No one wants to live an unfulfilled, unsatisfied life knowing that there is more but for some reason have been unable to attain it. It can be frustrating when you know there are specific things you are supposed to do but haven’t been able to get to it because of circumstances and obstacles in the way. But in your heart you know if you do not get rid of these obstacles you will be stuck in neutral, not progressing, as the days, months and years pass by. I was reading the story of David and Goliath and saw this exact picture when the Philistine army came out to battle King Saul and the army of Israel. The Philistines had a “champion” named Goliath on their side, that means he already defeated previous opponents. Not only was he a “champion”, he was a giant almost 10 feet tall, his armour was between 125-194 lbs and just the blade on his spear weighed between 17-23 lbs. Goliath challenged Israel to choose a man to fight him and if that man defeated him then the Philistines would be Israel’s servants but if Goliath won then Israel would have to be servants to the Philistines. This happened every morning and evening for forty days. The Bible says Saul and all the Israelites lost their courage and were terrified. The Israelites saw themselves losing to this giant, stuck serving the Philistines for the rest of their lives, unsatisfied, unfulfilled, no hope or vision for the future. By now you should be getting a picture of that giant in your life, causing you to lose courage and be afraid to do what you know you should be doing. Maybe you’ve been too afraid to start that business or ministry, go back to school or change careers. Whatever it is you feel defeated and destined to be a slave to your circumstance as the giant challenges you day after day and tells you that you can’t win. But think about this, if the giant is coming out everyday that is another opportunity for you to stand up to it. I mean if the giant already defeated you there would be no need for him to threaten you. I know it’s not easy when the thoughts like- you can’t do that, you’re not smart enough, you’re not talented enough, you don’t have the money to do that, you’ll embarrass yourself and your family, you’ll lose everything, people won’t like you anymore-are constantly hitting your mind. However you can stay paralyzed with those thoughts all your life or you can chose to be like David and shut them up. Now when we read the story of David and Goliath we can easily bypass the fact that David was a human being with human emotions, thoughts and feelings like us. The first time that David learns about and sees Goliath, Goliath is challenging and defying the army of Israel. David is just there to check on his brothers and bring them food and sees them all running scared and afraid. David could have looked at all the trained soldiers retreating and decided if they are afraid and won’t even fight why would I think I could even try. David could have looked at King Saul who was head and shoulders taller than every man in Israel, hiding back in a tent and thought if the King is hiding I better hide too. In your own life maybe everyone you know is afraid, it could be your hero, the person you look up to the most, they are the strongest, bravest, have the most faith of anybody you know and didn’t even try. But just because everyone you know is afraid does not mean you have to be! Just because others lost to that giant does not mean you will! David knew God and understood he had a covenant with God. David knew that God had established with his fathers before him that God was their protector, deliver and defender. Not only did David know this, he experienced it as a shepherd when a lion and bear came and took a lamb from the flock, David went after them and killed both the lion and bear. David saw God keep his promise to protect him, deliver him and also give him the strength and ability to do what looked like was not possible. David knew Goliath had no relationship with God and God had no obligation to help the Philistine. See the giant in your life does not have God backing it up but you do! When David went out to meet Goliath he had another opportunity to run and hide when Goliath began to threaten him. David did not just stand there and accept Goliath’s threats, he began to declare what he and what the Lord was going to do to Goliath. When the enemy hits you with thoughts of fear, don’t retreat, fight back by putting the Word of God in your mouth. This is why it is vitally important that you know what the Word says about who you are and what belongs to you in Christ. David knew this so when the giant started approaching him, he didn’t second guess, he ran towards Goliath and with the sling and stone took out the giant. But this is the part I like, David took Goliath’s own sword and cut his head off with it, he shut him up for good, no more threats from that giant! When the rest of the Philistine army saw their “champion” was dead they retreated and Israel started pursuing the Philistines and took all the goods in the Philistine camp. See even though there was a reward for David, he wasn’t just fighting for himself, David’s victory was all of Israel’s victory! When your family, friends and the people in your life see you overcome and defeat the giant in your life they will see that they can overcome the giants in their lives! You are not just fighting for yourself, others might not even know it yet, but they are counting on you to win! Let’s stop letting the giant in our lives tell us what we can and can’t do! Let’s REFUSE to get to the end of our lives unsatisfied, unfulfilled knowing we didn’t accomplish everything we were supposed to because we were too afraid. It’s time to shut that giant up once and for all, OFF WITH HIS HEAD!
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