Why does stepping into a new calendar year feel so challenging? Overwhelming even? Make no mistake in your musings to answer. There are no bones about what your biggest obstacle is.

You have enemies. We all have enemies. I certainly have my share. Some enemies might indeed be literal, physical, potentially hateful, and harmful people. Others are hauntingly spiritual, psychological, and metaphorical.

What are your enemies this new year?

• Hateful attitudes and opposition from friends or family?
• Gossiping, vengeful coworkers?
• Disease that’s racking your body or a loved one’s?
• Deep-seated vices and long-term addictions?
• Tempestuous trials and tribulations, devilishly aiming to take you out?

What if you encountered someone big enough, strong enough, and mighty enough to help you face every one of these enemies and more? 

Here’s where a little word, omni, combines with potent and makes a powerful difference. Potent means something or someone is powerful, strong enough to affect a stunning difference.

If your kids played muddy football and dropped stained jeans in the laundry pile, you need a potent stain remover. If you’ve got a won’t-quit cough with your pesky cold, you need a potent cough syrup to squelch it and get better. When you deeply desire to advance an idea during a meeting at work, you want a couple potent team members—powerful influencers—on your side.

Omnipotent means God is almighty in power. Paul David Tripp explains in his book:

He can do, without effort, whatever he wills at any time and in any place he chooses to exercise his power . . . This means God is utterly and completely unique in power. There is nothing in heaven or on earth that is comparable in power to God. God’s power has no limits. There is nothing that God cannot do, according to his will and pleasure, and nothing can inhibit or stop God’s exercise of his power.

Let’s get in the Omni machine and go time-traveling.

Hobbit vs. Troll

At a pivotal time in Israel’s communal life, God’s people were up against their archenemies, the Philistines. Battle lines were drawn in the Valley of Elah. Israelites were on one side and Philistines on the other.  

Who should appear, but the mightiest of the Philistines, Goliath. His daily taunts and jeers had all the Israelites shaking in their armor—and shaking their heads in despair. How could they ever win against such a gargantuan enemy? There was no one able to match or overpower the warrior. Certainly not their current, supposed ruler, Saul. 

Then who should appear? A youth sent by his aged daddy from Bethlehem to deliver cheese and bread to his big brothers. There was nothing powerful about him. In the line-up with his brothers, he was the least mighty, least likely, least qualified. 

Only a shepherd-boy, David. At best, he was sixteen, maybe seventeen years old.

After all the comical vetting by his brothers, Saul, and other experts, David stepped up against the towering adversary (1 Sam. 17 ESV). In response to Goliath’s bombastic speech, the uniquely experienced shepherd approached him with just his shepherd’s staff, a sling, and five smooth stones in his pouch.

I am a big Tolkien fan, so what transpires next in the story conjures scenes in my mind from The Hobbit. I see an under-sized hobbit going up against one of the monstrous trolls. 

In moments to follow at Elah, the underdog’s courageous, truth-filled words echoed off the valley’s rocks and trees, spotlighting the omnipotence of his Almighty God.

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand…(1 Sam. 17:45-46a ESV).

Ponder what resounded from David’s heart and lips.

He proclaimed God’s fully reliable, strong character. He declared that he was coming against that dastardly giant in the authority, empowerment, protection, and offensive strength of the LORD. While Goliath trusted in his weaponry, David trusted in his maker. 

David was confident but not a bit cocky about his own power. He was only cocky about the LORD’s almighty strength. The same one who had already delivered a bear and lion into his hand would now help him defeat a vile, uncircumcised giant. In the shepherd’s heart, mind, and mouth, his God was decidedly omnipotent. David had practiced with his sling and was prepared deep in his heart.

With just one stone, Goliath fell. No doubt in that moment, the ground shook with a monstrous thud. Soldiers on both sides gasped. All went silent.

After we read of Goliath’s stunning demise, the ancient Hebrew text makes a point of telling us, “There was no sword in the hand of David” (1 Sam. 17:50b ESV). The giant was already dead. Only after the fact did David grab Goliath’s weapon and triumphantly take off his head. 

What transpired in those moments was no typical victory. David’s skill and faith brought him down, but Israel’s omnipotent LORD was the hero. 

Almighty Steps in the Face of Your Enemies

It’s certainly appropriate to start the opening weeks and months of the year in pursuit of tactical, hands-on skill sets and practices. Don’t shy away from aspiring to your own “sling and stone” training: 

• Register for the new class that’s sure to broaden your horizons.
• Start sketching the fresh business plan.
• Build that list of books to read, the ones in a new arena where you’ve been dreaming.
• Curate a list of people with whom you want to further your healthy friendships and strategic client connections.

What are those new endeavors you should embrace to grow your skills of implementation and execution? 

David had practiced with a sling and stone. But his even bigger preparation had transpired in the depths of his heart and soul. Each day, he had patiently discovered that God was all-powerful. As a result, he could go up against any enemy, whether man or beast.

When facing your enemies in 2025, step forward with David being your example. With fresh commitment, set out to learn, increase, and practice your tactical skills. Then also commit to the good work of heart and soul. More intimately connect with the LORD himself.

Let the biblical truths you encounter work on you in transformative ways, reshaping your perspective on who God is and how he wants to prove himself in your life. Get involved with God every day.

Editor’s note: This article has been adapted from the author’s book, Your Omni Year: Step into all God has in store, which is available for purchase here.