Favorites and Underdogs 

by Bruce Yentes

 

Each March, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) holds a men's basketball tournament to crown it's national champion.

 

Known as "March Madness," it's one of the most popular events in sports with an enormous national television audience tuned in for the excitement and drama the tournament is known to provide.

 

Some of the drama occurs in the tourney's first round where national powerhouse teams are often pitted against lesser known opponents. These games are invariably referred to as "David vs. Goliath matchups," in reference to the famous Bible story in 1 Samuel.

 

In these instances, David is cast as the underdog.

 

But the fact is, even though he was no physical match for his opponent, there was no way the little shepherd boy could lose.

 

That's because, as David shouted at Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:45, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands..."

 

And, as we know from the story, mighty Goliath was conquered by Almighty God.

 

At face value, it's easy to see the conquest of Goliath as an upset. 1 Samuel 17:4 refers to him as a "champion." At 9-feet tall, he had a definite height advantage. He was also, as David said, armed to the teeth.

 

On the other hand, David was not even an unsung reserve player who came off the bench to spark his team to victory. He was more like the Israelite water boy, originally tasked with bringing lunch to the battle site and checking up on his brothers. (1 Samuel 17:17-19).

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But the Bible tells us the battle belonged to the Lord (1 Samuel 17:47) and the Lord prevailed, just as He had in earlier rescuing David from a lion and a bear. (1 Samuel 17:34-37).

 

David survived those battles because he was humble enough to know that he couldn't win in his own strength and had the faith and trust to call on the Lord when faced with a ridiculously powerful opponent.

 

In our fallen world, we face ridiculously powerful opponents in our battles with sin, illness, addiction and other afflictions that Satan launches our way.

 

Like David, we can't win on our own. Like David, we need God. May we make it a point to continually seek to grow closer to Him with increasing faith and trust.