I must start by saying I read the Teen Edition of this book, but it is not on Goodreads, so I will put my review here. The author of this book, Max Lucado, wanted to take the incredible story of David and relate to modern times, which he did very well. It is often hard to bring Biblical stories, especially Old Testament stories, but Max is able to take each part of David’s life and translate it to relatable terms of today. Monica Hall, who adapted parts of this book to relate to the life of teenagers, saw the need for teenagers to be able to face their giants and take Biblical steps in doing so. You could call this a self-help book, but you don’t need to have a huge issue to read it. David faced problems both large and small, just as we do today. That is a major part of the theme. Everyone, at some point, has an issue. David dealt with a fair share of issues from a teenager all the way until his death. Another major theme from this book is one that Lucado directly said, “Focus on giants- you stumble. Focus on God- giants stumble.” This is a great summary of the entire book. Through every challenge they dissect from David’s life, the main point is to focus on God. You have to address your giants, whether it is fears, grief, anger or others, for them to get better. This book is written as an exposition under the topic of facing your giants, but each chapter is written as a description. Each chapter starts with a bit of an introduction from Lucado, then the story of David, then Hall relates David’s story to teenagers and it goes back and forth between Lucado and Hall. I really thought this helped being the whole story together. I once met Lucado and have heard him speak many times, but if I did not have these personal experiences, I would think that Lucado is untreatable. Having his own experiences mixed in to his introductions and telling of the Bible stories, the reader could see that although he is a famous preacher and incredibly successful writer, he still faces problems similar to our own. Hall’s use of 13 teen’s personal stories makes it super relatable to teens from all walks of life. Overall, I think this book was very well written and very relatable. I liked how there were stories from so many different teens. It made it relatable not only to myself, but reminded me of many of my friends as well. I honestly don’t think I would change anything about this book. It was written perfectly for what it needed to say.
This is an amazing book that helps readers overcome their fears/giants/or whatever you want to come them by analyzing the story of David. God calls David a man after His heart, even though David failed badly with Bathsheba and his own family. Lucado explains why we fail when we focus on our giants, but will succeed if we focus on God. I was really challenge by Lucado's analysis of David's story, especially the chapters on distant diety, tough promises, and dashed hopes. I also learned a lot from the chapters on silent phones, desperate days, strongholds, thin air-ogance, and take Goliath down! Read this book to learn how to take your Goliath down, whether it's "bills you can't pay, people you can't please, habits you can't break, failures you can't forget, a future you can't face," unemployment, or anything else!Favorite Quotes: (P. 7) One might read David's story and wonder what God saw in him. The fellow fell as often as he stood, stumbled as often as he conquered. He stared down Goliath, yet ogled at Bathsheba; defied God-mockers in the valley, yet joined them in the wilderness. An Eagle Scout one day. Chumming with the Mafia the next. He could lead armies but couldn't manage a family. Raging David. Weeping David. Bloodthirsty. God-hungry. Eight wives. One God. A man after God's own heart? That God saw him as such gives hope to us all. David's life has little to offer the unstained saint. Straight-A souls find David's story disappointing. The rest of us find it reassuring. We ride the same roller coaster. We alternate between swan dives and belly flops, souffles and burnt toast. (P. 138) The story of David and Bathsheba is less a story of lust and more a story of power. A story of a man who rose too high for his own good. A man who needed to hear these words: "Come down before you fall."
What do You think about Facing Your Giants (2006)?
How do we traverse our most difficult roads without giving up? How do we live our normal days, day after day, without becoming complacent? Upon what do we fix our gaze?In this book, Lucado suggests we explore the story of David in order to answer these and other questions. More specifically, he contends that David was able to defeat Goliath and had moments of great clarity, inspiration, and leadership when he kept his eyes on God and asked for God's help and direction. When he didn't, he fell into pits of self-pity, adultery, and worse. The idea being that we can also face down our Goliaths, be they illness, debt, failing relationships, etc..., if we keep our eyes on God. At a time when there are so many troubles and sorrows, this book can be a comfort and a source of inspiration, especially the first several chapters; those spoke to me the most.
—Shannon
This book from Max Lucado was an encouragement to me and i do pray and recommende it highly to those whom are seeking a better understanding of why we face trials and giants in our lives. Max Lucado takes us through the life of David to help us to have a better understanding of such concepts as "losing focus on God" "Striving to follow Him" and truly his writing and method are truly amazingly simple and understandeable.I myself am a heavy reader and whipped through this book is about 2-3 days of consistent reading. May God help you to follow Him and bless the reading of this book in an encouragement to follow Him.God bless,Darin
—Darin
I got the chance to read "Facing Your Giants" by Max Lucado published by Thomas Nelson. I have read that Max Lucado is called America's Pastor and after reading this book I can understand why."Facing Your Giants" is not just about the story of how David defeated Goliath, though that is what one of the chapters is about. "Facing Your Giants" is about the life of David from the moment he entered into battle with Goliath until moments before his death and how he faced the challenges that came before him. What Pastor Lucado brings to life is that those same challenges face us today and we can use David as our example and win over these challenges just the way David did.The chapters deal with desperation, raging bosses, dry season, disappointments and dashed hopes. Through it all there is God who gives the strength and wisdom to overcome no matter what the challenge of the giant is. There are nineteen chapters and each chapter deals with a specific challenge that David had to deal with in his life and, at some point, we will have to deal with them as well.If we focus on the giants, we stumble if we focus on God, the giants tumble. Whatever we focus our attention on looms large in our eyes. With Max Lucado's book we can focus our attention on the God who is bigger than all things and everything is beneath His feet.To listen to 24 Christian music please visit our internet radio station www.kingdomairwaves.orgDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
—Victor Gentile
