But this is a Giant Situation that I Face!
Is there a giant that you are facing at this moment, or a person, or a situation that is so big in your life that you feel its paralysing power?
Jesus said these words: “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.” Thankfully he didn’t leave it at that, but went on to say “…But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16: 33, NLT.
God’s prayer for his children is found here, “Beloved I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers.” 3 John 2 NLT. Your soul is made up of your mind, will and emotions. Mental health seems to be the number one issue in the lives of so many people today. I hear the phrase “wellbeing” or “mindfulness” used in connection with treating the whole person. The dictionary definition of “to prosper” means to succeed, to be successful, to flourish, to grow strong and healthy. God has an answer and plan to overcome every situation that we might find ourselves in, even if it’s of our own making! We are designed to prosper in all areas of our lives.
“The thief’s purpose is to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come to give you life and life abundantly.” John 10:10 NLT. We have a real enemy, the devil, whose aim is to steal our peace and joy by stealing our finances, our homes and our relationships by killing our dreams and the lives of those we love. Destroying our life by sickness, disease and poverty, he will use any means at his disposal to fulfil his own agenda. Thank goodness for the “but” and it’s a wonderful “but!” I love the fact that Jesus used very specific words throughout the Bible. Abundant life far outweighs what most of us experience. What does abundant life look like to you? Have you settled for mediocrity because you just want to survive in life, or maybe you never realised that you can have an abundance of peace, of joy, of health, and of wealth.
“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour…” 1 Peter 5:8 NLT. He is like a roaring lion, but with no teeth! He was defeated at the Cross but he seeks to devour us through lies and deception. He deceives us into thinking that the giant in front of us is too big to overcome, but in reality, it’s too big to miss when we aim God’s word at it. There’s only one lion with any teeth and that’s Jesus, the lion of the tribe of Judah. We still need to stay alert. That doesn’t mean seeing demons under every rock, but when we know his tactics we can go on the offensive.
It’s interesting to note that the armour of God in Ephesians 6 only covers the front of the body!
We are meant to move forward, to advance, while God watches our backs. God gave the children of Israel the land, but they had to physically enter it and fight to take what was rightfully theirs. In the wilderness when Jesus was being tempted, His reply was, “It is written!” We are meant to speak to the mountains in our lives. Our battle may be physical, but our weapons are supernatural and out-gun the enemy every time!
If I want my body to be in great shape then there are certain things that I need to do to achieve this, not least a good diet, exercise and regular sleep. If I want my spiritual body to be in great shape, then I have to do certain things to achieve that also; a good diet of feeding on God’s word (Psalm 119:105), exercising my spiritual authority and learning to stand and resist the devil. (Ephesians 6). The biggest battle is often in our minds (Ephesians 4:23), dealing with the lies that he tries to implant there. We need to rest, spending time in worship and soaking in His presence. (Isaiah 40:31)
We can learn many lessons from the life of David. He was the youngest of eight brothers, yet when Samuel went to his family home to anoint the next king, it was interesting to note that David wasn’t invited to attend. Have you ever felt overlooked, or invisible? You’re doing your best, working away, yet come promotion time someone else always seems to be noticed ahead of you. It can be very demoralising. If left unchecked bitterness can creep in. We all have situations to overcome in life, just like those in the bible who God used in amazing ways. They had the choice of either being overcome or, with God’s enabling, to become an overcomer. Moses, it seems, had a stutter and used it as an excuse; Gideon hid in the wine press; Elijah sat under a tree and wanted to die; Samson’s pride resulted in his hair being cut and his enemies putting his eyes out. We all, at some point, have to face and defeat the giants in our lives. The good news is that we don’t have to do it alone!
Abraham Lincoln suffered from depression and Marfan syndrome, a growth disorder that causes a sufferer to grow very tall, very quickly, stressing the heart.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, another great leader, suffered from polio and could not stand or walk without crutches. He was elected four times as President of the United States, from 1932 to 1944, he helped the country survive the Depression, and led it through World War II.
Wilma Rudolph was also afflicted with polio as a child. She went on to become an accomplished sprinter and was the first American woman, and African-American woman, to win three gold medals in one Olympic Games.
Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking contracted a form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative neuro-muscular condition, when he was in college. Despite becoming almost completely paralyzed, he has made major contributions in cosmology, quantum gravity, the study of black holes, and with his best selling book “A Brief History of Time.”
