Seeing What Could Be

Seeing What Could Be

Ara Parseghian, two-time national champion head football coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, once said, “A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are.” In his eleven seasons at Notre Dame, Coach Parseghian never had a losing record. Immediately after taking over at Notre Dame, with the program coming off five straight losing seasons, the Fighting Irish nearly captured the 1964 National Championship in Parseghian’s first year. That’s leadership!

When Saul was king over Israel, the Philistines wreaked havoc on the Israelites. The Valley of Elah became the location for a great showdown between Israel and the Philistines. Goliath, the Philistines’ champion, came forward and challenged anyone in Israel to a man-to-man battle, winner take all. For forty straight days, Goliath taunted Israel, until a young shepherd boy named David brought his brothers supplies at the front lines. When he heard the giant taunting the army of the Living God, the leader in David began to emerge. Quickly, he inquired about what would be done for the man who took the giant down.

I want you to see something really special in this story. Look at David’s question in 1 Samuel 17:26: “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel?”

Notice Saul’s evaluation of David: “Don’t be ridiculous! . . . There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth” (1 Samuel 17:33).

Do you see it? Saul said, “You’re only a boy.” David said, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine?”

Let’s take a play out of Coach Parseghian’s playbook and help our children grow in the faith of what God can do. Let’s lead and inspire them toward greatness. To Saul, David was a boy. But I would argue that David was the only man on Israel’s sideline that day.

Don’t be ridiculous! . . . There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.

1 Samuel 17:33