Have you considered how we talk about experiencing God? We say things like “I need a God experience” as if it’s something we have to chase down or wait for at the right conference or retreat. But here’s what you really need to know! God shows up most powerfully in the places we’re not even looking.
Let me tell you about David. Not the giant-slaying hero we put on flannel boards, but the teenager out in the fields doing his regular job. He’s tending sheep, which honestly sounds pretty boring until you factor in the lions and bears that occasionally showed up for dinner. David had to go after these predators, grab them by the fur, and take them down to rescue his family’s livestock. This wasn’t some spiritual exercise—it was Tuesday afternoon. Just another day at work.
The thing that gets me about David’s story is what happened later when he volunteered to fight Goliath. King Saul looked at this kid and basically said, “You’re too young, too inexperienced.” But David’s response changed everything for me when I really understood it. He didn’t say, “I’ve got the skills.” He said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” David wasn’t confident in his abilities—he was confident because he had experience with God showing up.
Here’s What Nobody Tells You About Building Confidence in Faith
We make faith so complicated sometimes. We think it requires years of Bible study, gray hair, and some special wisdom that only comes with age. But that’s not how God works. Romans 2:11 tells us that God shows no favoritism, and that includes when it comes to age and experience. I’ve seen people sit in church for thirty years who have less faith than a teenager who just gave their life to Christ six months ago. Why? Because faith isn’t about how long you’ve been warming a pew—it’s about whether you’re actually engaging with God in your everyday life.
David was probably a young teenager when he fought Goliath, but he had more God experience than the entire Israelite army combined. Those soldiers were trained warriors who’d been fighting for years, yet they were paralyzed with fear. David had confidence because he’d already seen God deliver him. He’d experienced God’s rescue firsthand, and that built something in him that no amount of military training could replicate.
This is where most of us miss it. We’re waiting for the big moments, the mountain-top experiences, the dramatic answered prayers. Meanwhile, God is showing up in our regular Tuesday afternoons, and we’re not even noticing. You made it through that difficult conversation at work. You chose patience when your kid pushed every button you had. You resisted that temptation that’s tripped you up a hundred times before. Those aren’t accidents—those are God experiences that are building confidence in you for something bigger.
The Everyday Training Ground Nobody Talks About
David said something fascinating when King Saul tried to put armor on him. He basically said, “I don’t have experience with this stuff. I’ve never trained with a sword and shield. Let me work from what I know.” He took his sling and five smooth stones—the tools he’d used countless times while protecting sheep. This wasn’t about being stubborn or refusing help. David understood that God had been training him in specific ways through his everyday responsibilities.
Think about all the times you’ve tried to fight your battles using someone else’s armor. You might have compared yourself to other believers, wondered why your faith doesn’t look like theirs, questioned whether you’re doing it right because your journey seems different. But here’s the truth: God is preparing each of us through our unique circumstances. Your everyday life—with all its mundane responsibilities and unexpected challenges—is your training ground. Those aren’t distractions from your spiritual life; they are your spiritual life.
When David was out there chasing down lions and bears, he wasn’t thinking, “This is preparing me to fight giants one day.” He was just being faithful with what was in front of him. He was protecting what had been entrusted to him. But in those moments, something crucial was happening. He was learning that when he stepped out in faith, God showed up. When things got dangerous and scary, God rescued him. Every single time he saw God deliver him, his confidence grew stronger.
What Changes Everything (And Why Experience Matters More Than You Think)
There’s this cycle that happens when you start recognizing God’s hand in your life. Your faith allows you to see God working. Seeing God work gives you experience and confidence in Him. Having confidence in Him allows you to step out in even bigger faith. It keeps building on itself, and that’s exactly where God wants us—right in the middle of that cycle, experiencing Him on a regular basis.
But here’s the key: you have to stop and reflect. David wasn’t scrolling through his phone after taking down a bear. He was out there with his harp, singing to God, processing what had just happened. I imagine him saying, “God, thank you for helping me fight that lion. Thank you for bringing this sheep back safely.” That reflective time, that contemplation and prayer—that’s where the experience solidifies into confidence.
