Giants!

We all have them in our lives.  Some other know about and others we try and hide in the closet.  Some we want to face and conquer and others we are afraid to even think about too much.  


Today in bible study we were going over 1 Samuel 17 and 18.  Yep that is right David and Goliath.  Goliath was a physical giant and some people have physical giants that they must face, in the form of another person or in a physical condition.  I think more of our giant are of the spiritual or mental sort.  I have several giants of my own and a few of you who know me really well know what those are and if you have read any of my earlier posts you know a couple.  There are a few hidden in my closet that only I know about (well Ron probably knows a few of those).


Goliath was 9 feet tall, a champion warrior, he was of the world and he had the best most high tech armor of his time.  David was the youngest son, a shepherd, he was good looking, he played a lyre, he ran errands for his father, and he was confident in the Lord.  Boy, these 2 are so different.  Goliath just appears to be this huge giant that had everyone shaking in their boots and no one wants to try and take on.  David trusted in the Lord to help him defeat Goliath.  David came against Goliath in the name of the Lord, he would not let Goliath  taunt the army of the Lord.  David took out Goliath with that one stone.


How often do the giants in our lives look so different from us.  They appear to be something so huge, insurmountable.  How can we ever overcome and defeat this giant in our lives?  We can do it just as David did with the name of the Lord.  These giants often get in the way of our having an even more close relationship with the Lord.  He will deliver this giant into your hands just as He delivered Goliath into David's hands.  We have to trust the Lord to deliver us.  This is where the rubber meets the road.  Trusting in the Lord.  Why is it so hard to do?  We know that He is trustworthy.  We know that every person in our lives at some point fails us and we put that onto the Lord.  I have no answer for you, I am still working on not doing that myself.


He is the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, the Deliverer.  The battle belongs to the Lord.  We often look at the giant we have to face instead of looking at the Lord.  We get consumed by the sight of the giant instead of by Jesus.  Our focus is lost, we have strayed.  This giant is trying to pull our focus from the Lord, continually.  The giant wants to get between us and the Lord, to build a wall between us and the Lord so that we can't see the Lord.  We need to learn to put the Lord between us and the giant.  Again I have no answers for you on how do to do this, it is an area I am working on.  It is hard a daily striving for.


I know we all want to have the outcome that David had when he faced Goliath.  We all want to have victory over the giants in our lives.  We want to walk victorious in the Lord.  We want to be able to testify to the goodness and greatness of our Lord in conquering giants.  This is what I want deep down.  This is what I want day to day.  


Also in this study they had us turn to Psalm 91 and look at how this passage can help you to face those giants.  God has brought this chapter up over and over in the last 6+ months.  I am working on memorizing it.  I have been praying and praying this chapter for several friends and for my girls in a couple of situations.  I want to "dwell in the shelter of the Most High" as it says.  I want Him to be my refuge and my fortress against the giants.  I want him to cover me with His wings and shield.  I want Him to be my dwelling place, not fear of giants.  I want Him to deliver me from these giants in my life.


Psalm 91


    ¹He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
         Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
    ²I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress,
         My God, in whom I trust!"
    ³For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
         And from the deadly pestilence.
    ⁴He will cover you with His pinions,
         And under His wings you may seek refuge;
         His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
    ⁵You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
         Or of the arrow that flies by day;
    ⁶Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
         Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
    ⁷A thousand may fall at your side
         And ten thousand at your right hand,
         But it shall not approach you.
    ⁸You will only look on with your eyes
         And see the recompense of the wicked.
    ⁹For you have made the LORD, my refuge,
         Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
    ¹⁰No evil will befall you,
         Nor will any plague come near your tent.
    ¹¹For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
         To guard you in all your ways.
    ¹²They will bear you up in their hands,
         That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
    ¹³You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
         The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.
    ¹⁴"Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
         I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
    ¹⁵"He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
         I will be with him in trouble;
         I will rescue him and honor him.
    ¹⁶"With a long life I will satisfy him
         And let him see My salvation."