In Facing Your Giants, the author Max Lucado impresses once again with his devotional style study of the life of David with his failures and successes. He is a Biblical figure whom God himself proclaimed “a man after his own heart” (Samuel 13:14). David, first King of Israel, has been the subject of untold works of art, painting, sculpture, cinema, poetry, and prose, from Michelangelo to Bible cartoons. some describe his weakness; all describe a truly incredible life.

Lucado is known for his encouraging books, and this book is no exception. The book works as small biography, showing us chronologically how the events in David’s life happened. While most of the chapters are each a self contained lesson it does permit us to how one event lead to another. As usual he chooses a catchy theme for Christians to follow.

Too often in our lives, we focus on the overwhelming stresses in our lives, fear, failure, doubt, a shady past, etc. Whatever it may be we all have giant hovering over us in our way. He uses the life of David to vividly illustrate this truth. In the beginning of the book, Lucado the word-smith paints a portrait of tiny David and how he stood firm against a nine-foot giant, against all odds, in the midst of others’ doubt, and dropped the behemoth with one stone hurled from a sling, the simplest of weapons. Lucado cleverly and effectively shows that David’s focus was on God, not the towering threat that loomed over him. This is how we should live our own lives, with our focus on the Master, on the one who sits upon the throne and guarantees our success if we just trust in Him.

Max Lucado very rarely brings anything new to the table. That’s certainly the case here. There is very little I haven’t heard before. But he always puts such a fresh, encouraging spin on things, I always see things in a new light. And even when admonishing us, he still does it gently. I appreciate Lucado’s ability to take a minimal narrative that’s found in Scripture and paint color around it. He’s able to inject life and emotion into people that can be minimized when you read the straight text without taking time to ponder. In addition, he easily moves the historical event into today’s world and relates it to situations more familiar to us.

It’s full of many small one-liners and brief sentences that are POWERFUL! Lucado’s style is easy to read and can be done in a devotional type format. applying to anyone who has a ‘giant’ still lurking around. One of the trademark saying from the book by Lucado is, “Focus on your giants, and you stumble. Focus on God, and your Giants tumble.” There are some helpful study questions with practical applications in the back of the book. Overall, Facing Your Giants is an encouraging and helpful “applicational biography” of a very famous life. ( )

David, first King of Israel, has been the subject of untold works of art: painting, sculpture, cinema, poetry, and prose, from Michangelo to Veggie Tales. Some describe his greatness; some describe his weakness; all describe a truly incredible life.

But what does David’s life mean to me, today, in the midst of the pressures and pain of the 21st century? That is the subject of this great read by Max Lucado. Each chapter of the book is a chapter from David’s life, from his encounter with Goliath to his life on the lam to his victories to his downfall with Bathsheba. With each glimpse into David’s strengths and weaknesses Lucado winsomely shows how we can apply insights from his life to our own. The truths presented are all Biblical and God-centered, although he sometimes draws out a point he wants to make a bit beyond where the Bible actually points.

There are some helpful study questions with practical applications in the back of the book. Overall, Facing Your Giants is an encouraging and helpful “applicational biography” of a very famous life. ( )

Based on the biblical story of David and Goliath in the Old Testament, Max tells us that we can face the giants in our lives just like what David did. After you have read this book, you will feel that all your PROBLEMS are not problems at all! ( )

The kind of book you can sink your teeth into! We all have so many giants we have to face, only God can walk along with us to help face and "beat" your giants down. ( )

A Very Good Read. ( )