The Giant's Between Myself and My Dream

In review of 1 Samuel 17:47 it says, “Everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” (NLT).

Bottom Line:

This the Lord’s battle. He will rescue his people.

What this means to me:

My faith matters. This is the Lord’s battle. Everyone will see that the Lord rescues his people.

Today’s passage comes from 1 Samuel 17 where David faces the giant with a simple object. We see David’s faith played out in a most difficult circumstance. In meeting the giant, David replied to the Philistine, "You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, But I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!. And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord's battle, and he will give you to us!"

When David was with the Saul’s men, criticism of him and his size couldn't stop David. While the rest of the army stood around, he knew that importance of taking action. With God to fight for him, there was no reason to wait. People may try to discourage me with negative comments or mockery, but continue to do what I know is right. By doing what is right, I"ll be pleasing God, whose opinion matters the most.

What made David effective, was more than his ability with a sling; it was his courage and his faith in God. To fight like David I need David's kind of fearlessness. David had grown strong in his confidence by trusting God when he had encountered wild animals while guarding his father's sheep. When I face towering problems, I should recall how God has helped me in the past. Take heart because God gives me strength. Use the skills God has already given me and move forward.

I’m reminded this morning that In the story of David in 1 Samuel, he actually had to fight four other giants before he got to Goliath. They weren’t physical giants, but they were giants in his mind.

I’m far more likely to have to face those giants than a Goliath, but they can be just as big and intimidating, and they can keep me from becoming who God wants you to be and fulfilling the dream that God has put in your heart.

The first giant in facing your dream is delay. No dream is fulfilled instantly. God gives you the dream on one day, but he doesn’t fulfill it the next day. It may be years before you see the fulfillment of your life dream. There is always a waiting period. In David’s case, his dad held him back from the dream. After Samuel anointed David as king, Jesse told David to get back to tending the sheep! When God’s plan contradicts somebody else’s plan, there’s going to be a delay, and people are going to try to hold me back — sometimes even the people who love me the most. But God is faithful, and he will complete his work in me in his time.

The second giant you may face is discouragement. Goliath created a climate of fear in Israel, and everybody was convinced they were going to lose the battle. Who am I listening to who says it can’t be done? Who is putting down my dream, saying it won’t ever happen? Sometimes I just need a fresh voice — a kid from the village with fresh eyes who says, “This guy’s nothing. We can take him down.”

The third giant standing in my way is disapproval. In David’s case, his own brother questioned his motives and disapproved of him going after Goliath. When other people are afraid of my God-given dream but I go for it anyway, I will be misjudged, maligned, and misunderstood. I have to decide what matters more to me: the approval of other people or the approval of God.

The fourth giant I may have to face is doubt. Nobody was a greater expert on war than King Saul, and he told David he was crazy for thinking a boy could fight a warrior like Goliath. Maybe the expert is saying I can’t do it, either. That’s enough to make me doubt myself.