By Charmaine Hibberd

But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!

1 Samuel 17:34–37 

David was a very young boy when he defeated Goliath, and yet his faith in God was so strong.

I often wonder how David developed such courageous faith at such a young age and the only reasonable answer I can give is that He practiced it.

In the above verses, David explains that he had the opportunity to defend his father’s sheep and goats from lions and bears in the field.

He assures King Saul that he has the capacity to kill Goliath because he has practiced attacking large beasts in the past.

Imagine if David had had to face Goliath having not prepared himself by fighting and winning against lions and bears. What would be his frame of reference? He would be at square one.

But God knew that David had a Goliath in his future and so he placed lions and bears in his path to practice with.

David didn’t just practice physical battle; he would also have had to practice faith in God to come through for him and save his life each time.

Sometimes God places us in situations that He knows are going to benefit us in the future. Though they may be challenging now, they are stretching us towards a greater capacity.

God’s training ground can look different for everyone because everyone’s calling is different but most of us will have to go through some training to enable us to move on to the next thing.

My prayer for you today is that you will persevere in whatever training ground God has you in right now and that you will allow God to complete His work in you.

‘And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.‘

Philippians 1:6