We’re so busy rushing from one thing to the next that we miss the God experiences happening all around us. Something works out that shouldn’t have. A door opens that you didn’t knock on. You have peace in a situation that should be tearing you apart. Stop and acknowledge it. Say out loud, “That was You, God. Thank You for showing up.” Because when you do that, you’re building the kind of confidence that will carry you when your giant moment comes.
2 Timothy 4:17-18 captures this perfectly. Paul writes, “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me… So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil work and will bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom.” Paul’s linking his experience back to David’s, back to Daniel in the lion’s den, back to every story of God’s deliverance throughout Scripture. He’s saying, “God rescued me before, He’s rescuing me now, and He’ll ultimately rescue me into His heavenly kingdom.” That’s the confidence that comes from experience.
The Thing Most Christians Get Wrong About Rescue and Deliverance
When we read about God rescuing David from lions and bears, or Moses leading people out of Egypt, or Paul escaping persecution, we tend to focus on the dramatic nature of the deliverance. But the word used for “rescue” in these passages is the same word used throughout Scripture when God delivers His people. It’s about God coming down to help, not about our ability to save ourselves.
David made this crystal clear. He didn’t say, “I’ve got this giant because I’m skilled with a sling.” He said, “God rescued me from the lion and the bear, and He’ll rescue me from this Philistine.” The experience wasn’t about David’s fighting ability—it was about God’s faithfulness to deliver. That’s a game-changer when you understand it. You’re not building confidence in yourself; you’re building confidence in God showing up.
This is exactly what Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer: “Deliver us from evil.” He’s telling us to ask God for rescue, to expect God to come through, because that’s who He is. God doesn’t just watch from a distance while we struggle. He comes down. He intervenes. He uses us as vessels for His rescue and deliverance, but He’s the one doing the work.
Think about the privilege in that. God hears someone crying out, sees someone suffering, knows about a situation that needs His intervention, and He says, “I’m going to use you. I’m going to work through you to rescue and deliver that person.” That’s what happened with Moses. God said, “I have heard their cries, I know their suffering, I’m coming down to rescue them—and you get to be part of it.” What an incredible honor to be God’s vessel for someone else’s deliverance.
Where This All Lands (And What It Means for You Right Now)
I love how David ended up writing about all this later in life. 2 Samuel 22 is his thanksgiving prayer after everything he went through—from being anointed as a teenager, to running for his life from King Saul, to finally becoming king over Israel. He reflects on his entire journey and says things like, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer… You have given me the shield of Your salvation. Your help exalts me.”
David understood that every experience built on the previous one. Every time God showed up, it prepared him for the next challenge. Every rescue made him more confident in God’s character. He wasn’t the same person at the end of his journey that he was at the beginning, and that’s exactly how it should be. We shouldn’t be the same people we were last year or five years ago. Our faith should be growing, deepening, maturing through every God experience we have.
So here’s my question for you: what are you experiencing with God right now? Not theoretically, not what you think you should be experiencing, but what’s actually happening in your life where God is moving? Maybe you’re in the middle of something difficult and you can’t see it clearly yet. That’s okay. Sometimes the reflection comes later. Sometimes you don’t understand it until you’re on the other side. But ask God to show you how He’s moving in this experience. Ask Him to help you see His hand at work.
Because here’s what I know after walking this faith journey for years: God is never finished with us. We can never learn enough about Him. We can never experience Him enough. There’s always more to know, always more to understand, always deeper levels of faith to explore. And the beautiful thing is that God delights in this. He wants us to know Him better. He wants to build our confidence in Him through real, tangible experiences where we see His faithfulness over and over again.
Don’t live a weak life of faith. Don’t be someone who looks the same spiritually year after year. Engage with God in your everyday moments. Reflect on where He’s showing up. Build that confidence through experience. And when your giant moment comes—and it will come—you’ll be ready because you’ll know beyond any doubt that the God who rescued you from the lions and bears will rescue you again. He always does.
Peace,
Todd