Everybody has giants. But how many of us
are strong enough to conquer our own giants?
“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.”(1Samuel
17:45,47) “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!”
Each time the
Israelites obeyed the Lord, they put themselves in vulnerability of seeing a
miracle. Unless we have the faith to put ourselves in situations that require a
miracle, we will be counting on our own strength, and unable to see wonders. When the Israelites fought
against their enemies by their own whim, they sometimes won the victory. But
they fought with sword and spear. So did their enemies. When they fought with the Lord in obedience
to Him, they saw crazy things happen. The walls crumbling down through marching
around Jericho, the sun standing still, confusion struck amongst their enemy
camp (enemies start killing their own peeps), and a giant is defeated with a
small stone. When we set ourselves up in faith for something big, we will see
it happen in due time! In the book of 1 Samuel, we see continually how the
battles belong to the Lord. He decides. That’s why it is so important to be on
His side in the battle. If He is for you, who can be against you? It’s not a
question, but a statement of fact. Needless to say, if He is against you,
there’s none in the world who could stand for you.
One thing I
noticed that David did not do before his battle; He did not consult man. He
didn’t ask, “Do you think it is okay for me to fight Goliath? Do you think I’d
win?” Too often I find myself consulting others for opinion or encouragement on my ideas before even beginning to pursue anything. Also, David was a newcomer, a shepherd boy. He wasn’t caught up in the
mentality of the rest of the warriors. Everyday, the Philistine champion
strutted in front of the Israelites, taunting them. And everyday, the
Israelites encouraged each other in their fear, running away together. Very
often, society stimulates and circles around a defeated mentality; and if we
are so immersed in it, we don’t see another way out except for the one that
everyone else is following. When I line my goals according to the encouragement of others, I find myself emotionally defeated before I even begin. Too often I am so caught up in the conditions of battle, I forget who we have on our side.
In
1 Samuel 25, we read about Abigail’s intercession for her husband, Nabal.
Through her story, we see a glimpse of how important intercession is; calling
out to the Lord for our friends in sin, crying out for mercy, asking for grace
on behalf of another. Countless of testimonies I have heard of people praying
for decades of the salvation of their loved ones, and seeing a miracle happen
after years of patient interceding. But thankfully, we are not alone in our
intercession. Jesus is at the right hand of God, pleading to Him on our behalf.
In the Old Testament, their were priests and judges, who were like the middle
men between the Israelites and God. 1 Samuel, we so often see the Israelites
consulting Samuel for advice, whenever they worshipped and sacrificed, and when
they needed to hear from God. In chapter 28, Saul acted on his recklessness,
and even consulted a medium to bring Samuel back from the dead to give advice again!
It was an impulsive act of foolish disobedience, and Saul and his sons died the next day in war.
In the corporate
world, we so often hear the phrase, “its not what you know, its WHO you know”,
which stands to signify the importance of connections and networking. The
popular site, LinkedIn, displays your 1st degree “I know you”
connections and 2nd degree “I know your friend” connections, and thus
connects you to the circle of professionals within your reach. To connect with someone of high status who is out of your reach, you would need to find a
middle man, a mutual friend, who would nicely introduce you to this high up scary CEO or potential business partner. Because priests were only a foreshadowing of Christ (Hebrews 7:18-28);
they couldn’t really be there forever, just till their time ended. But with
Christ in us and with us, how privileged are we to be forever and whenever, connected to the
God of all? We don’t just know About God, we Know the King of Kings because of His son, and He
fights for and with us. How scary our giants are cannot compare with how great
our God is. With the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies – the God of the
armies of Israel, clad in His armor, there are no giants too big for us!
Read Ephesians 6:10-18.
[10 Finally, be
strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full
armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For
our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against
the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put
on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able
to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand
firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the
breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted
with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In
addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the
helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.]
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