At the start of the year, I was privileged to be given a book from a friend titled Whose Child Is This? 

The book tells the story of Pastor Bill Wilson, founder of Metro World Child, the largest Sunday School in the world. In it, he describes countless setbacks like insufficient funding and near-death situations. Yet nothing hindered the passion and hope he had in the Lord as he served children in the Brooklyn ghettos.

Here’s the quote that really got me: “Winning an unwinnable battle requires that we be nurtured in solitude. I’d like to tell you there is an easier way, but there isn’t. If you want to win a battle, you first need to get alone with God.”

More often than not, we want it the other way round instead. We pursue the gift rather than the giver.

I think we need a change in our perspectives. Most of us have heard that if we change the way we look at things, the things we look at will change. But this change in attitude does not occur overnight or as instantaneously as Thanos’ snap of his finger. It requires patience, determination and a constant alignment with God.

So beyond asking where God is in our situations, we would also do well to ask Him: “God, what do you want me to take away from this?” I’ve come to realise that disappointment can actually be a doorway to hope. We have infinite hope for God is in control!

It reminds me of the story of David and Goliath. 

Most of David’s young life was spent tending sheep, and it was there that he learnt to communicate with the Lord and use a slingshot. David did not let his youth stop God from using him; he had the fear of God in his heart.

That was why he could boldly say to the Philistines at the battlefield: “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” (1 Samuel 17:45).

If you want to win a battle, you first need to get alone with God.

God could have used an armed soldier to have killed Goliath. So why did He use David?

I believe it was because David knew his answer wasn’t in his slingshot. If he was confident of his personal ability to execute the shot, perhaps he would have only taken one stone instead of five.

I think the young shepherd had no illusions regarding his own power and completely placed his trust in God. As a result, David’s faith in God paid off – He empowered the young shepherd boy to save the day in the face of hopelessness.

Here’s a word of encouragement to all of us today: When you’re down to nothing, God is up to something. Like the Psalmist, I will say of the Lord: “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust” (Psalm 91:2).

For when the situation looks hopeless, there’s only one place to turn – His unfailing love.