Chuck Close is a prominent American painter and photographer known for his large portraits. Despite suffering a spinal artery collapse that has confined him to a wheelchair, he continues to create paintings that are seen in museums throughout the world.
Artist Frida Kahlo contracted polio at age six, and may have had spina bifida. She also suffered numerous severe injuries in a bus accident, resulting in thirty-five surgeries and hospitalisations, a leg amputation, and extreme pain throughout her life. Yet she still became one of the most renowned painters of the 20th century.
Actor Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) was placed in a class for students with mental difficulties until he was in high school and he did not learn to read or write until after he had graduated.
Walt Disney did not learn to read until he was nine. He drew pictures to help him remember what he was learning.
Actor James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader, overcame a stutter that so embarrassed him that he refused to speak in school. He learned to speak without stuttering by reading poetry.
Albert Einstein was kicked out of school for behavioural problems; his teachers thought he was incapable of being taught. He didn’t learn to read until he was nine years old!
Mystery novelist Agatha Christie had a learning disability called dysgraphia, which prevented her writing from being legible or easily understood. She had to dictate all of her novels, stories and plays, and according to the Guinness Book of World records became the best-selling writer of all time. Hans Christian Andersen, Alexander Graham Bell and Cher are among the millions who have dyslexia. Not forgetting Nick Vujicic, Andrea Boccelli and Michael J. Fox.
These are just a few famous individuals who have overcome their own disabilities. There are thousands more ordinary men, women and children who battle with a whole variety of “giants” that inflict their bodies and minds.
David could have sulked that day and refused to attend, but he didn’t. On that day he was anointed to be the next king of Israel.
God anointed you and I the moment we became born again. The fullness of the Godhead bodily dwelling in us! There is enough power to heal the sick, cast out demons and raise the dead, living on the inside of us. All we did was pray a simple prayer inviting Jesus into our hearts! I doubt that we fully understood the significance of that day any more than David did.
A seed was planted that day in you and me that if nurtured would produce an amazing harvest. A seed that could destroy not only our own giants but the giants in the lives of others! That seed is still there even if it has laid dormant for years. There is life in that seed and for some reading this it’s time to allow it to grow and produce. It has the power to defeat fear, defeat self-doubt and defeat the giant that has invaded your mind and body with lies!
David didn’t become King that day or any day soon, it was years down the road before he became who he was anointed to be. In that waiting period as God was positioning him to fulfil his destiny he went back to tending his sheep, worshipping God and writing songs. David didn’t go about bragging, he continued with his “normal” life, but in a supernatural way! David experienced the power of the Holy Spirit as He gave him the ability to kill the lion and the bear.
In between our God adventures what should we do? Go about our normal business, read the Bible, pray, worship and expect an assignment! Phone Joe, call in at Bill’s, pray for that guy in the supermarket etc.
David was in training for reigning! We reign whilst we train! David was called to establish the kingdom of Israel under God, we are called to establish the kingdom of God on the earth. David’s gift made room for him, and God’s favour brought him before a king. You and I have the ear of the King day and night!
Then one day David was sent by his father to the battle to take food to his brothers and bring back news. Two armies were on opposite sides of a ravine, yelling at one another, until the Philistine’s champion, Goliath, came out. He was a giant of a man over nine feet tall. Israel’s army was afraid of him and would run away in fear. This continued for over a forty-day period.
The enemy, if allowed, will taunt us; telling us that ‘you’re this’, ‘you’re that’ and bombarding our minds with negative thoughts and pictures.
Saul as the King should have been the one to face Goliath, not in his own strength but in the power of the Spirit. Instead Saul offered a very lucrative reward to any man who was willing to fight and defeat this giant. This caught David’s attention and he questioned the men regarding the reward. His brothers were far from helpful, instead choosing to ridicule and accuse him of pride and arrogance.
When you and I take a stand for God we may get an angry reaction; notice it came from his brothers! Other believers, even family members, may feel threatened by your words. How will you answer them?
David’s response was, “Is there not a cause?”
How long should they remain sick, depressed, lost, fearful - is there not a cause? David had testimonies under his belt. He had victories, things that he’d overcome, and he rehearsed them, gave thanks for them and acknowledged who’d given them to him. He wasn’t distracted by the words of others. David’s boldness of speech got the attention of the king.
