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Use your own slingshot! It comes from David’s life. When he volunteered to fight nine-foot Goliath, King Saul offered him his heavy armor and a sword. But David knew he couldn’t win wearing someone else’s armor. It didn’t fit him and he couldn’t move in it. Instead, he chose his slingshot—the tool he knew, the skill he had practiced—and he defeated the giant.
I have to relearn that lesson often. God gifts each of us uniquely. It’s a mistake to try to do what God has called us to do in someone else’s armor. It’s so easy to look at someone successful and think, that’s what I should be doing. But God has given you certain gifts—and not others—on purpose. Don’t minimize what he has entrusted to you.
Use what God has given you. Do what you do well. Don’t try to impress people or copy someone else’s style. Every time I’ve tried to do God’s work someone else’s way, I’ve fallen flat. I have to lean into the strengths God placed in me and I encourage you not to underestimate what God can do through you using your own slingshot.
Remember, David’s skill was developed in obscurity—out in the fields, caring for sheep. In that quiet, unnoticed place, God was preparing him. He practiced with that slingshot until he was an expert. What looked small and unimportant became the very thing God used to bring victory.
Looking back, I can see how God used even the hidden seasons of my life to prepare me for what I’m doing now. He wastes nothing.
Polish your gifts. Develop your skills. Trust how God has wired you.
And then step forward—using your own slingshot.
