Facing Your Giants

By Max Lucado

Review By Casey Fedde

Categories: David, Fear, Motivational, Spiritual Living

This is no giant of a book. But it has a Goliath of a message. Facing Your Giants, by bestselling author Max Lucado, stitches together the story of David with parables of others battling their own Goliaths — it's truly "A David and Goliath Story for Everyday People."

Like in Fearless, Lucado's prose is reassuring, comforting, and uplifting. The book is an inspired sermon on David's battle against Goliath, his adulterous dance with Bathsheba, his hand in Uriah's death, hiding out with the enemy, and the neglect of a child. It leaves nothing out for the reader who might well be a weary warrior facing problems of debt, depression, abuse, unemployment, or disease. In fact, Lucado turns David into a friend, whom we can relate to, sympathize with, and turn to for advice.

David, as Lucado points out, is the most named guy in the New Testament. Sixty-six chapters are dedicated to this stone-slinging son of God, and his name is mentioned 59 times. And today, he still seems to appear everywhere, from sculptures and paintings to movies and books. David is no stranger to acclaim!

But Facing Your Giants is not just another story about Biblical prodigy. Facing Your Giants is about facing your giants, your Goliath-sized problems, through the examples set by David. Lucado's book arms you with the stones to throw, the prayers to pray, and the gratitude to give until you find yourself standing with one leg atop your fallen Goliath, screaming "Hallelujah."

Can you really relate to David? Of course! Unfortunately, we all come to intersections in life and often find ourselves asking, "How can I know what God wants me to do?" (90). Well, we're in luck. David asked this same question. And God's answer is just as clear to us as it was to David: "Go to Hebron." All right, so that's not the answer we're probably looking for, considering we're not seeking guidance on where to go after learning about the deaths of an enemy and a friend, Saul and Jonathan.

But the Lord does promise, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I with advise you and watch over you" (Psalms 32:8 NLT). And Lucado reminds us of this. He reminds us to make every decision with an open heart and open ears to God; to mute our dissenters; and, maybe most importantly, to never give up.

And for the younger set, Max Lucado teamed up with Monica Hall to write a special edition. Check out the review of Facing Your Giants: Teen Edition.