I feel sure that David wasn’t Saul’s preferred choice; too young, too inexperienced and mouthy! But his words caught the attention of Saul. The natural expectation if someone must fight this giant was that they would have to wear armour. We can often fall into the trap of using a familiar weapon or style of prayer because it has been successful in the past. David, having tried to wear the armour of Saul, decided to take it off and he used what was in his hand, what was familiar to him. Jesus prayed in various ways; He used spit, He used mud and He used simple words. The Holy Spirit will show us what to say or do!
My youngest daughter had chicken pox when she was around six years old. She used to love watching the original Karate Kid film, so while she was ill we spent several hours watching the series. God often speaks to me through films. In the final fight scene between Daniel and his bully opponent Mike, Daniel becomes overcome with fear as Mike taunts him. He tells him that he’s “nothing, a loser, a joke, I own you, your karate teacher is nothing,” and on and on! In the period of time-out Daniel’s mentor Mr Miyagi calms his fears by reminding him that it’s ok to lose but to not give in to fear.
Miyagi tells Daniel that his best karate is still inside him and that it’s time to let it out! As Daniel lays on the floor, the taunting continues. Daniel has a decision to make to either give in to fear or face his giant. Daniel rises to his feet acting on the words of his mentor and wins the fight! As I was watching this, the Holy Spirit was showing me that this was a picture of you and me. We were Daniel and Mr Miyagei was a type of the Holy Spirit, the one who trains our hands to war, our teacher, our advocate and comforter. Mike was a representation of our enemy, the accuser of the brethren, the father of lies. The “giant” who comes to rob, kill, steal and destroy. He can only defeat us when we give in to those lies, but when we respond to the Holy Spirit and rise up in faith our enemy is defeated! Greater is he inside you than he who is in the world.
As you read 1 Samuel 17:45-48 imagine it’s you running towards your giant as he is taunting you and cursing you. You continue running towards your giant declaring God’s word and as you make declarations your giant falls dead at your feet.
The whole army of Israel rose up in faith that day and plundered their enemy. Your victory will benefit others and inspire them to be brave and defeat their own giants!
Maybe this is the time for you to say this in faith, “But my giant is too big to miss!”
Below is a testimony of a woman’s battle to overcome her giant of self-harm. There is no giant that we can’t overcome with Him!
I have had a very long struggle with self-harm, but it became more so when my sister passed away. My whole world vanished beneath me, I was angry at God and hated myself. This is when I entered into a cycle of profound grief and self-harm. My days were full of turmoil and such a deep grief and self-loathing, I did not know what to do or how to cope with my emotions. Feeling the loss of everything, I just went deeper and deeper into this black hole and I saw no way of getting out. My friends kept saying there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but from my perspective it was like an oncoming train, and the quicker it got here the better. My only way of coping was the self-harm.
For two years I was in turmoil. I found going to work hard and the hardest was going to church, that's where I really felt the struggle. How can I worship God while I blame him for what happened! Also self-harm was right near the surface! I couldn't worship him at all. While I was standing there trying to worship all I wanted to do was get a rather large knife and stab myself in my body over and over again.
As time passed, I started to find that life was not worth living without God. Thus began my journey of getting out of my black hole of despair. I could not find peace in this situation and slowly realised that God was not to blame for had happened. I asked for forgiveness from God and forgave Him, and as the months passed I started to spend time with him and began seeing him as he really is; a loving Father who loved me so much that he gave his son for me. This realisation came while I was having communion. I had found it really hard to take communion due to feeling unworthy and angry towards God. I started to look at communion from a different perspective, and also my view of God changed. The wine and bread were not there to bring me into condemnation, which is how I had seen it for a very long time. I felt like I was not good enough to partake of the communion, and then I started to understand that the communion was the place where we remember what God actually did, for me. He loved me so much that he gave his son for me. I no longer saw myself as worthless and as I started spending time with God as my Father, I started to believe that he didn't do the things I blamed him for, and the more I let him speak to me and love me. I started coming out of the that dark place. I was brought out of darkness again into the light. This time there was a light at the end of the tunnel and it was the way out. But the most important thing to happen was that need to self-harm slowly diminished. Where I once felt the drive and the overwhelming urge to self-harm it was getting less and less. Since that period in my life I do still sometimes have thoughts of self-harming, but by putting my trust in and loving Jesus, I can overcome and know that I am a child of God.
Wendy (not her real Name)
It's time to use your voice to defeat your goliath!
Let me know your thoughts!
Коментарі