From today’s reading...
When he had sized David up,
and seen that he was youthful, and ruddy, and handsome in appearance,
the Philistine held David in contempt.”
Never underestimate your opponent.
At best you'll have to work harder in front of everyone to beat them.
At worst you could lose the sale, your job, your case, or even your life like Goliath did in 1 Samuel 17 today.
Fortunately or unfortunately, for most of us, our biggest opponent is ourselves.
We procrastinate. We ruminate. We criticize ourselves to the point of paralysis and/or self-destruction.
We underestimate the power of the influence of our hapless, aimless, negative friends and how addicted we are to being comfortable around them because "I've known them all my life" or "I grew up with them" or "they love me how I am."
We underestimate the power of our habits.
We underestimate the power of our excuses.
We underestimate the power of junk food.
We underestimate the power of pornography.
We underestimate the power of social media.
We underestimate the power of our echo chambers.
We underestimate the power of our fears.
We underestimate the power of our insecurities.
We underestimate the power of the Devil.
We doubt the power of God.
The same God who empowered a little shepherd to kill the greatest warrior in the world...with that warrior's own sword.
That same God who got you through that tough math exam, that horrible breakup, that foreclosure, that divorce, that illness, that car crash, that job loss, that water leak, that storm.
So never underestimate your opponent's power, but never underestimate God's either.
Stay the course.
Keep the faith.
Endure.
Market like you mean it.
Now go sell something.