“Wait for the LORD; be strong and courageous and wait for the LORD.”

Psalm 27:13

I did one of my favorite things today. I spent time with a small group of teenagers who are trying to figure out how to do life in this crazy world.

We talked about David slaying the giant, about how he wasn’t afraid because he knew God was on his side. We talked about our own giants, and we numbered our fears.

And in the middle of it, we wondered about what it means to be holy.

These kids have crazy busy schedules and crazy big problems. They are facing down giants every day.

None of them think they can be holy. And all of them are afraid.

One guy fears losing his family, and later admits his “giant” is the possibility he may never again see his birth father again because he’s in prison.

A young woman fears she isn’t enough — that God doesn’t think she’s good enough. She’s fighting to slay the feeling of failure that she carries around in her heart.

For another, it’s trying to please everyone. Another battles his own arrogance and his tongue, another his too busy life where there’s no room to breathe.

And then there’s the quiet girl with the brown hair and glasses who chooses to sit on a cold tile floor while everyone else sits in chairs. That one, whose precious sad eyes look away or stare down at the cold floor. Her giants are breathing down hard and she wears fear like a cloak on her back.

“You are called to holiness,” I told them. “And you’re strong.”

“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy as I am holy.’ ” (I Peter 1:15-15)

I shared scripture that declares the very same power God poured into them when they claimed Him as their Savior is the power He used to create the earth, to do miracles, to raise His son from the dead and to give you eternal life.

“Tap into that power,” I told them.

Then I read it again: “Be holy as I am holy.”

Be set apart. Don’t conform. Claim your inheritance as God’s adopted child.

David — the sinner, adulterer, murderer and liar — he slayed giants and he was holy. Because he knew his God by name.

I reminded them that David tended his relationship with God while he was tending his sheep, still a boy alone in the pasture, waiting to grow up and become king. He chased after God, sat with Him, sang to Him and praised Him.

And when he faced giants, he did it without fear, because he knew and feared God. He had built up courage for the impossible because he had learned to fear God in the every day.

Then I read it to them — all of Psalm 27. And I challenged them to  face their giants, fear the Lord and be holy.

Father God, I pray for victory over giants. I ask that you strengthen the young Davids as they do battle in our world. Help them to overcome their fears and to see that you have empowered them by your Holy Spirit. Show them how to be holy.