My brother-in-law lives out in the country in Kentucky. One night, he heard a noise on his porch. Armed with a gun, he went out and confronted a bear. The bear charged him. As my brother-in-law ran back toward the front door, he fired behind him before running into his house. The bullet struck the bear, mortally wounding it. However, the bear didn’t die immediately. My brother-in-law could hear it flopping around on the porch before it eventually wandered off into the woods, where it died.

The game warden had to be called to investigate what happened. He was a busy man, so it took a while. The bear’s decaying body caused a terrible smell in the area. It could be removed only after the game warden determined that my brother-in-law did not simply go out to kill a bear. That would have resulted in a hefty fine. Because he acted in self-defense, my brother-in-law was justified in killing the bear. When I heard this story, I wondered what I would have done. As a city dweller, I am pretty sure I would have had a heart attack when that bear charged me on my porch. If I survived the heart attack, the bear would have finished me off. Thinking about how scary confronting the bear would have been, not to mention the headache of the aftermath, I concluded that nothing good can come from meeting an angry, hungry bear, especially at night.

Today, I revisited a familiar Bible story that reminded me of my brother-in-law’s experience. We have all heard the account of David and Goliath many times (1 Sam 17:1-51). David, who was just a teenager, confronted a frightening giant of a man. There is no way I would have done that, especially at that age. I know one of the reasons David did so was that he had been anointed king of Israel by God’s prophet Samuel (1 Sam 16:11-13). David was a man of faith. He knew he would live because the Lord had said that he would rule in Saul’s place, and that hadn’t happened yet.

We could say, then, that David walked out to meet Goliath because he believed God’s word. But let’s be honest. We often have God’s word on something, but are afraid to act. That word is not enough to motivate us to do what we should. We sometimes need something else.

David had that something else. When asked why he was willing to meet Goliath in a contest to the death, especially given his youth and lack of combat experience, he told Saul it was because of his life experiences. As a shepherd, bears had attacked his sheep. When they did, he chased the bears, caught them, and killed them (1 Sam 17:33-37). Goliath couldn’t be worse than a mean, hungry bear. God had delivered David from those animals; He could do the same with a giant Philistine.

Thinking of my brother-in-law’s meeting with a bear on his porch in the middle of the night, I wonder how I would respond if I were watching over some sheep when a bear came and grabbed one. I am confident I would say, “Well, I just lost a sheep.” But David did not respond that way. He found himself in a difficult situation and responded by exhibiting great bravery.

God used such events in his life to prepare him for his meeting with Goliath. It was probably a process. The first time a bear attacked his sheep, perhaps David was too afraid to pursue the bear. However, after a few losses, David was able to muster the courage to do what was necessary. Maybe his father’s encouragement, coupled with rebuke for not doing so on previous occasions, helped.

Regardless of how it happened, the necessity of David’s confronting bears turned out to be a very good thing. They helped him to become a brave young man who would become a great king of Israel.

God does the same with us. He allows difficulties in our lives to make us the people He wants us to be. They prepare us for situations we will later face.

I still don’t want to meet a mad bear on my porch. You probably don’t, either. But when we face hardships, may we ask the Lord to see the good they can bring into our lives.