” BTW: ignoring is not emotionally cutting off, but it’s moving on to do what was ultimately best for everybody, including his brother.
Young David had the presence of mind to have a laser beam focus on the rewards of defeating the giant. There was no purpose or reward in winning an argument with his brother. Many of us would have have spent the rest of the day trying to prove to Eliab that we weren’t there to “have a ring side seat for a bloody battle.” We would have gotten so upset at our brother that recovering our self esteem would suddenly become the most important item on our agenda. Listen, YOU CAN’T KILL THE GIANT PROBLEM IF YOU’RE SPENDING YOUR TIME FIGHTING WITH THE MIDGET PROBLEM.
