A week ago I arrived at my contacts house in Costa Rica and within a few days we had begun ministry. Ministry has mainly looked like manual labor; leveling dirt, sorting rocks, digging holes and uprooting trees. Most days, our skin is lathered in a combination of sweat and dirt. It’s challenging and rewarding all at the same time and at days end, a cold shower and a hot meal feel like heaven on Earth.
Before the Race, I was slightly terrified to do manual labor. I’m 5’3” and have something like sticks for arms. One of the first days, me and another girl on my team were given the job of digging holes to plant uprooted bushes in. The dirt and clay were hard and the shovels were heavy but we pushed through. We dug a couple holes until we started to feel our shovels hit something hard. Looking into the holes we realized we were hitting roots from the orange tree above us. One of the volunteers came over to help us and taking my friends shovel, began to hack away at the root shouting, “En el nombre de Jesus vamos a cortar la raiz del arbol!” (In the name of Jesus, we are going to cut the root of the tree!) After successfully cutting one of the roots in half, he looked at me and said something like “You try.” I don’t know Spanish very well so instead of repeating what he said, I just began to shout “Heyah!” and channeling all of the strength I could, hacked away at the roots until they were gone. By the end, we were all cracking up. He then pointed at me and said, “You are like David, and la raiz is Goliath.” I smiled and nodded, because in that moment, I did feel like David. I felt accomplished, strong, and capable of defeating something that had been daunting to me.
His words stuck with me for the next couple of days. I have begun thinking about the story of David and Goliath. David who was small, young, and not thought capable of doing anything more than caring for sheep, defeated a “giant” who was thought to be unbeatable. Despite his size though, David knew he had God on his side and he stepped up to battle expecting to win. He was confident that God would protect him and carry him through. This time, manual labor and “la raiz” (the root) were my Goliath, but I have had many “Goliath’s” in my life. I believe each one of us has a Goliath; something big, something scary, something that seems too hard to conquer. Other people may also believe we are incapable. But what if we asked ourselves what our Goliath’s were and then stepped up to the plate with the expectation that God would help us conquer them? What if instead of being afraid and doubting ourselves, we channeled the strength God has given us to defeat the supposedly, undefeatable? And what if we remembered all the times when we walked, pushed, or hacked through something we thought to be impossible and came out on the other side to find that God was with us the entire time; as He is right now? David was confident that he could defeat Goliath because God had been there to help him defeat a lion and a bear as well. We too can be confident when we begin to push forward to conquer the Goliath’s in our lives. So I dare you to be brave in the face of what scares you, ask God for the strength to overcome and maybe even shout, “Heyah!” Defeat your Goliath. He is with you and because of that, you cannot fail.
My teammates, Mallory (left) and Alleigh (right), leveling dirt like pros.
Our ministry contacts house where we are staying.
