I learned something very interesting from David on how to shoot your shot from 1st Samuel 17.  Goliath had been terrorizing Israel’s army for a space of 40 days. There was no man that was bold enough to match him to fight. Here comes David, not even knowing the genesis of the matter, but infuriated by a Philistine defiling the lord’s army. He took up the challenge to fight and bring down Goliath.
But how did his abilities and desire to fight this battle get to Saul, the king’s hearing?
David kept on speaking about his desire to take down Goliath, even when his eldest brother Eliab thought of him as proud….Verse 28
David turned to other people that could give him a listening ear, as he continued declaring his intentions to fight Goliath.. Verse 29. And this intention David had and spoke about consistently was carried by Word of Mouth (WOM) to Saul’s hearing. This is how David got an opportunity to stand and fight Goliath…
There is so much to learn from this story, but let us just focus on the “shooting your shot” part that we can learn from as demonstrated by David
Making your intentions known
David could tell of his intention to fight Goliath because he had a track record of fighting bear and lion while keeping his Father’s sheep. This means that if you want to shoot your shot, you need to have a track record of what you have done in the past which you can make reference to when given an opportunity to speak. If you don’t have this yet, please go and pay attention to and master your skill set well before shooting your shot
Speaking about your abilities
David kept speaking, and saying what he wanted regardless of his elder brother who wanted to serve as a stumbling block to his progress. Of the people who heard David and discussed his intention to fight Goliath, some of them might have done so out of jesting, envy, or mere curiosity. But the end goal is that “their talking” served as the vehicle to convey David’s message to Saul, the person who mattered to give David an opportunity to fight. This means that our abilities must not lie alone in our head, or heart, we must keep telling people what we can do, if we want to get the chance to showcase it to the world.
Being Consistent in your pursuit
David was consistent in his talking, even when those who heard him could not give him the go-ahead to fight Goliath. But he kept talking. This means that sometimes when we speak to people about our abilities, they might not be the ones to give us the jobs to do, but they could make strong “recommendations” for us to those who matter.
In Conclusion
From all these ” shooting your shot” tactics deployed by David that we can learn from, please this year 2023, do not be shy or quiet about your abilities. Tell people what you can do, get competent at it, and in no time, you will start getting noticed and getting the right opportunities to showcase your abilities.
This is how we can stand before Kings and not mere men.
Happy new year
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